Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling, accompanied by the expectation of something bad, the inability to concentrate on the work being done, the appearance of obsessive thoughts. It can manifest itself not only at the mental, internal level, but also at the level of the body: a person feels increased pressure, sweaty palms, a rapid or uneven heartbeat, cannot sit still. When he is worried, he tries to take some action to calm the unpleasant sensations and feel the clarity of consciousness, to calm down. Anxiety itself can go away with time or with the help of favorable circumstances. To cope with it yourself, you can perform special exercises. They can be done at home or at work – where anxiety is caught by surprise.

They are suitable for those whose feelings of anxiety are not pathological and do not require qualified help from a psychologist. Otherwise, we are talking about serious complexes that underlie the onset of restless symptoms.

It is impossible to get rid of anxiety forever. It is an indicator that something is going wrong in life – not according to plan, it can threaten health or life, destroy what was planned, threaten safety, cause trouble. It’s completely normal to have anxious feelings in a difficult situation. With anxiety, the person is preparing for the fact that the situation may get out of control. Sometimes anxiety helps to understand the resources of the psyche, to predict the course of events and to protect yourself. But when it is permanent or unfounded, it interferes with living a full life, being yourself, achieving goals, being in the moment “here and now,” which means establishing good relationships at work or when communicating with people. 

Exercises to help you quickly deal with anxiety are in this article.

Exercises to help you understand complexes

Often a person has a heightened sense of anxiety, but he is not aware of its causes. People have the ability to adapt to different living conditions, including difficult and unpleasant ones. The same thing happens when a person is constantly worried – he can get used to it, and anxiety becomes part of his character, and he lives without suspecting that the days can pass much more pleasant – calmer, easier, more joyful.

If you realize that anxiety occurs too often and interferes with your life, then you can do the following exercise. It will help you understand which personality complexes are responsible for its appearance. 

This task should be performed when you have free time and the opportunity to be alone with yourself.

As a rule, anxiety, which is realized and interferes with life, has its own subject – it can be an event, a loved one, a sphere of life, for example – love, career, children. Take a piece of paper and a pen. Write down what you are constantly worried about. For example, a wife is always anxious when her husband is late from work. Moreover, this is not just anxiety, but feelings that do not allow her to calmly do business when she is waiting for his return. In this case, the subject of concern is the husband. 

Next, you need to understand what the anxiety is about. Based on an example, a woman is always worried that a man will not get home. She worries that an accident will happen to him on the way – he will get into a car accident, he will be attacked by robbers, he will have a heart attack, and so on. Despite the fact that her husband returns home safe and sound every time, disturbing thoughts do not leave her. The question to be asked is: What happens if misfortune does happen to the husband? The woman’s answer: I will be left alone. In this case, the personality complexes that make you constantly worry are held up by the fear of being left alone. Perhaps the woman had an experience of a lonely life, the trauma associated with this, or she is not able to be alone with herself since childhood.

This exercise requires written answers to questions, and is aimed at understanding internal processes. Questions to be answered:

1. Write down the subject of the alarm.
2. What is this anxiety about? What is it aimed at?
3. What happens if this happens?

Awareness may not immediately correct the problem of increased anxiety and help to stop worrying, but it will become a powerful impetus to the fact that a person begins to understand the cause of his anxiety, perhaps anxiety will decrease, or the decision to seek help from a psychologist will mature.

Controlling emotions

The emotions that accompany the onset of anxiety can tell a lot about it, and therefore help reduce it. If you are overtaken by anxiety, listen to yourself – how do you feel? What is happening inside you right now – when emotions are intertwined with thoughts and do not allow you to be in a clear and objective state? Perhaps it is despair, disappointment, fear, unwillingness to meet with any event or person – what is it and what is it about?

After feelings and emotions are realized and understood, you should turn to your inner needs and ask yourself: what do I want right now in order to calm down, feel clarity of mind, think objectively and orderly, systematically go about your business and not be distracted by anxiety ? The answer is your resource state. After you understand what it is, you will need to satisfy this need.

Such exercises, on understanding true needs, do not give results the first time, because a person can perfectly understand what he is doing and think and find it difficult to navigate among his feelings and desires. To achieve this, you need to ask yourself as often as possible with these questions: how do I feel? What I want?

Mental Health Exercises

Anxiety can often be relieved by shifting your focus from your mind to your body. Breathing techniques will help.

• Breathing exercise

Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breathing. Imagine that the flow of air that enters you has become visible – you notice its color, density. In the same way, you can fantasize with an exhalation.

Breathing exercises like this can help reduce anxiety and anxiety before an important meeting or meeting.

• Exercise stress

Squats, running in place, light exercises contribute to a quick switchover of consciousness – the body becomes active and all resources begin to work on the execution of movements, and not on the living of negative emotions.

• Game tasks

“What did the king say?” This game helps to relax a tense mind and relieve anxiety. Ask yourself the question “What did the king say?” Answer it based on what you see around you. You need to answer silently, but in full sentences. For example: “the king said that the view from the window opens a shopping center, a car park, a city park.” “The king said that on the table at which I am sitting there are patterns that resemble …” and so on.

Do this exercise until you feel that your anxiety has subsided and you can go about your business again.