Use The Big 3 to Combat Anxiety

It’s 2:20 pm and the sun is high above my two-bedroom apartment in Southern California. An intense combination of heat and pressure weighs down on the shingled rooftop and no amount of AC can blow the feeling away. Then, the anxiety starts.

I don’t know about anyone else who lives in Southern California, but it has been nothing short of intense when it comes to this heat. For the last eight months, we’ve had an overcast that would give any New Jersey native a sense of nostalgia. But those days seem like a dream now. Something I’ve unfortunately noticed about myself is that, in the midst of this unquenchable desert heat, I’ve been having a lot more anxiety attacks. I’m not a scientist, but I do love a good experiment. After a week of surviving these episodes, I noticed it would happen at the peak of the sun beaming on my apartment. And while I have no control over the sun and whatever else is going on with the intensity of it all, I can control how I respond to this new phenomenon. Enter the Big 3.

Note: I am not a scientist or a doctor. The tips that I’m about to share are from my own personal trials and tribulations. They are not law. With that being said, I hope that you find them helpful to add wellness to your being.

What Are The Big 3?

· Meditation

· Word Vomiting

· Exercising

I like to consider these the best ways to combat anxiety when you feel yourself spiraling. There are three different levels, each referring to the intensity of the anxiety attack. I like to move gradually from one to another depending on the day, but I will admit that I’ve been doing a lot more exercise than meditation. It is important to note that you can do all three of these anywhere, at any time, without any kind of equipment. I always like to share the tools that I use so you can have a similar experience. Today, I want to join the fight and combat anxiety. And it starts with meditation.

Level 1: Meditation

Meditation is useful for grounding your mind by focusing on your breath. It’s a great way to prevent a panic attack from even starting because it gives you something to immediately focus on. By slowly inhaling and exhaling, you bring your nervous system to the present moment where there is no immediate danger. The “danger” in your mind quiets down and you spend your energy winding down instead of winding up. I love the visual breathing exercises that you can find on YouTube or through various meditation apps. Guided meditation is also helpful for those that may find it challenging to focus on your breath, especially if you aren’t in the right mindset to focus on yourself. I’m a big fan of the Calm App and can say I was using it back in 2019 when my life was bleak, and I was anything but calm. Thanks, Tamara <3. Headspace is also another fan favorite of mine. Though I’ve never committed to a subscription plan with them, they are another great way to guide you back to a calm and grounded place.

But what happens when meditation isn’t enough? Your mind is full of dialogue and long rants about that guy who cut you off this morning. The last thing you can think about is your breath or what anyone else has to say about how you breathe. Enter Word Vomiting.

Level 2: Word Vomit

Anyone whose anyone knows how I feel about Word Vomit and I even wrote a whole article about Word Vomit that you can check out if you want a more in-depth description. To put it simply, word vomiting is when you spew out a ramble of words, dialogue, events, and to-do lists until it’s out of your head and onto “the page”. If you have a long list of worries, write them out until you have nothing left to worry about. It might take a few pages or a whole journal. But writing things out puts life into perspective. And while you can certainly use a word vomit journal, or type it out on your phone, I acknowledge that some people don’t like keeping things documented or may think it’s a waste of time to spew out nonsense onto a paper. Here’s another approach to this. Treat it like therapy. If you are a more extroverted person, you might like talking more than writing. Use talk-to-text and say everything you need to get out in one shot. Heck, if you don’t like things being documented, play pretend with yourself and don’t record anything but still let it all out. Pretend that you’re talking to a trusted friend as you go off about what’s bothering you. As a more introverted soul, I like to type away my worries until I feel like there is nothing left to give. Sometimes I use what I write. Sometimes it’s just trash. Even starting this article, I had just come down from a panic attack and thought it would be really great to start writing this article. To be clear, most of the first draft went in the trash.

But what if you are so frustrated and so anxious that you can’t even conjure a word, never mind a few sentences? The idea of doing anything with your mind repulses you into a state of terror and you feel yourself slipping into the spirals of anxiety. This is when we need to get moving and put those muscles to work.

Level 3: Exercise

Those that are in the “exercise field”, don’t laugh at my latest discovery. I’ve read countless times how exercise can improve your mood, health, and a bunch of other stuff. I never thought I’d use it to combat anxiety in the middle of the day.

Remember how I said I was having anxiety attacks around the middle of the afternoon? Well one day, I decided to use this energy to my advantage and dusted off the RingFit my husband bought about a year ago. I figured that if my heart was going to be running a million miles an hour, I might as well lose a few pounds in the process. Because I was one of those kids who tried to use Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution as a workout regimen, I already knew how to focus my mind on the game. I decided to do mini-games instead of a full-blown story mode so I had the choice of what I wanted to work on. This quickly tricked my mind from being anxious to having fun. By focusing on balancing on a digital wire or whacking digital robots with my abs, I didn’t have time to spiral into the darkness of my mind.

This doesn’t mean that you’re assed out if you don’t have a RingFit. My suggestion would be to go on YouTube and find a hip-hop class or a belly dancing class and try it out. Don’t try something that is doing to make you fall on the floor in a sweaty puddle, unless you’re really leaning into the fitness portion of this idea. Choose a video that is going to make you laugh because you’re enjoying it. Choose it because it’s fun to you. And fun combats anxiety any day. If you have the privilege of taking a live class or doing an outdoorsy activity like hiking or rafting, go for it. There are no limitations to the imagination of exercise. Just make sure to stretch first and bring along some water.

Bonus Tip: Yoga

Yoga is something that I use as a confidence booster rather than an anxiety combatant, but it can still be useful to quell anxiety. For those that have never done yoga before, it may seem a bit challenging to ground yourself while balancing in downward-facing dog. But if you take things slowly, as I offer in my free 13-week challenge, then eventually you’ll see results and improve your skills.

I think it sucks that there are so many people that suffer from anxiety. Whether it's nervous jitters or full-blown anxiety attacks, it all matters and deserves more than a bottle of pills and a pat on the head. I hope that my tips give you some reprieve from incessant this battle of the mind. May your day be a peaceful one. I look forward to seeing you in whatever form I appear. Until next time!

About the Author

Crystal Cabrae is a storyteller who specializes in writing dystopian, romantic, and adventurous worlds for animation and fantastical fiction. She is a proud graduate of Full Sail University, AMDA, and New World School of the Arts. Her six years of acting training in both New York and Miami gives her a unique perspective when approaching her characters. She has a passion for sharing how to create stories with the world and inspiring the storyteller that lives within all of us. Follow her on IG or Pinterest to know the latest.