The Most Unusual Ways To Relieve Anxiety Under 1 Minute

Have you ever felt like you are about to explode from anxiety? Are you exposed to it every day? There are simple yet effective ways to relieve anxiety and go on with your day stress-free.

Everyday Stress And Anxiety

Stress is all around us – right? Unless you are living in one room, not communicating with anyone, and simply just breathing – anxiety is becoming a normal everyday occurrence.

Unfortunately, many people have accepted it as their usual trait and they experience it on a daily basis.

This is not healthy and it can cause serious troubles to our mental health as well as harm us subconsciously.

No being should be under that much stress every day, but constant emails, calls, commutes, and interactions can make us feel overwhelmed. This can also make some people unmotivated and unwilling to do anything.

Now more than ever, people are becoming overworked, experiencing burnout, and have no desire for success.

Our spiritual self is not made to be working this much and to experience stress every day. Our ancestors only experienced anxiety and stress when they were in danger – an animal was chasing them, or their house was on fire.

These occurrences were not happening every day – they were extremely rare. However, there is a lot of sense of urgency at work, relationships are unstable and more people are becoming ill. Stress is behind most of these things.

Unusual Ways To Relieve Stress Under 1 Minute

When we talk about relieving stress, we usually think about meditation, massage, or walks in nature. But, it takes days to get your appointment for a massage, you need to wait to get home or somewhere peaceful to meditate.

If you are feeling anxious while someone is talking to you, having a massage later that day is not going to calm you down at that moment.

It may be effective to relieve your tension and overall stress but it will not help you in the exact stressful moment. However, there are some quicker, unusual ways you can relieve anxiety on the spot!

1. The ‘5-4-3-2-1’ Technique

Imagine you are in a stressful meeting and you are feeling a lot of anxiety come over your body. You start to sweat and your legs become restless. The 5-4-3-2-1 technique will help you ground yourself and not overthink. It is simple:

5: Think of the five things you can see in the room you are in. You can name everything that is on the table or around the room – even on yourself.

4: Look around and think about four things you could touch. It can be your own jacket, hair, or pen. Even the chair you are sitting in can be one of these touchable objects.

3: Think about three things you can hear. Do not concentrate on the person speaking who is stressing you out – rather concentrate on other sounds. For example, it could be children playing outside or cars honking on the streets.

2: Close your eyes for a second and think about two things you can smell. This can be fresh air or even your own perfume.

1: Think about one thing you can taste – it can be your own lip gloss or the still lingering taste of the delicious coffee you just had.

This is a powerful technique that will calm your anxiety down as it makes you concentrate on other simple things. It can be done in under one minute and you will instantly feel more grounded and relaxed.

2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

This technique involves your mind to consciously relax all the muscles in your body. It makes you relaxed by feeling all muscles that are tense, for example in your forehead and neck, and consciously relaxing them.

You can even imagine a wave of light passing through your body and relaxing each muscle it touches. It is an effective technique that makes your body get rid of anxiety in under one minute.

3. The ‘File It’ Technique

The “File It” technique is perfect for those nights when you’re lying awake, worrying about everything you need to do or things that happened to you during the day. Here’s how you do it:

• Close your eyes and picture a table with file folders and a file cabinet.
• Imagine picking up each file and writing down the name of a thought that’s keeping you awake—like the argument with your partner, tomorrow’s work presentation, or your fear of getting ill.
• After naming the thought, take a moment to recognize its importance to you, then file it away.
• Keep doing this with each thought that comes to mind until you start to feel more relaxed or sleepy.

This exercise helps you identify your worries, acknowledge them, and set them aside with a plan to address them later.

You’re giving yourself permission to deal with your feelings one at a time when the timing is better.

4. Square Breathing Technique

The square breathing technique is a breathing exercise that is done in four parts (hence the name). It goes as follows: breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, and wait for four seconds before breathing in again.

This technique can be repeated a few times until you feel relaxed and calm. It is also very good for your body and mind as it fills your brain with oxygen which is crucial for your health.

This exercise lasts less than a minute but it is very useful for reducing anxiety and relieving stress.

5. Naming Things

Imagine one letter in your head and try to name five different things that start with that letter. For example, imagine the letter E in your head and start naming five things you can remember that start with that letter – elephant, eleven, emotions…

This is another great way to distract your mind from problems and let it focus on something innocent and neutral.

Other Relaxation Techniques

If you want to relax and become a calmer person, there are other methods that can help you achieve that.

For example, running with earphones that play music you enjoy will help you relieve that stress out of your body.

Also, cleaning your house or doing other house chores may distract your mind and you may feel better afterward. Some people simply love being active in order to calm down, so going to the gym or dance classes can help you greatly.

Taking a cold shower is another anti-stress method you can do before you go to sleep. It will help your body relax and you will feel energized. Some people enjoy the company of pets, and this is called ‘pet therapy’.

Pets can be amazing for stress relief as they provide comfort and security to us. Other people use their hobbies to relax and achieve that perfect peace, for example. fishing, painting, composing music, writing, etc.

All these methods are very useful for you to achieve anxiety relief. Some of them may appear difficult at first but after you master them, you will love how they make you feel.

Do you have any innovative or unusual methods that help you relax? Have you ever tried one of the mentioned methods and did it work for you?