Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts
If you struggle with racing thoughts, constant worry, or that feeling like your mind just won’t shut off, you are so not alone. Anxiety is one of the main reasons women come to therapy. And when it builds up, it can affect everything. Your sleep, your relationships, your work, and even your ability to feel at home in your own body.
The good news is that you don’t need complicated tools to calm anxious thoughts. Simple practices really can help your mind and body find some ease again.
As a therapist in California who works with anxiety, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, I teach these kinds of skills every day. Here are a few of my favorites that you can start using right now.
1. Ground Yourself With the 5-4-3-2-1 Method
When anxiety takes over, your mind jumps into the future and starts imagining every possible outcome. Grounding brings you back to what is actually happening right here.
Try this:
Notice 5 things you can see
Notice 4 things you can feel
Notice 3 things you can hear
Notice 2 things you can smell
Notice 1 thing you can taste
It is simple, but it works. Focusing on your senses interrupts the anxious loop and reminds your brain that you are safe in this moment.
2. Use Box Breathing to Settle Your System
Anxiety often shows up as quick, shallow breathing. Your body interprets that as danger. Slower, steady breathing has the opposite effect.
Try a few rounds of box breathing:
Breathe in for 4 counts
Hold for 4
Breathe out for 4
Hold for 4
Repeat a few times until you feel your shoulders drop. This exercise can slow your thoughts, lower stress, and help you feel more grounded in your body.
3. Journal to Release Mental Loops
Sometimes anxious thoughts swirl because they have nowhere to go. Writing them down helps you create a little space around them.
Try this prompt: “What is on my mind right now?”
Write for 5 minutes without editing yourself. Just let it flow.
When you finish, notice how your body feels. You might feel a little lighter or clearer. Journaling doesn’t magically erase anxiety, but it helps you get unstuck.
4. Relax Your Body With Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Anxiety is not only in your thoughts. It also shows up as tension in your muscles. Progressive muscle relaxation helps you release that buildup.
Start with your feet and work upward:
Gently tense a muscle group for about 5 seconds
Let go and notice the difference
Move through your legs, stomach, arms, shoulders, and face. This practice helps you learn what tension and relaxation actually feel like in your body so you can let go more easily.
5. Reframe Anxious Thoughts
Anxiety loves worst-case scenarios. Reframing helps you challenge those thoughts and replace them with something more balanced.
Try it like this:
Anxious thought: “If I don’t do this perfectly, everyone will think I’m a failure.”
Reframe: “It’s okay to make mistakes. Doing my best is enough, and I can learn along the way.”
This is one of the core skills in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and it can make a real difference over time.
Final Thoughts
Calming anxious thoughts is not about forcing yourself to relax. It is about giving your nervous system small, steady tools so it can settle and feel safe again. These exercises can help in the moment, and therapy can help you build deeper skills that last.
If anxiety is making life harder than it needs to be, support is available. I work with women in California who are ready to move past overthinking, perfectionism, and people-pleasing so they can feel more confident and at ease.
If you are curious about therapy, you can book a free consultation. You deserve to feel more peace in your daily life.