Stress Reliever and Techniques

Strategies for Calming and Coping with Anxiety

Practice deep, slow breathing (3 or more times)

Imagine your favorite place

Grounding 5,4,3,2,1: Name 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel…

Think of/name 5-10 of your favorite things/people/places

Say the alphabet slowly. Picture each letter in your mind. Give each letter a color.

Remember the words to a song you love

Run water over your hands

Get a drink of water

Count backwards slowly from 20

Use positive self-talk

Take a shower or enjoy a warm bath

Tense your muscles, then release them

Write in a journal

Draw or color

Write down what’s bothering you, then tear it up and throw it away

Make a worry box 

Rub a smooth stone

Do some yoga, stretch

Squeeze a stress ball

Shred paper

Shuffle cards

Take a walk

Wrap up in a soft or weighted blanket

Sip a drink though a straw

Pop bubble wrap

Sit in a bean bag

Turn upside down

Create a playlist

Talk with someone you trust

Write poetry, a song, a story

Get outside. Feel the sun on your face. 

Dance

Swing on a swing

Jump rope, ride a bike, go swimming

Read

Jump on a trampoline

Decrease screen time, texting, social media

Start a garden

Do a craft

Clean

Bake or cook

Make playdough or work with clay

Crossword/Sudoku puzzles

Start a gratitude journal

Listen to a free calming app (Smiling Mind, Calm, Headspace, Relax Melodies, Dreamy Kid)

Chew gum or eat a crunchy snack (like celery or carrots)

Blow some bubbles        

Stack rocks, blocks or other objects              

Draw with sidewalk chalk