3 simple tricks I use to calm myself down

When anxiety shows up, here's how i push back.

Are you feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and like you don’t know how to calm yourself down?

I can fix that.

Or at least try to. Because guess what? I do all three.

I’m a naturally anxious person. I’ll come up with so many scenarios for myself and other people that usually look something like the absolutely worst-case scenario imaginable.

Sooo when I find myself in a spiral, this is what helps me. It may be a little unhinged, but that’s okay. We’re a little unhinged.

Here’s what I do:

1. Shake It Out

I start shaking. You can stand up or sit down. But let it out. I’m talking about getting into a whole body shake, if possible. The important thing is to just start shaking it out.

For real. Let loose. You don’t need to hang on to all that stress an anxiety.

Just by doing this, you’re basically saying bye-bye to the fight or flight response.

Animals do this naturally. Deer will completely shake from head to hoof after escaping a predator to get the stress out of their nervous system.

That physical reset is built into our bodies too, and we can tap into the same mechanism.

2. Hum (even if it’s just your own song)

The second one is humming. Yup. Seems too simple to work. But even if you don’t have a song in mind, just start humming.

I do this without even thinking, and then I realize afterwards I’m doing it because I might be a little stressed, a little anxious about something I can’t quite place.

There’s something very real going on here in our bodies. The vibration from humming can stimulate the vagus nerve, which helps regulate your nervous system and shift you out of stressed mode.

It’s kind of like why people whistle when they’re scared… same idea. You’re signaling to your body that you’re okay.

So if you’re feeling a big case of overwhelm. Hum a little tune to yourself and pay attention to how your body reacts.

And again, get ready to say bye-bye to fight or flight.

3. Scent Therapy

I don’t know why, but orange essential oil and vanilla go straight to that part of my brain that just triggers something that makes me feel happy and calms me down so much.

I don’t even have to think about it. I smell it, and it’s like sunshine and happiness.

It could be any scent for you, but that combo? That’s mine.

You might need to do a little experimentation. But I’ll bet there’s a smell out there that once you find it will, no joke, take you straight to your happy place.

It’s really worth finding it, because scent has the power to pull us directly out of our anxiety spirals.

Smell is directly wired to the brain’s emotional center (the limbic system) so certain scents can shift your mood almost instantly without you thinking about it.

That’s why one smell can feel like a memory, or like flipping a switch. It’s pretty incredible. I mean, Marcel Proust got a whole (huge) book out of smelling a cookie.

But if you’re thinking this isn’t gonna work, then don’t do it, Boo Boo. Don’t do it.

I’m just sharing what I do when I feel overwhelmed and anxious. And it happens more often than I’d like.

— S