Anxiety toolkit
Understanding Fight, flight, freeze
The sympathetic nervous system is the body’s survival mechanism. It is
activated when we think we are under some kind of threat and helps us
face that immediate threat by providing the body with the energy and
resources it needs in order to fight, flight (run away) or freeze (play
dead). This system comes on-line automatically, which is to say, we don’t
need to THINK about it, as it is activated on an unconscious level. Some
of the effects of this system will be familiar to you, the racing heart,
shallow breathing, cartwheels in the tummy, and in some cases, the
brain starts to feel like it’s shutting down. After all, we don’t need to
waste energy thinking too hard if all we need to do is run away.
There’s nothing wrong with us if this system is activated – it is simply the body trying to
help keep us alive. However, this system comes online, not just with real and immediate
threats like a speeding car when we’re crossing the road, but with imagined ones as well
– whether that’s speaking up in public or dealing with anxious thoughts about the future.
Our anxious thoughts can keep the sympathetic nervous system online way beyond when
it’s useful and this can take its toll on our physical and mental health. However, even if
there are stressful times around us, the good news is that we can control how we cope
with them, and start to help the body “stand down” from threat mode. Even if it’s just for a
short period of time, it will still be beneficial. Little and often may well be the way to go in
these current times.
Understanding rest and digest – the parasympathetic nervous system
The parasympathetic nervous system is the flip side to the sympathetic nervous system
and it is crucial for our wellbeing. It’s this system that brings us back into ‘homeostasis’ –
balance. When the parasympathetic nervous system is triggered, our body starts to calm
down, digestion begins again, saliva increases, the heart rate slows, muscles relax, and
breathing returns to normal; we can thrive again. Although this our thriving natural state, it
is probably the most neglected aspect of wellbeing. In order to mitigate the ill effects of
long-term stress on the body, it’s essential to trigger the parasympathetic system, and
allow our systems time to calm down and balance out. There are many ways to trigger
the parasympathetic nervous system. We’ve included a few of them in this toolkit.
After any calming activity you do, it’s worth spending a bit of time
logging the change in your body and mind. This can help act as a
positive reinforcement, meaning that you’re less likely to reach for
a distracting activity which may not actually make you feel better in
the long run. So, instead of reaching for the phone, or checking the
news, try one of these activities instead and logging any positive
benefits it has for you.
Registered Charity Number 1102058 | Registered Company Number 4738057 | Managing anxiety during lockdown. Ruth Rosselson
manchestermind.org
Breathing
One of the most easily accessible ways to calm down is to take control of the breath,
which becomes faster and more shallow when we are stressed and anxious. There are a
few different techniques that are worth trying.
Belly Breathing
Belly breathing helps control breathlessness and panic attacks and the vicious circle of
anxiety. Practising this breathing technique at times when you are not breathless will help
when need it most. A good tip is to focus on the out-breath for longer. If you are not used
to this type of breathing, it might take a while to get used to. This is why it’s useful to
practice.
How to do it:
Breathe in slowly through your nose, taking the breath all the way down into the lower
belly. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Keep this up for a few breaths. If you like, put
your hands on the belly to see if it moves out and in when you breathe. As much as
possible you’re trying to make the belly move, but the chest stay relatively still. See if you
can notice any changes in the body and mind. If you don’t like focusing inward you can
also use your hands to mimic the movement of the breath and focus on the movement of
the hands instead.
Box breathing
When we are stressed and anxious, our breath can get very short. This is another
technique which can be helpful with anxiety, overwhelm and stress, and help improve
mood. Like belly breathing, this technique can help regulate the breath, sending a signal
to the brain and to the rest of the body to slow down. It is a message to say; “it’s safe,
you can relax, there is no threat here”.
How to do it:
Breathe in to a slow count of four, hold the breath to a count of four, breathe out to a
count of four, and then hold for a count of four. Repeat 4 times. Try this three or four
times a day. If you’re new to box breathing, it may be difficult to get the hang of it. You
may get dizzy after a few rounds. This is normal. The more you practice, the easier it will
get. However, if you get too dizzy, resume your normal breathing and just stay sat down
for a bit.
Other types of calming breathing include
• Making the breath equal by breathing in for four counts and out for four counts.
• Extending the outbreath so that you breathe in for four counts, and out for six.
• Another alternative is to breathe in for three, hold for four and out for five counts.
It’s worth trying them all to see which you prefer.
Registered Charity Number 1102058 | Registered Company Number 4738057 | Managing anxiety during lockdown. Ruth Rosselson
manchestermind.org
Using other anchors to bring you to the present
Breathing isn’t the only way to help the body and mind calm down. You can focus instead
on your senses. These techniques can be great for people who find focusing on the
breath increases feelings of anxiety.
Grounding meditation
When you notice yourself having anxious thoughts, it can be helpful to use the senses to
shift the attention away from the thinking mind and into the physical body and what’s
happening right now.
This short exercise uses all of your five senses to help refocus the mind and body. Look
around you, note five things you can see. Repeat them as a list in your head or out loud.
Then note four things you can feel or touch. List them in your head or say them out loud.
Then list or say three things you can hear, two things you can smell (or your two
favourite smells), and one thing you can taste (or your favourite taste). Take some deep
belly breaths before and after this exercise. If you prefer, you can list just one thing of
each. You can try out a guided version of this here:
Other ways of doing this might just be to repeat something silently about what’s actually
happening right now, rather than what’s happening in your imagination. So you might be
sat on a chair, and then you would repeat to yourself “I’m sitting on a chair. I’m breathing.
I’m safe” a few times.
Focusing awareness on the body
If you are sat down, it can also be very grounding to focus on the sense of your feet on
the floor and the body on the chair. Firstly bring your attention to your feet, noticing that
not all of the foot is in contact with the floor – notice the sense of contact and pressure.
As much as you can, rest your awareness here, just noticing that feel of the feet resting
on the floor. You might also notice the feel of where your feet might be touching the edge
of any footwear too. Focusing your attention on any sensations that you notice here. You
might like to move your toes to see how that feels too. Then you can also notice the feel
of the bum and legs resting on the chair, being curious about how it feels to rest your
attention on the feeling of the body sat down. You can stay with this feeling of the body
being still and grounded as long as you need. A short guided version of something similar
can be found here.
Focusing JUST on the sounds around you
You might like to start with finding one sound to focus your attention on, and then moving
your awareness by listening to each individual sound around you in turn. Try and do this
for a couple of minutes and see how you feel afterwards. Thoughts may come and go –
don’t worry too much about them – just come back to focusing on the sounds (or the
silence). This is nice to do outside. A short guided version is here
Registered Charity Number 1102058 | Registered Company Number 4738057 | Managing anxiety during lockdown. Ruth Rosselson
manchestermind.org
Shake it off!
One way of calming the nervous system down is to learn from our furry canine friends.
After a dog has been in a stressful situation, it will literally “shake it off” – shaking its fur
and body out until the body has reset. We can do the same! Short bursts of aerobic
exercise may have a similar effect on us. If you find yourself with a build up of anxious
energy, why not put on a happy up-beat tune and have a vigorous dance to it. Check in
with your mind and body afterwards. How does it feel now? Do you notice the benefits?
Allow yourself to absorb any benefits you feel.
Social relationships
Our social relationships are important for our rest and digest systems. In typical life, we’d
be seeing friends and family regularly, hopefully giving them hugs and enjoying the
interaction. During lockdown, this may not be possible. However, it is important to
recognise that there are ways of making the distance easier. Video calls and facetime are
more beneficial for our wellbeing and sense of connection. In fact, it’s said that the brain
can’t really tell the difference between seeing someone on video or seeing them in
person. Even if you can’t video call, a telephone call may still help you feel calmer and
more connected than a text or message on social media.
Drinking in the good or being grateful
Whenever you have a nice, pleasurable or enjoyable experience – however small –
spend some time taking in everything about it. Notice how it feels in the body; are there
any physical sensations? What emotions are present? See if you can hold these feelings
in awareness for 20 – 30 seconds and drink it in. It helps the experience stick in the
memory more and contributes to your feelings of wellbeing. Another way to increase
feelings of wellbeing is to keep a grateful or positivity diary – listing at the end of the day
the things you were grateful for on that day, or the positive things that happened.
Other things you can do
• Limit your news intake: Yes it’s important to know what’s going on, and what the
current situation is, but do you really need to know what’s going on 24 hours a
day? Instead of logging onto the news at random times throughout the day, set a
time once or twice to check in and leave it at that. Perhaps also schedule one of
your favourite calming activities straight afterwards if you notice any anxiety levels
start to rise again.
• Limit your social media: Social media can make our anxieties and stresses worse.
Perhaps take a look at who you follow and avoiding or muting people whose posts
are likely to trigger more anxious thoughts and feelings. Like the news, you might
also want to control when you look at social media rather than doing so randomly.
Avoid both news and social media first thing!
• Food and drink: Stick to regular mealtimes and follow a healthy diet. Avoid excess
caffeine which can make stress or anxiety symptoms worse.
Registered Charity Number 1102058 | Registered Company Number 4738057 | Managing anxiety during lockdown. Ruth Rosselson
manchestermind.org
• Nature: Even if you can’t get into nature, perhaps consider acquiring some
houseplants to give you some greenery to focus on, or try looking at some photos
of beautiful places.
• Sleep: Stick to regular sleep windows if you can, and try and maintain normal
sleep and wake times. When our sleep is disturbed, it’s natural for the brain to
become more negative and anxious; this is part of the body’s survival mechanism.
• Little and often: Little and often is what’s important in times like this. Perhaps
schedule in a few times a day for some belly breathing or one of the other
strategies, and then start to use it whenever you feel anxious thoughts are starting
to spin you out.
• Laughter can be very calming for the nervous system. Find some comedy to listen
to or watch and see if you can laugh away some anxiety.
• Turn off notifications You might want to set your phone to ‘do not disturb’ and only
check in a few times a day. Some phones allow you to only be notified about texts
and calls from favourite individuals such as close friends or family.
• Going from me to we: Connecting with others is so important for our nervous
system as already mentioned, but kindness and compassion is even more
powerful. Finding ways to support and help others can really help calm things
down, give us more of a sense of control, connection, and purpose.
• Set up a routine: When our routine is out of sorts, so are we. As much as
possible, see if you can set yourself a timetable and routine that you can stick to.
Setting a routine, will also give you back some control – as a lack of perceived
control that can feed our anxiety.
Let us know how you got on – we’d love to hear any positive stories or feedback
about any of these techniques. Find us at on Facebook at Manchestermind or
@manchestermind on twitter.
Further resources from Manchester Mind:
• https://www.manchestermind.org/mindfulness-march/ - download our 31 days
of mindfulness handbook with a different suggestion every day
• Soundcloud.com/mindfulmarch – a variety of relaxations and short meditations
Also Recommended
• Headspace app
• Calm app
• Breathe app
• Oak – has some breathing exercises to calm you down as well as meditations
• Unwinding Anxiety app by MindSciences (has had some very good results in
treating anxiety according to researchers)
• Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s podcast “Feel Better Live More” episode with Dr Judson
Brewer, also the one with Gabon Mate
Registered Charity Number 1102058 | Registered Company Number 4738057 | Managing anxiety during lockdown. Ruth Rosselson
manchestermind.org
