Mental health conversations are becoming more and more normalized around the world, and that is an undeniably positive change. Greater awareness of conditions such as anxiety disorders has helped many people recognize what they are experiencing and seek the support they need. At the same time, the conversation can sometimes become heavily focused on identifying and labeling anxiety itself. This is important, but it doesn’t always explain how to live with anxiety more healthily.
Sometimes it helps to step back and, instead of only focusing on anxiety itself, explore the relationship between calm vs anxiety, and what actually allows the mind to move from one state to the other. This page will discuss how to build calm through emotional regulation and other key areas, including:
Anxiety tends to get a bad reputation, and with good reason. It can leave you feeling jittery, with a persistent worry that refuses to quiet down, making it difficult to relax and even disrupting your digestive system. But anxiety also serves an important purpose as the brain’s built-in alarm system.
From an evolutionary standpoint, anxiety is a survival response meant to protect you.[1] When you sense a threat, whether real or imagined, the sympathetic fight-or-flight response is triggered. This floods your body with stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline, that raise your heart rate and breathing. While this is happening, your senses sharpen and muscles tense, preparing you to react to the situation.[2]
Once the threat passes, the parasympathetic system steps in as a de-escalator, which slows down the heart and lowers stress chemicals.[2] In this sense, anxiety is your brain’s attempt at keeping you safe, but it’s not always a perfect process.
AMFM is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
People with chronic anxiety experience persistent and excessive worry that is hard to control.[3] It becomes so intrusive that every part of daily life can become difficult to deal with. Essentially, the body’s alarm system is stuck in the “on” position even when there’s no danger present.
You may experience chronic hypervigilance, a state of ongoing alertness without a real threat that can be exhausting for both body and mind. Your nervous system continues to pump adrenaline and cortisol through the body, which is responsible for the agitation and jumpiness you may feel.
Other symptoms may begin to appear as the body stays in this heightened state of alertness:[4]
When these symptoms persist, that is when more serious problems often start to arise. A review on stress notes that when stressors remain persistent, the body enters a resistance stage.[2] During this phase, stress hormones continue to circulate throughout the body. If the pressure does not ease, the body can eventually move into an exhaustion stage, where burnout and persistent feelings of anxiety begin to develop.[2]
If you ask most people what the opposite of anxiety is, most will say “calm”. But if we asked them to explain what calm is to them, there would be all kinds of different answers. This is because calm, in some respects, is subjective. What may be calming for you might not be calming for another person.
For example, one person might find their ‘calm’ by watching their favorite TV show after a hard day’s work. Others may find their own version of calm after completing a challenging workout.
But while answers may differ based on preferences, there is some order in what constitutes calm. Physiologically, calm means your stress response has shut off, and your parasympathetic system has taken over.[5] From a psychological point of view, it means you can feel emotions like anxiety or stress, yet still stay in control of your behavior.[6]
For those wondering how to feel calm naturally, this combination of physiological and psychological balance is the goal. It doesn’t necessarily matter how you get to the state of being calm, as long as these two criteria are met.
If calm is the state where your body and mind return to balance, emotional regulation is the skill that helps you get there.
Emotional regulation refers to the ability to recognize your emotions and respond to them in a controlled and healthy way.[7] Rather than being overwhelmed by feelings such as anxiety or stress, regulation allows you to notice what you are experiencing and gradually guide yourself back toward equilibrium.
Emotional regulation does not mean you will never feel anxiety again, as anxiety is part of human nature. It means having the ability to cope when it appears rather than allowing it to dictate your reactions. This aligns with positive psychology anxiety approaches, which focus on building strengths and adaptive skills, rather than just reducing symptoms.
A person with good self-regulation skills may:[8]
The encouraging part to remember is that emotional regulation is not something you either have or don’t have. These are skills that can be learned or strengthened, which means there are practical ways to help your mind and body settle when anxiety appears.
Once you understand what anxiety is and how calm works within the nervous system, the next step is learning practical mental wellness techniques that help guide your body and mind back toward that calmer state. The important thing to remember is that the goal is not to eliminate anxiety completely, but to develop anxiety coping strategies that allow you to regulate it when it appears.
Many of the following techniques work by influencing the nervous system directly, while others help to change how the mind responds to stress.
One of the fastest ways to calm anxiety is by influencing your breathing patterns. When anxiety rises, breathing can become shallow and rapid, which tells the brain that something is wrong. Slowing the breath tells the nervous system that the body is safe, which then allows the parasympathetic system to begin taking control again.[8]
Techniques like deep diaphragmatic breathing or even humming focus on controlled exhales to help send this ‘safety’ message to the brain. Research has shown that breathing practices like diaphragmatic breathing can reduce physiological and psychological stress.[9]
These breathing practices essentially train the nervous system to recover from stress more efficiently.
When learning new emotional regulation skills, it’s important not to overlook the tools you have in front of you. In this case, it’s your own body. Techniques like progressive muscle relaxation work by instructing you to deliberately tense and release muscle groups throughout your body. It is thought that this helps the nervous system recognize the difference between tension and relaxation.[10]
If your muscles are relaxed, the brain receives feedback that the body is no longer preparing for danger. Research backs this up by showing that practicing this method can reduce overall anxiety symptoms.[10]
Another physical method involves using one of our primitive reflexes, known as the mammalian dive reflex. This is activated by splashing cold water on the face or holding anything cold against the face.11 This reflex naturally slows the heart rate and helps the body exit an anxious state.[11]
Mindfulness is one of the most widely studied mental wellness techniques for anxiety.[12] The overall aim is to observe the thoughts and emotions that come with anxiety without immediately reacting to them. Creating this space between a trigger and a reaction can gradually reduce the intensity of anxious episodes.
Research into mindfulness-based stress reduction programs has shown that regular practice can notably reduce symptoms of anxiety.[13] Examples include:
With practice, mindfulness for anxiety can change how the brain responds to stress, helping people become less reactive to their thoughts.
Self-soothing techniques for adults are small sensory actions that interrupt the cycle of anxiety. Essentially, they give the brain something else to focus on, which in some situations can be enough to stop escalating anxiety.
Studies have found that even something as simple as chewing gum during demanding tasks can reduce stress levels.[14] Researchers believe this happens because the rhythmic chewing motion engages the brain just enough to prevent attention from drifting toward anxious thoughts.[14]
Other self-soothing tools include burning lavender essential oils and using weighted blankets that provide deep pressure stimulation.[15], [16]
While these strategies may appear small, they can provide quick emotional grounding when anxiety begins to rise.
While short-term coping techniques are useful during anxious moments, long-term calm also depends on daily habits.
Research consistently shows that several lifestyle factors influence how reactive the brain is to stress.[17] These include sleep quality, nutrition, physical activity, and substance use.
For example, diets that stabilize blood sugar and include balanced nutrients may help support emotional stability, while regular physical exercise increases neurotransmitters linked to improved mood.[18]
Prioritizing consistent sleep schedules and limiting stimulants such as caffeine can also reduce vulnerability to anxiety, as sleep loss and overstimulation can heighten the body’s stress response.
A Mission For Michael (AMFM) provides treatment for adults experiencing various conditions. Anxiety support is a phone call away – call 866-478-4383 to learn about our current treatment options.
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Learning and practicing emotional regulation skills can help manage anxiety, but there are times when they may not work. Anxiety disorders can sometimes have deeper psychological roots that are difficult to untangle without guidance.
If efforts in practicing nervous system regulation skills and other mental wellness techniques have fallen short, it may indicate that your anxiety needs a more structured level of support. This is where stress management therapy and adult behavioral therapy can help.
Mental health professionals are trained to uncover patterns that may not be obvious from your point of view. When these aspects are explored through evidence-based therapies, you can start to develop healthier ways to respond when anxiety appears. For those with a history of difficult experiences, trauma-informed therapy may be particularly beneficial, as it addresses how past events are causing current anxiety.
It’s not always easy to know when additional support is needed. It may be worth reflecting on a few questions about how anxiety is affecting your daily life:
If you find yourself answering “yes” to one or more of these questions, professional support could be a constructive next step. These questions don’t “diagnose” you with anxiety disorders, but they do open the door to a conversation that might be worth having.
You’ve recognized the importance of controlling your anxiety symptoms, learned countless emotional regulation skills, yet the anxiety is still impacting your life on a daily basis. If this sounds like you, now might be the time to seek professional support.
Our team at A Mission For Michael works with people who are experiencing persistent anxiety and other related mental health concerns. We understand that anxiety can appear in many different forms, which is why treatment with us is designed around you rather than following a rigid template.
Our clinicians use evidence-based therapies to help you understand where your anxiety comes from and how it can be managed. We use a range of different therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
We also understand that the environment of treatment can play an important role in recovery, which is why we offer both outpatient and residential treatment options. These settings mean you’re able to continue daily responsibilities while attending treatment or have the chance to step away from everyday stressors to focus fully on your mental health.
Contact AMFM to learn more about our anxiety treatment programs and how we can support you in building lasting calm and emotional balance.
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For many people, it’s both. As anxiety decreases, you may feel more calm in your body and more confident in your ability to handle life without spiraling into worry or self-doubt.
Try a fast grounding reset: name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, and 1 you taste. Then add paced breathing (inhale 5, hold 4, exhale 5) until your body starts to settle.
Anxiety can lock your body into fight-or-flight. Strong sensory input and movement can interrupt that loop and help your nervous system shift back toward safety.
A consistent plan usually works best: therapy like CBT or DBT, skills practice between sessions, healthy routines (movement, sleep support), and psychiatric care when medication is appropriate.
If anxiety is frequent, intense, or disrupting daily life—panic attacks, constant distress, or trouble functioning—we can help you figure out the right level of support and build a personalized treatment plan.
At AMFM, we strive to provide the most up-to-date and accurate medical information based on current best practices, evolving information, and our team’s approach to care. Our aim is that our readers can make informed decisions about their healthcare.
Our reviewers are credentialed medical providers specializing and practicing behavioral healthcare. We follow strict guidelines when fact-checking information and only use credible sources when citing statistics and medical information. Look for the medically reviewed badge on our articles for the most up-to-date and accurate information.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate or out of date, please let us know at info@amfmhealthcare.com
