10 Mindfulness Activities to Reduce Anxiety and Feel Better
When I’m feeling anxious, stressed, angry or anything unpleasant, I typically want those feelings to just disappear. I mean, who wants to actually sit in feelings that make us uncomfortable? I might binge a show on Netflix, dive into work, eat a pint of ice cream, or make other “bad” choices to avoid feeling my feelings.
And while these types of activities can be helpful in the moment, I also know that avoiding my feelings will make them more intense and have a negative impact on my health over time.
If you can relate, I have good news! Thankfully we can practice mindfulness activities to face our emotions in a healthy way instead of just ignoring them. Mindfulness gives us an opportunity to tune into the present moment, assess the situation, learn our triggers and potentially make different choices for our health and wellbeing. So today I’m sharing 10 mindfulness activities you can do in a short amount of time to reduce your anxiety and feel more calm.
First, What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness in the quality of being present and fully engaged with whatever we’re doing, while also accepting the moment for what it is. It’s a basic human quality that already exists in all of us.
The first step is to recognize when you are caught in an anxious moment. Becoming aware of your own thoughts, feelings and emotions helps you realize that you are not those things. You are the one that can observe them.
The second step is to return your awareness to the present moment, which lives between the past and the future and it is the only thing that exists. When you focus your awareness on the “here and now”, your racing thoughts about the past or future no longer have power, which will relax your body and mind, allowing you to feel more free to experience life to the fullest.
The third step is to do all of this without judgment, blame or shame. And in my opinion, that is where all the power is to start changing your relationship with your anxiety.
When your monkey mind is full of anxious thoughts that are swirling around making you feel terrible, you can recognize when you are caught in a thought, pause for a moment, recognize the thought or feeling without judging yourself for thinking or feeling it, and then bring your awareness back to whatever it is that you are doing at the moment. And in that little moment you will feel a bit more freedom and ease.
And the only way to get better at all of this is to practice mindfulness activities. Here are 10 activities to get you started.
1. Use Your Eyes to Look Around
Once you’ve noticed you’re feeling anxious, it’s important to give your mind something to do. Instead of letting it jump from thought to thought, worrying about the past or trying to control the future, it’s important to give it a job so it can start to come back to the here and now.
Bring your attention to one object you see in your immediate area. Get very curious about that object and notice its colors, shape, size, shadow, etc. The more you can concentrate your awareness on that one object, the more your mind will slow down. After a few moments, move your awareness to a second object and get curious about its shape, size, patterns, etc. Take a few moments there and then move onto a third object and zoom in on the things you see.
2. Take Three Letting Go Breaths
In my opinion, the most effective breath to quickly reduce your anxiety and bring your awareness to the present moment is taking three Letting Go Breaths.
Inhale deeply through the nose and then exhale with a soft sigh out the mouth. As you exhale, think about releasing the excess stress you have but don’t release too much energy. Let the exhale be a soft sigh. After 3 times, notice how your energy shifts.
3. Eat Mindfully
Pay attention to each bite without the distractions of your computer, phone, TV or conversations with others. Really notice how the food looks, tastes, smells, and what it’s texture feels like. Simply enjoying your food can bring your awareness to the present and increase your sense of gratitude for the wonderful meal you are enjoying. And when you mind wonders, which it will do, eating mindfully becomes a practice of returning to the present moment again and again.
The steps to eat mindfully are very simple, but it will take gentle and consistent practice for it to become a conscious habit. And remember, the mind’s job is to think! So staying present the entire time you are eating is most likely not going to happen. It’s simply a practice to return to again and again.
4. Start a Gratitude Journal
Research shows that keeping a gratitude journal for just five minutes a day can boost your happiness by about 10%. 10 Percent! That’s about the same boost of happiness you would get (according to a study in the journal Emotions) if your salary just doubled. Pretty insane, right?
Starting a gratitude journal is truly as simple as finding a pen and paper (or journal) and setting aside 5 minutes during your day to write down the things in your life that you are grateful for. There’s no wrong way to do it!
5. Play The Listening Game
Sound can be a great anchor for your mind, especially when it’s scattered and overwhelmed.
Bring your awareness to the sounds around you. Notice the sounds closest to you, and then notice the sounds at the edge of your awareness. See if you can hear the sounds without the narrative mind. For example, try not to label “bird chirping” or “car driving''. Try to simply reflect on the direct vibration and experience of the sounds in the body. When you get distracted, which will happen, gently bring your awareness back to the direct experience of the sound.
6. Ground Your Feet in Nature
Multiple studies have been conducted that show time in nature is an antidote for stress. It can lower your blood pressure and stress hormone levels, slow down your nervous system, increase your self-esteem, reduce your anxiety, reduce feelings of isolation and improve your mood. And, it makes us step away from our computer screens and smartphones, which we all know contribute to our increase in stress and overwhelm thanks to all the dinging and notifications.
Take off your shoes and step on the grass. Energy flows where your awareness goes. Get your bare feet on the grass and shift your weight from side to side. Notice the temperature of the ground, the texture of the grass and the weight of your body as you connect to the earth. Spend a few minutes wiggling your toes and digging in a bit more.
7. Get Moving
Moving your body is an extremely effective way to burn off excess stress hormones. As a bonus, when you are engaged in physical activity, important anti-anxiety neurochemicals are released into your brain. All of this helps to relax your muscles and relieve tension in your body. And as the body starts to feel better, the mind will start to relax and feel better as well. Exercise also helps to move your awareness away from your overthinking mind and back to the body in the present moment.
Choose something that lights you up! And even consider finding someone to move with - it’s always nice to have an accountability partner to get you moving and to make connections with during your day. Walk, run, practice yoga, go for a bike ride, workout, dance, hike, garden, swim … the options are endless!
8. Set an Intention
Before you start your day, take a moment to pause, center yourself, and set an intention for the day. Consider this a chance to put into action how you’d like the day to go. For me, right now I always choose to “stay in flow”. When my mind starts to race and I begin to worry about next steps, I pause and remind myself of my intention - to stay with whatever it is that I’m doing at the moment and let the path unfold as I step on it.
9. Notice What You Feel
Find something you can touch and bring your attention to it. What does this object feel like? Is it hard, soft, smooth, rough, dry, moist, cold, warm, etc. Get very curious about that object for a few moments, really noticing all the details of how it feels. Then, find a second object to touch and notice how that feels. What is different about this object compared to the first? What do you notice? Then, after a few moments, find a third object and notice how that feels. Getting curious about all of its details.
10. Take a Mindful Walk
Taking a mindful walk provides a deep level of focus and concentration, allowing you to really get absorbed in the present moment. It can be done anytime and at any speed. You want to be aware of your body as it moves through space and simply breathe naturally. Keep your eyes cast down to avoid distractions and when you notice you are lost in thought, simply come back to movement.
Label each step, breaking down the step into three distinct sections. “Lift” while lifting. “Move” while moving. “Place” while placing. When your mind wanders, bring your awareness back to the labeling and awareness of the direct sensations you feel.