7 Magical Habits That Calm Even The Most Anxious People

I’m no stranger to anxiety, and stimulation hits me harder than many. But I’m grateful because decades of this taught me everything about staying calm. Mental wellness is maintained through sound physical health and thought management which is developed, over the long term, as a practice. But, if you find yourself uptight at stressful times, you sometimes need a short-term strategy that works quickly and effectively.

Here are 7 magical habits that calm even the most anxious people:

1. Shallow in and out nasal breaths

In Patrick McKeown’s excellent book: The Oxygen Advantage, he reveals the issue with the advice we frequently hear to "take deep breaths if we’re nervous." The problem here is — because of the way our bodies take in and process carbon dioxide (CO2) — we inadvertently absorb more CO2 when we take deep breaths.

To calm down, our bodies and brains need more oxygen, which is deprived when we anxiously hold our breath. Take eight long, slow, and shallow nasal breaths (5–9 seconds in-breath and 5–9 seconds out-breath) and allow your entire body to relax via the out-breath. Do this, and everything changes.

RELATED: The 3-Minute Breath-Based Ritual That Calms Even The Worst Anxiety

2. Read pages of fiction

Reading is like an active form of meditation. We use our thoughts very differently when we read than when we over-scrutinize. Read a story and immerse yourself in your imagination for a few minutes. Play with your ability to conjure a scene in your mind. Hear the sounds, taste the environment, be there. Reading soothes because you can’t overthink and read at the same time.

3. Relax

I know this seems too obvious, but it’s crazy how we can forget to do this. Many of us stay tight as a tin toy truck because there’s a belief somewhere that says we need to be rigid to be safe. Not true. The more physically tense we are, the more stress we’ll feel. Tension is the antithesis of performance in any context. The solution? Drop your shoulders. Breathe through the gut and into your groin. Scan your body and get back into your senses. Let go. It makes all the difference.

RELATED: 18 Quick Ways To Relax Instantly, According To Science

4. Core tension-release exercise

Something I learned from strength coach Elliot Hulse, which helped me time and again, is a tension-release exercise that loosens the belly. When we get anxious, a typical response is to tighten here. This is a result of millennia of protecting the torso from attacks and punches. But we still tighten up even with no threat.

Do this: stand up, bend backward slightly using your central hip area as a hinge — hands on hips. Now breathe in and out through your mouth and into your belly. The out-breath should be a raspy and loud HAHHHH. You want your stomach and body to shudder as you do this. Adjust your position to encourage more shuddering while you breathe. This is tension releasing from your belly.

5. Focus on listening

When we get anxious or panic, we have all our attention on ourselves. We’re judging our performance, or we’re anxious about the anxiety itself. We create pressure. Our priority is to put our attention outward. I find focusing on listening to people, and our surroundings (if you're able) does this well. If you’re out, put your attention on the birds, the sounds of cars, etc. When we prioritize listening, our minds still, and we can better process what others are saying. This connects us and centers us.

RELATED: 4 Tiny Habits Of People Who Make The Best Listeners

6. Go for a short awareness walk

There’s nothing like a walk to get out of our heads and back into the sensations of movement. Calm always increases in awareness and decreases in self-consciousness. I.e. when we overthink, we become agitated. So, when we walk, our attention is more on our environment, especially when we are more conscious about doing this, and we slow our movements when we walk. Even a five-minute stroll can be calming.

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7. Ask yourself: What’s funny, curious, enjoyable, or interesting about this moment?

Questions are very effective in directing the trajectory of our thoughts. When we’re anxious, we’re writhing in a quicksand of chaotic and meaningless thoughts. When we ask a question, particularly one that prompts us to look for the beauty in the world, we become a new person.

RELATED: Neuroscientist Explains The 1-Second Trick That Can Calm You Down Instantly

Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.