usually anxiety is about the future....are you thinking about something that's coming up in your day or life?
by discovering the cause can you then prepare for whatever it is your anxious about?
Right now I am anxious about something and I am finding that taking care of little chores and helping others
is a calming thing. I hope you can experiment and find things that will help.

I know exactly what you are saying. It’s not gonna happen today or tomorrow or next week or next month. It takes working on accepting your anxiety and facing it instead of fighting with it. I recommend a book by Carl James on Amazon called “it’s only Anxiety.” It is a guide into the acceptance method of approaching anxiety. It can be used along with other tools we can utilize in helping ourselves overcome anxiety. It takes time, willingness and patience. It’s not easy, but it is possible. I’ve been doing relaxation meditation for over three years, It has brought me a long way, but correcting our negative thinking is also needed. It is our thinking/thought process that got us into this condition in the first place. Best wishes. Stay in touch here too. Lots of good folk to offer gentle support while you heal.

On the other hand, you could take a nice walk or bike ride if the weather is nice.

Oh boy can I relate. Lately anxiety hasn't been too bad, due to new meds I'm taking, but I do slip into the old anxiety every now and then....it's just terrible!! We have to try really hard to control it.

Gentle empathy, Tired. My mind has a mind of its own and keeps right on a-chattering, no matter how hard I work to control it.

Radical acceptance is the best relief I've found so far. The space between my ears remains one of the noisiest spots on the planet, but I have more resources to work the therapy tools when I am not wasting energy on fighting the unbeatable foe. I'm the one who gets all the black eyes when I fight myself.

One of the first steps in treatment plans is choosing to accept that anxiety is our helper. Anxiety is natural.

Whatever words you use to describe anxiety-choose them to help. Those words are how you see it, feel it, use it, and think. It is the way you will sense it in those moments where you find it overseeing your thoughts,

Being aware of anxiety helps you to keep your calm in the moment.

I think what’s interesting is the title of your post: “I want to be calm!” That exclamation point
says it all

Small things can help, like instead of an exclamation point, a period. I’m not trying to be cute here. Literally staying calm and being calm can come down to grammatical choices. For examples when I practice mantras I be sure to stay away from words like “no” or “not.” Because they imply incorrectness, wrongness. It defeats the intent.

Well rmb,

I so wish I could control anxiety that easy. Your reply does sound like a good idea....but if you are having anxiety all you want to do is yell.

And maybe those small things can help. Not sure if I can stay away from those words but I will try. xoxo

I know that one of the first steps in overcoming your anxiety is facing and accepting it and not ignoring it. But how can you do that? What are some techniques that you all use to help you "own" your anxiety instead of ignoring it?? I could really use some helpful tools right about now. I continue to have good days and bad days, but I just want more than anything to have more good days than bad and I am just not quite getting there yet. Also, what are some meditations that you all use or recommend? Looking for some help as well. Thank you all.

I can’t say I ignore anxiety. But sometimes in telling myself, “it’s just anxiety” it helps me accept it or at least calm down long enough to try to apply the tools I’ve learned to manage it. I just try to not fight it so much.

Carly I’m not saying use of wording is 100% effective in controlling anxiety. It’s just one little thing I do to try to keep myself together when I’m feeling anxious. It’s hard to feel calm when yelling how you want to feel calm.

I usually find myself having more anxiety when I am directly not trying to think about what is making me anxious. Try rationalizing the worry. Is it something that you can do something about right now? If so, go do it. If not, plan out ways that may help you when that "worry" happens. Hope this helps!