3 Essential Tools to Calm Your Anxious Mind.
“At some point in your growth, it starts to become quieter inside. This happens quite naturally as you take a deeper seat within yourself. You then come to realize that though you have always been in there, you have been completely overwhelmed by the barrage of thoughts, emotions, and sensory inputs that draw on your consciousness”. ~Michael A. Singer
Lately, has it been really difficult to navigate everything that is coming up?
Is your mind racing? are you feeling stressed because you can’t slow it down? If so, it is probably time for a reset. Below are 3 tools I use in sessions to begin to calm the anxious mind. These tools are basic but essential. I call these essential self care tools Breath~Body~Earth. Maybe you will find them helpful and make them a part of your self care toolkit.
Tool No.1 Get Present: Intentional Breath
A good reset always begins with your breath. Your mind might try to fight with you on this, but trust that shifting into wellness starts with the proverbial ‘breath’. Even though you are always breathing, you may not be aware of the quality of your breath. Take a moment to really breathe in. Imagine with this first intentional breath you are fully capable of mastering your emotions and your thoughts. Exhale. Now try that again, only this time focus on the air that is moving in and out right at the end of your nose. Notice the sensation of air flow as it moves in and out of your body. No need to change it just focus your awareness on the feeling of air moving in and out. Stay with that for a few breath cycles.
This first tool helps the mind shift from mental chatter into awareness of a new sensation, the space right at the edge of the body. Now the mind has a new task, intentional awareness of breath and the space just before the body. All you need to do is observe the sensation of air moving in and out. Keep inviting the mind to focus awareness on the breath. Anytime the mind wanders into thinking gently invite it back into breath awareness.
Tool No.2 Get Connected: Body Breath
Most of the time when the mind is anxious we are breathing very high in the chest. Shallow breathing is a signal that something is off. Taking a short breath over and again can put the body into a stress cycle. Here’s the thing about anxious mind, dialing it down means you actually have to be aware of our body. For some people that is a little tricky. The idea of the body might stir up anxiousness. Take a moment to be kind & patient with yourself. The body and the mind will be grateful for your full breath, and it will become easier with practice. I know you can do it.
The first step with this tool is to tune into your body while not changing anything about the quality of your breath. Notice where the inhale is going. Is your chest moving up and down but your belly is holding on tight? Just observe the quality of your breath for a moment. Then with focused awareness ask your body to receive a full breath, as though you are breathing into the bottom of your lungs filling them from the bottom to the top. Try that a couple times. Now, shift your focus and just follow the breath all the way in, slowly exhale, and follow the breath all the way out. Try that a couple times. Next, as you are inhaling notice how your body is expanding, and as you are exhaling invite the awareness that you lengthening. Notice how your body naturally moves with your full body breath. Stay with it until you start to feel your body coming into alignment with your breath. Expand with the inhale, lengthen with the exhale. Repeat.
Tool No.3 Get Grounded: Earth Breath
Imagine taking a full body breath and feeling a sense of being grounded to the earth, ahhh…this is what I call Earth Breath. It might take a little imagination but it is possible to reset an anxious mind by actually getting your body grounded. The thing is when we are not connected to breath and body we are most likely not very grounded. That is why this is the 3rd tool for your self care reset kit. Use the other 2 tools to get your breath and body connected, then invite a connection with the earth.
Some people like to actually go outside and plant feet on terra firma, but if that is not possible in the moment, imagine it. The mind is powerful. As my yoga teacher has said a million times, “where your thoughts go, your energy flows” . So allow you mind to imagine being connected to earth. It might help to picture standing in your favorite place in nature. Let yourself really go there in your mind. Take it in as though you are there in this very moment. The smell of the air, the time of day, the temperature on your skin, the sounds of the environment. Now take a full breath. As you breath in imagine that you can feel the energy of the natural elements surrounding you. Sense that your feet can feel the energy of the earth there, and that the energy in your body is now connected to the earth. Like magnets. Earth’s magnetic energy is connecting to your magnetic energy. As you take you next breath sense that you are now grounded, rooted, and secure. Stay with the earth breath until you begin to experience a shift in your body and breath. It might be subtle but it is real. Like you have created a realignment within.
authored by: Mary Mccrystal, PhD, LMFT
