Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts

Types of exercise matters.

If you are feeling anxious, you don’t really want to be doing a HIIT workout, sprinting or a high intensity gym workout, because high intensity types of exercising actually put stress on the body. Which is fine if you’re fine, but if you’re already anxious and those stress hormones are already racing round your body, you don’t want to be adding more to them.

Types of exercise that will help you to calm those stress hormones and therefore reduce your anxiety levels include more mindful, gentle types such as:

• Yoga - Always a winner as it is a holistic practice which integrates the mind, body and spirit.

• Pilates - similar to yoga but with more of a body focus than with the mind and spirit.

• Tai-Chi - If there are no tai-chi groups in your area then you can find free tutorials on YouTube.

• Swimming - This takes the weight of your body and allows you to tone all of your muscles in a gentle way (providing you don’t push yourself - just go at a pace that feels good).

• Walking - Particularly in fresh air such as in woodland or by the beach.

With all of these you can do them by yourself, with a friend or as part of a group. This can add another element to the exercise, as talking to a friend or others in a group can further help to reduce your anxiety. However, if you’re anything like me and are prone to getting the giggles at inappropriate times, it can be beneficial to do some of these solo. Go with what feels good for you. X