Summary of "Calming Anxiety With Your Body’s Built-in Anti-Anxiety Response 11/30"
Key Wellness Strategies, Self-Care Techniques, and Productivity Tips from the Video
Understanding Anxiety and the Nervous System
- Anxiety and PTSD symptoms are linked to the nervous system being stuck in a fight-flight-freeze (sympathetic) state.
- The body and brain communicate bidirectionally; calming the body can calm the brain.
- Self-regulation means consciously calming your nervous system to create a feeling of safety even when you are safe.
Self-Regulation vs. Relaxation Skills
- Relaxation skills often involve stepping away from tasks and can sometimes lead to avoidance.
- Self-regulation skills can be practiced while working or performing tasks to keep the nervous system balanced.
- The goal is to pair the thought “I am safe right now” with a relaxed body, enabling calm, clear-headed, and focused functioning.
- Practicing self-regulation leads to relaxed vigilance — being alert but calm and less reactive.
Examples of Self-Regulation Techniques
- Deep belly breathing
- Valsalva maneuver (breath-holding technique)
- Peripheral vision and softening your gaze
- Yawning
- “Shake it off” physical movements
- Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping on specific points on the body)
- Laughter to release tension and trigger parasympathetic response
- Inversion or being upside down (headstands, inversion tables) to slow heart rate
- Washing face with cold water to trigger the dive reflex (slows heart rate and breathing)
- Monotasking (doing one thing at a time to reduce perceived threat)
- Mindfulness (being fully present in the moment)
- Doing one slow, deliberate activity daily (e.g., petting a dog, drinking cold water)
- Sex, which cycles the nervous system through sympathetic and parasympathetic phases
- Hugging loved ones to release oxytocin and reduce stress
- Stretching to release muscle tension and send calming signals to the brain
Additional Important Points
- Avoid forcing or suppressing emotions; instead, practice willingness to feel emotions and gently lean into calm sensations already present.
- Self-regulation should be practiced frequently throughout the day, even for just a few seconds, to gradually shift the nervous system toward calm dominance.
- Recognize that stress responses are often due to perceived danger, not actual danger, and changing this perception can reduce anxiety.
- Maintaining healthy biorhythms (eating when hungry, sleeping when tired, exercising as needed) supports nervous system balance.
Practical Application
- Use reminders on phones or smartwatches to pause and breathe or move.
- Regularly check in with your body and nervous system during daily activities.
- Combine mindful awareness with physical self-regulation to maintain calm under pressure.
Presenters / Sources
- Primary presenter: Unnamed instructor/therapist (creator of the “30 skill course” on processing emotions)
- Mentioned expert: Eric Gentry (trainer of ER doctors, police, special ops, and soldiers with PTSD)
- Sponsored by: Take Two Minutes (non-profit providing daily positive mental health messages and activities)
Category
Wellness and Self-Improvement
