To help people hit the reset button on stress and anxiety, Jenny Taitz, an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, has offered five quick coping strategies, via NYTimes:
- Lower your body temperature to help regulate intense emotions and slow your heart rate. Try dipping your face into a bowl of ice water for 15 to 30 seconds.
- Pace your breathing by consciously inhaling and exhaling, slowing your breaths to six a minute. This can help lower blood pressure, among other physiological benefits.
- Listen to relaxing music, such as Marconi Union’s “Weightless.”
- Practice “anchoring” by digging your heels into the floor and observing what you’re thinking and feeling. Evaluate whether those thoughts are helpful.
- Improve your tolerance of stressful physical sensations by replicating them in quieter moments. For example, you can try hyperventilating by breathing through a coffee straw for one minute.
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GME Wellness Committee
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