Sometimes, life gets us worked up, angry, or anxious. Use these 10 ways to calm down quickly in any situation and become relaxed instantly.
When you’re calm, you can go back to doing your everyday tasks without any interruption.
But before we start, let’s identify why you might not be calm at the moment…
Reasons You’re Not Calm – Why Don’t I Feel Relaxed?
The first step to relaxing yourself quickly is by identifying the problem. Here are a few possible reasons why you’re not calm:
- You had an argument
- Someone is bothering you
- You have an upcoming test/project
- You’re nervous to mess up something
- You are going somewhere with a lot of people
- You’ve just received bad news
- You’re craving something (food, water)
- You have a lot of energy to expel
- Your workspace is cluttered
- You woke up late or had a bad night of sleep
All of these could be potential reasons that you’re not calm. If none of these seem to pertain to your situation, take a second and think of any reason why you feel uneasy right now.
More likely than not, you feel like this for an actual reason and not just because of some random phenomenon.
Now that you’re identified the problem, let’s move on to the 10 ways to actually calm down quickly…
10 Ways to Calm Down Quickly
Use these techniques to feel instant relief from your anxiety, anger, or any other uneasy feeling you may have:
1. Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises are one of the most popular ways to calm down quickly as long as you get in the right mindset.
Follow this breathing exercise for instant relief:
- Sit down with your back straight and hands on your lap
- Close Your Eyes
- Inhale until you really can’t anymore
- Hold it for 4 seconds
- While you hold, squeeze every muscle in your body
- Exhale as slow as you can
- Release your muscle tension as you exhale
- Repeat
This will not only relax your mind, but your muscles as well. Every time you repeat this breathing exercise, you’ll fall into a deeper and deeper relaxed state.
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2. Take a Shower
Although it may not seem effective, taking a shower is one of the most relaxing things you can do!
Take a shower in warm water. Let the steam open your pores and calm down your mind. Use a nice face wash to gently rub away all the dirt and replenish your skin.
Warm weather, water, and heat in general is proven to relax your muscles and mind.
In fact, warm water is often correlated to falling asleep which can definitely help your brain feel more relaxed.
Consider taking a warm bath if you have one available or even hop into a hot tub if you can. Fully submerging your body in heat is great for getting the blood flowing and keeping all your muscles at ease.
Keep in mind, your muscles have a huge impact on your mental state. That’s often why you see people meditate in a bath/sauna or lift weights to get something off their mind.
3. Drink Tea
Certain teas have been proven to relax us and even reduce anxiety at times.
Keeping the body warm and hydrated is what staying relaxed is all about. Get some hot water ready and grab a calming tea of your choice.
Here are the best teas to calm down quickly:
- Peppermint
- Chamomile
- Lemon Balm
- Green Tea
- Kava
There’s plenty of teas out there with relaxing properties that you can use. Chances are, you already have a few of the above-mentioned teas in your house right now!
4. Burst Into Exercise
I’m not saying to go to the gym right now or do a full body workout at home. That wouldn’t be instant relief.
Instead, do a few jumping jacks, pushups, squats, jump rope, or any other immediate exercise you can think of.
The point is to get your heart pumping and your blood moving just enough to feel something. This will trigger your brain to focus on other parts of your body and ease the tension from your mind.
This works especially well if you pair this with tip #2 (taking a shower). Get sweaty, get pumping, then go take a nice warm shower.
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5. Get Some Fresh Air
Feeling a little stuffy inside? Going outside for some fresh air is an excellent way to breathe in the oxygen, feel the sunlight, and take it easy.
Whether you go for a walk or just sit outside, you’ll immediately feel the sun doing nature’s work and filling your body with serotonin (a hormone in our body related to feeling happy).
You can’t argue with science in saying that serotonin doesn’t make you feel better, because it does.
On top of that, vitamin D is also proven to make us happier. Just another thing produced by the sun to help us feel good outside.
Imagine going outside and using the breathing exercise from tip #1. Boom! Instant mood boost to continue on with your day.
6. Use an Essential Oil
If you have an essential oil such as lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon grass, tea tree, or any other one from the long list of essential oils, use it to your advantage.
Inhale the scents, rub it on your forehead, and enjoy the relaxing feeling of essential oils.
You can grab a pack of essential oils here for your next anxious moment.
Consider using a diffuser if you have one as well to increase the inhale of the scents. Be sure to check those out to never worry about being anxious again! They’re relatively cheap and so worth it.
DO NOT ingest the oils! It is not some sort of food or medicine. Keep that in mind when you use these to calm down.
7. Chug Water
Sometimes, we just need a little hydration. If you feel extra anxiety or anger right after you wake up, drink a lot of water.
This will rehydrate every part of your body and give you the energy to start your day off strong.
Water transports hormones, gets everything flowing efficiently, and transfers nutrients to your organs. Without enough hydration, you’re missing out on the added benefits to stay relaxed and not feel worked up.
If you need another small productive boost, consider eating a piece of dark chocolate or drinking something with electrolytes to put your mind into full drive.
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8. Play Relaxing Music
Playing relaxing music is a great way to calm down quickly when other options are not available to you at the moment.
Listen to music that is relaxing, but upbeat and positive. Listening to sad music is relaxing, but it can bring you down further than you want it to.
Additionally, music that has no lyrics (no one singing) is the best music to relax to. You can even work or study to this type of music because it doesn’t distract you in the way that singing does.
Just be careful and steer clear of sad music. I used to do this to calm me down, but it started to bring me down instead.
If you can’t find any relaxing music, look up “lofi hip hop radio” on Youtube. There’s almost always a live stream of relaxing music to listen to that is designed for zero distractions.
9. Turn Your Lights Off
Close the curtains, turn the lights off, and keep it dark.
Doing so will trigger your brain to relax itself and go into a calmer state of mind. That’s why we get tired when we are surrounded by darkness. Ultimately, that is what gets our body’s cycle ready for sleep.
Bright lights and sunshine is correlated to happier thoughts, increased productivity, and energy boosts. Keep that in mind when you’re deciding your environment.
You shouldn’t have the lights off for too long since it can lead to extreme fatigue, laziness, and eventually more anxiety. However, having the light off for 10 minutes is a great way to relax yourself without jeopardizing any side effects.
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10. Declutter Your Workspace
A messy workspace is a messy headspace.
Take a minute or 2 to organize your desk, bed, and overall area around you to declutter. You don’t even understand how much this helps!
Open a window for fresh air, spray a nice scent in the room, write down your daily schedule, and get organized. I promise you, the same exact thing will happen in your head.
You can also toss your trash, clean down your desk, prioritize what you actually use, and sort out old papers for additional ways to keep yourself occupied.
The point of this task is to focus your brain towards other things that are actually helping you be more productive instead of staying in the same negative headspace.
Hopefully these 10 tips have helped you calm down quickly when stressed, anxious, or agitated. Make sure you identify the problem first and try combining a few of the tips together for added effect.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions leave them down below. Thanks for reading!
