To me, anxiety feels like a tornado.

I started writing this post in the middle of tumbling down a rabbit hole of thoughts and worries and concerns with the hope to stop the madness. To stop the tornado.

The thing about anxiety is that it weighs nothing because it’s technically only a collection of thoughts, but at the same time, it’s so heavy.

The rumination, overwhelm, obsession, worry, fluster, and fear weigh me down to the point of paralyzation. I’m caught in the middle of a tornado and I can’t see which way to go…

And I begin to crumble.

If you’re unfamiliar with anxiety…

Here’s a quick description of what happens to me when I’m experiencing it:

All of a sudden, I’ll grasp onto an idea or a thought, and then begin to dissect the idea. My fears and insecurities start to unravel and a world of worst-case scenarios floods my imagination.

I’m drowning in my mind.

Next, my negative imagination starts to devour me. It’s like my fears are trying to influence my mind to live in a state of disorientation and self-sabotage the future.

As I’m writing this, I’ve realized that all anxiety is, at least for me, is my subconscious trying to keep me safe and illuminate what I’m worried about deep inside.

Anxiety is fear oozing out and implanting lies.

Our worry for an outcome is just that, worry. We have no idea how a certain circumstance will work out, and more often than not, everything works out exactly the way it’s supposed to and in our favor, one way or another.

I’ve learned that the best way to combat anxiety is to treat it like a scarred child. It’s just trying to help keep us safe, it just doesn’t know how to do so without scarring us in return.

Anxiety is fear bubbling over. So, the best way, long-term, to support ourselves is by being courageous and putting ourselves in scenarios that trigger our anxiety, then sticking through it and overcoming the tornado thoughts.

Proving to ourselves that it is, in fact, just an overload of fear.

Thankfully, I have found 6 ways to diffuse that fear.

Let’s break them down.

Catch Yourself

During a tornado of thoughts, the first step is to catch yourself and pull yourself out.

To pull yourself out, you must acknowledge that your thoughts are spinning and you must rescue yourself. How do we do this? By breaking the pattern.

If you’re sitting down and drowning in thoughts, get up and do something different.

Make some food, grab a drink, do some jumping jacks, literally anything to break the chain of circulating thoughts. It’s important to separate your mind from your thoughts so that your brain can wake up and realize it’s spiraling.

Sometimes we go so deep into our thoughts that we don’t even realize something is wrong.

So, rescue yourself by getting up, shake it off, and break the cycle.

Eat

Weird, but maybe you just need to eat.

Sometimes all we need is something delicious to eat to lower our blood sugar, balance our cortisol levels, or feed the beast.

I’m no doctor or medical professional, and I couldn’t tell you the science behind it…

But what I do know is that when I’m having an extra dose of anxiety in my day, if I can’t find the core wound it’s poking at or the source of frustration, then I’ll try to find something to eat, or an extra (delicious) snack to indulge in, and calm down my brain.

And honestly, this is really helpful.

Active Rest

I’m not sure if this is a legitimate term, but I use it to describe the need to have deep rest while awake.

Having proper rest through sleep is essential, of course, but maybe what your mind really needs is to calm down your nervous system to the point where you’re about to fall asleep but instead, stay in a meditative-like state.

That doesn’t mean you need to actually “meditate”, but you certainly can.

After all, isn’t the idea of meditation to get into a state that allows your mind, body, soul, nervous system, etc., to seep into itself and experience a sensation of peace?

Seems like it.

So, maybe it’s that you need a day, or even an hour, where you’re able to get into a state of relaxation that lowers your heart rate, calms the racing thoughts and recenters your energy.

This takes practice, truly. There’s a difference between “doing nothing” and “actively resting”, so just because we’re not doing anything doesn’t mean we feel relaxed.

Give it a shot.

Take a Walk

When I’m at my peak of anxiety, I walk.

I walk and walk and walk until I’ve released the tension, anger, or panic from my mind and body.

If you feel like you’re so overwhelmed that you don’t know where to go or what to do, just take a walk.

It doesn’t matter where you go, just keep on walking until you feel better.

Personally, I like to walk without any music so I can recenter myself with the reality around me.

Sometimes music keeps me in my bubble, so I recommend leaving the earbuds at home and paying attention to the sounds around you.

The birds, the wind, the trees, the people. Melt into the world around you.

And if you’re still feeling like you’re having a hard time calming down from your peak, then take a long drive with great music. And if you have the opportunity, pick up a good friend along the way and drive together.

Talk Out Loud

Seems like a silly (and obvious) suggestion…

But when the tornado is slowly consuming us, it’s happening all in our minds. And if you’re like me, you’re just sitting there silently as your brain is overworking itself.

Whether you work it out by yourself or have the chance to call someone you love, speak your rambling thoughts into existence and set your mind free of the entrapment.

Once you say what you’re thinking, you’ll realize two things:

• what you’re worried about isn’t actually factual or a real threat
• you get to the bottom of the core trigger being activated

Then, you realize everything you were bottling up just needed to be released, and you can breathe a little bit easier again.

Make Pancakes

One method that has proven over and over to diffuse my anxiety is making pancakes.

You, of course, can choose whatever delicacy you prefer to whip up. But for me? There’s something special about the process of making pancakes that soothes my soul.

It’s a task that takes little to no thinking; just creating. And that is everything I need to simplify my brain function and focus on one delightful task.

I put on my headphones, activate my creativity, and slip into a trance-like state of moving from one delicious step to the next. And by the end, I get to indulge, and share, my creation.

I’m quite literally alchemizing my stress and turning it into a masterpiece.

We love that.

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I hope my silly, yet extremely helpful ways to diffuse your anxiety bring you comfort and support. It’s no easy thing to deal with a storm of thoughts that can appear out of nowhere, so knowing how to help yourself is the most important step of it all.

And thankfully, there are simple ways to do so.

I hope you have the most wonderful day.

Love, Anastasiya

Join My World

If you enjoy these types of posts, I’d like to invite you to The Sonder, my lifeline.

It’s my newsletter, but it’s so much more than that.

Every week, I send 3 emails – Sunday and Monday – then brief and bubbly surprise messages throughout the week with the sole purpose to encourage you to keep going.

To keep pursuing your dreams, ideas, desires, plans, and life.

I’m the friend who relentlessly won’t let you give up on your dreams.

“Breathing dreams like air.” f. scott fitzgerald

Every Sunday, I send The Sundae Sonder.

Inside you’ll find…

• the tools I’m using to upkeep my mindset and wellbeing – books, tactics, and exercises.
• what I’m currently loving – music, dessert, movies, etc.
• ideas for fun and adventure – solo dates, group activities, and simple pleasures.
• and so much more

During my darkest moments, I realized that all I really needed was one person to cheer me on and remind me that I wasn’t alone. 

And although it’s our responsibility to do the heavy lifting of our own lives, that doesn’t mean we have to do it all alone.

That is what The Sonder is for.

A resource and reminder to keep moving forward. Every week.

So, come on in, you’re gonna love it.

I can’t wait to see your name pop up!