According to Neuroscience, These 5 Simple Tricks Will Calm Your Anxiety Instantly

We live in a time of anxiety.

What will happen to the economy? Will political conflicts get worse? Am I doing the right things with my life?

Fortunately, we can name some simple techniques that neuroscience says work effectively to make people a lot less anxious, faster than you might think.

Here are five:

1. Listen to this specially crafted song.

I'm putting this first because it's my favorite and I'm always shocked at how well it works.

Ten years ago, British musicians teamed up with sound therapists to record a song called Weightlessness that stimulates specific neurological responses: slow heart rate, lower blood pressure and reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol. .

"The song...contains a steady beat that starts at 60 beats per minute and gradually slows down to around 50," explained Lyz Cooper, founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy. "As you listen, your heart rate gradually adapts to this rhythm."

It only lasts eight minutes and works like a charm. I first tried it several years ago and have been bookmarking it on my computer ever since. I will embed a YouTube version at the end of this article.

2. Use the 4-7-8 breathing method.

Another very simple, almost too good to be true method that actually works. In short, by breathing in a very simple way, you can reactivate your parasympathetic nervous system, which makes the body calmer.

In short, do this:

Find a place to sit comfortably with your back straight. Place your teeth at the back of your tongue and exhale completely through your mouth, making a sound like "whoosh" as you exhale. Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds. Hold your breath for 7 seconds. Breathe as you did at the beginning, for 8 seconds.

Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 a total of three times. Bonus: If you stay awake at night unable to sleep, the 4-7-8 breathing method also works wonders.

3. Get 45 minutes of vigorous exercise.

This one is quite recent and is from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Researchers studied 66 college students during the pandemic and found that negative thoughts and anxiety were significantly less common when participants exercised:

lightly for just under 2 hours a day moderately for 80 minutes a day, or vigorously for 45 minutes a day.

Choose what suits your ambition and schedule; I tend to recommend the 45 minute version, simply because if part of what creates anxiety is the worry of getting things done, adding a 2 hour habit to your day might be a bit counterproductive. productive.

4. Get some nature.

We have all kinds of studies to report here. Two of my colleagues at Inc.com wrote at some length about how an “awesome walk” in nature can make people feel less anxious — even one that only lasts 15 minutes.

You don't even have to walk, necessarily; researchers found that simply commuting to work by "