Finding Calm: Empowering Strategies and Support for Controlling and Reducing Anxiety
Leveraging the principles of neuroscience that underpin Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, you can adopt several self-help strategies to effectively manage anxiety.
When our mind enters a state of alert in response to a perceived danger, it triggers a physical reaction of stress—even when such a reaction isn't necessary.
We shift into our primitive survival part of our brain, initiating a mode of fight, flight, or freeze, which means changes in our breathing patterns, muscle tension, and even feelings of nausea as blood is redirected towards essential muscle groups and away from tasks deemed non-critical like digestion.
This shift can lead to discomfort and amplify our anxiety.
Such physical discomfort can initiate a cyclical pattern of negative thoughts, where the brain is effectively trying to keep us safe.
So, it’s priority is on not making us happy and content, but more around helping us what it thinks is helping us stay alive.
Commence overthinking, negative forecasting, worst case scenario, re-checking, hypervigilance, even procrastination, imposter syndrome etc - sound familiar??
Here are five practical ways to control and reduce anxiety on a day-to-day basis, inspired by Solution Focused Hypnotherapy and neuroscience.
These techniques are grounded in understanding how our brains work and how we can influence our neural pathways towards more positive outcomes.
Practice Mindfulness and Presence
How it Helps: Mindfulness strengthens the prefrontal cortex, enhancing its ability to regulate emotions and calm the amygdala, the brain's fear center. This can reduce the immediate physiological responses to stress and reduces anxiety (Hofmann et al., 2010).
What to Do: Engage in daily mindfulness exercises. This could be as simple as focusing on your breath for a few minutes, practicing mindful eating, or taking a mindful walk, where you fully engage with your surroundings and the sensations you experience.
Visualize Positive Outcomes
How it Helps: Visualization can change the way the brain responds to stress by reinforcing positive neural pathways. Regular practice can help shift focus away from anxiety-inducing thoughts to more positive, solution-oriented outcomes (Chen et al., 2015).
What to Do: Spend a few minutes each day visualizing a positive outcome for your day or a specific situation you might be anxious about. Imagine it in detail, using all your senses to reinforce the positive experience in your mind.
Develop a Gratitude Practice
How it Helps: Focusing on gratitude can increase mental strength and reduce stress and anxiety by activating the brain areas associated with positive emotion and regulating emotional responses (Seligman et al., 2005).
What to Do: Keep a gratitude journal. Each day, write down three things you are grateful for and also what’s been good about your day. This practice can help shift your mindset from focusing on worries or negative thoughts to appreciating the positive aspects of your life.
Engage in Regular Physical Activity
How it Helps: Exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety by increasing the production of endorphins, the brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, and by reducing levels of the body's stress hormones, adrenaline, and cortisol (Smith and Merwin, 2021).
What to Do: Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. This doesn't have to mean vigorous exercise; even a daily walk, yoga, or gentle stretching can make a significant difference.
Use Breathing Techniques to Calm the Mind
How it Helps: Controlled breathing exercises can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing the stress response and helping the body to relax. This has a direct calming effect on the brain, particularly the amygdala (Doll et al., 2016).
What to Do: Practice deep breathing exercises, such as the 4-7-8 technique (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds). This can be particularly useful in moments of heightened anxiety or before entering a known stress-inducing situation.
Implementing these strategies into your daily routine can help manage anxiety levels and foster a more positive and controlled response to stressors.
These techniques, rooted in the neuroscience behind Solution Focused hypnotherapy, empower individuals to actively influence their mental and emotional wellbeing.
Navigating anxiety can sometimes feel like a solo journey, but it doesn't have to be.
If you're finding these strategies helpful but believe you could benefit from a bit more support, why not consider coming in for some sessions?
Therapy, especially Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, offers a warm, welcoming space to dive a little deeper and build on these tools together. We only focus on the future, not on the past.
It’s all about teaming up to tailor a plan that suits you perfectly, boosting your confidence and equipping you with even more strategies to handle whatever comes your way.
Think of it as having a friendly guide by your side as you explore new paths to wellness.
Reaching out is easy, and taking that first step is a positive move toward embracing a brighter, more serene you.
There’s no pressure—just a friendly conversation to start, and who knows? It could be the beginning of a beautiful journey toward finding your calm.
References:
Chen, S.-F. et al. (2015) “Effect of relaxation with guided imagery on the physical and psychological symptoms of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy,” Iranian Red Crescent medical journal, 17(11). doi: 10.5812/ircmj.31277.
Doll, A. et al. (2016) “Mindful attention to breath regulates emotions via increased amygdala–prefrontal cortex connectivity,” NeuroImage, 134, pp. 305–313. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.041.
Hofmann, S.G., Sawyer, A.T., Witt, A.A. and Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, [online] 78(2), pp.169–183. doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018555.
Seligman, M. E. P. et al. (2005) “Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions,” The American psychologist, 60(5), pp. 410–421. doi: 10.1037/0003-066x.60.5.410.
Smith, P. J. and Merwin, R. M. (2021) “The role of exercise in management of mental health disorders: An integrative review,” Annual review of medicine, 72(1), pp. 45–62. doi: 10.1146/annurev-med-060619-022943.
Other sources:
Zaccaro, A. et al. (2018) “How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing,” Frontiers in human neuroscience, 12. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353.
Want to find out more about how hypnotherapy can help you manage anxiety?
The next step is booking a FREE 45 Minute Initial Consultation / Hypnotherapy Discovery Session (no half-measures here).
In-person at my Oxfordshire Therapy Room (Upper Heyford, near Bicester or Online via Zoom).
The first step to setting yourself free and living the life you want.
My name is Andy Selway-Woolley (he/him) and I am a fully qualified Clinical Solution Focused Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist. I run HeadFirst Hypnotherapy®, based in Upper Heyford (near Bicester), Oxfordshire.
I assist people in regaining control of their lives by retraining their brains to overcome limiting thought patterns, master their emotions, and cultivate resilient behaviors for a brighter and more positive future.. I know… It’s awesome!
a nutshell, I ‘get you out of your own way’. Because, let’s face it, a lot of us are.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy taps into the power of your subconscious mind so you can move forward towards the life you’ve always wanted to live. It’s a quick, practical way to address thought patterns, emotions and behaviours that are holding you back in life.
I’m also a Level 3 Qualified Personal Trainer, after working in a gym environment in my early career.
I’m a registered and accredited member of the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (AfSFH) and National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH).
Hypnotherapy sessions can be done either in my garden therapy room in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire (Near Bicester). Ideally situated, it also serves individuals in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire and I also work online nationwide via Zoom.