Support for When You’re Just Getting Through the Day
Anxiety can feel exhausting, frightening, and all-consuming, especially when it shows up in both your mind and body. While anxiety is a natural response designed to protect us, it can become overwhelming when your nervous system is stuck in a constant state of alert.
Here are some gentle, therapist-recommended ways to support yourself when anxiety feels present.
1. Understand that anxiety is not a personal failure:
Anxiety is not a sign that you’re weak or broken. It’s your nervous system trying to keep you safe, often based on past experiences rather than present danger. When you start to view anxiety with curiosity rather than judgment, it often loses some of its power.
Try saying to yourself:
“This is my body trying to protect me — I’m not doing anything wrong.”
2. Breathe in a way that tells your body you’re safe:
When anxiety rises, breathing often becomes shallow and fast, which signals danger to the body. Slow, intentional breathing can gently calm the nervous system.
A simple exercise:
- Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds
- Exhale slowly through your mouth for 6 seconds
- Repeat for 1–2 minutes
Longer exhales help activate the body’s calming response.
3. Ground yourself in the present moment:
Anxiety often pulls us into “what if?” thinking. Grounding brings you back to now. Try the 5-4-3-2-1 technique:
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can feel
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste
This helps remind your nervous system that you are safe in the present moment.
4. Reduce pressure to “get rid” of anxiety:
Trying to force anxiety away often makes it louder. Instead, gently allowing it without feeding it, can help it pass more quickly.
You might say:
“I don’t need this feeling to disappear right now. I can sit alongside it.”
This approach reduces the internal struggle that keeps anxiety stuck.
5. Support your body, not just your thoughts:
Anxiety lives in the body as much as the mind. Gentle movement, warmth, rest, and sensory comfort can be really powerful.
Helpful options include:
- Wrapping yourself in a blanket
- Holding something warm
- Gentle stretching or walking
- Listening to calming music
These small actions signal safety to your nervous system.
6. Be mindful of overstimulation:
Caffeine, lack of sleep, constant news consumption, and screen overload can all intensify anxiety. You don’t need to eliminate everything, even small changes can help regulate your system.
Ask yourself:
“What helps my body feel calmer, even slightly?”
7. You don’t have to manage anxiety alone:
If anxiety is impacting your daily life, relationships, or sense of self, therapy can provide a supportive space to explore what’s beneath it. Working with anxiety isn’t about “fixing” you, it’s about understanding your nervous system and learning how to feel safer within yourself.
A gentle reminder…
Anxiety can change. With the right support, understanding, and compassion, it doesn’t have to control your life.
If you’re looking for support, I offer online and phone therapy across the UK, as well as face-to-face sessions in Newquay, Cornwall.
You don’t have to carry this on your own!
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