The 8 best self-soothing techniques for adults
As adults (18 years+) life can throw us in many directions which can trigger stress and anxiety.
Stress and anxiety as adults can look like:
- Burnout
- Sudden and unplanned life crisis
- Grief and trauma
- A big test or exam coming up
- Parenthood
- Unfinished tasks
- Work deadlines
And more.
But did you know there is a way you can manage all of these by using techniques that not only are effective but are healthy and promote mental and emotional well-being? The bonus is that they can be done as part of your morning routine.
One way you can manage anxiety, and reduce stress is by practising self-soothing techniques for adults.
This blog post will touch on self-soothing definition and self-soothing techniques for adults.
Interested in this topic? Read further. Please share this blog post if you know will help someone.
Self-soothing meaning
Self-soothing refers to things you can do by yourself when you are in a high emotional state for the aim of making you calm or happy. As adults, we can be triggered and can disrupt emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness. It’s an important life skill for a person’s emotional well-being and mental health.
Shy away from self-soothing techniques that will create additional problems such as drinking alcohol, smoking, emotional eating, and social media scrolling, so this list doesn’t include any of these.
Self Soothing helps us
- work on feeling better
- calm your mind and body
- reduce anxiety
- help you think clearly
- improve your sleep
You are dealing with the problem right when it occurs by yourself.
When can you implement self soothing techniques in the morning?
You may self-soothe to calm and distress in the morning. Many reasons can make you feel stressed at the start of your day. Implement self-soothing techniques when these occur. These are examples that can occur at the start of your day:
- Work – you have a big presentation that you need to present to the board.
- You feel anxious going to work because of the work culture and environment.
- You have a big work pile to do and catch up with, and it’s stressing you out.
- You have a job interview that you need to go to and are feeling anxious.
- There is a big test or exam you have to take. It’s important for your grade
- You woke up to a chaotic house and need a minute to yourself
- Kids
- Something has triggered you this morning, and are feeling anxious
- When upsetting thoughts and feelings pop up in your mind, and you feel overwhelmed
The 8 self soothing techniques for adults
These techniques help regulate disruptive emotions and benefit mental health and can be added to your morning routine.
Deep Breathes
Deep breathing brings increased comfort and relaxation which is needed when we feeling stressed. It relaxes our mind and body. While it increases relaxation, it helps decrease symptoms of anxiety, anger, confusion, and depression. Deep breathing calms the nervous system that controls the body’s involuntary functions.
Simply take a deep breath. Hold it for about 5 seconds. Release the breath slowly and gently. Repeat this about 5 times. You should see a change in your mood.
What I love about this technique is that it can be done anywhere. All you need is a few minutes by yourself, in a safe and quiet space. You can do it sitting down or standing up. It’s low maintenance but very effective.
Meditation
Practising a few minutes of meditation in the morning can bring a sense of calm and inner peace needed to self-soothe. This is because meditation (sitting still, closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing) can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind.
There are many benefits of meditation as a self-soothing technique. It brings:
- It gives you a sense of calm, peace and balance
- It benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health
- Helps relax and cope with stress by refocusing your attention on something calming
- It helps you learn to stay centred and keep inner peace
There are different types and ways of meditation. Try them out, then choose one that is the most effective for you. Pay attention to how they make you feel. In the beginning, it will feel weird, but give it time the more you meditate the more it will feel natural. Add breaths to your meditation to make it more powerful and effective.
Journaling
Journaling is a practice where you can express your thoughts, struggles and fears without judgment or punishment on a piece of paper. It’s a low-cost and effective technique that helps you distress, stay calm and clear your mind. Journaling helps manage anxiety, identify triggers, and create awareness making you understand the problem you dealing with better. This allows you to form a new perspective, which can help you get to the root problem, which then helps you get a clearer way of how you can deal with it – how you can get help. This is a healthy way of dealing with stress.
When you get started with journaling, start by answering these journal prompts to kickstart your self-soothing rituals.
- How are you honestly feeling?
- What parts of your life are you most grateful for and why?
- What triggered you today?
- Write down how you wish people can see from your perspective to help them understand you better
- Write down how you can see from the other person/people’s perspective so you can understand them and where they coming from
- Write down a recent accomplishment or success and how it makes you feel
- Describe a place or environment where you feel most at peace and why
- Write down three healthy boundaries you can set from any corner of your life( work, school, family, friends etc.) to reduce stress and prioritize your mental health
Music
Music affects your mind, emotions and body. Because of this, listening to the right kind of music can help you reduce stress and anxiety which can ultimately help you self-soothe. Listening to a slower tempo can quiet your mind and relax your muscles, making you feel soothed while releasing the stress of the day.
body movement
Physical forms of self-soothing techniques such as a workout, walking, and stretching pump up endorphins which makes your brain feel good. When you feel good, you are in a calm and happier state. This ultimately improves your mood. Consider body movements as a meditation in motion. When you feel stressed and anxious you are tense. As you begin to exercise you are shedding that tension through movement, and may find that you focus on one task instead of millions of tasks running through your mind.
Prayer
If praying is part of your lifestyle and belief then, it’s good to take time in your morning to pray. when something in your life is worrying you, consuming your mind and causing you stress, you pray about it. Praying to your most high brings peace in our hearts. Don’t overlook this step when needing to self-soothe.
message a loved one
Certain people in our lives are our peace and love. It could be a parent, friend, partner, family member, mentor etc. Their presence calms us. We trust them. When we feel stressed or anxious send them a call or message just to ask if they have got a minute to talk. Let them know how grateful you are that they are in your life and that they are loved. Them reaching out back will bring peace and calm to your heart and surround you with love.
This could be extended to pets. Just acknowledging your pet with love and attention when in a high emotional state can help.
Positive affirmations
Affirmations are a repetition of positive statements said to yourself to promote and practice positive self-talk. This reframes negative thoughts, anger and anxiety into positive ideas and behaviours which can lead to change.
Positive affirmations you can say when feeling stressed and need to self-soothe:
- I am safe and in control
- This too shall pass
- I am loved
- I am on a journey of feeling
- I can handle anything
- I am enough
- What I am feeling is temporarily
- My thoughts and feelings are valid
- I am facing my fears head-on
- I’ve got this
- I can do this
- I am doing the best I can and that is enough
- I trust the process
- I release all worries and embrace peace
- I trust myself
Conclusion
Contrary to popular belief, mornings can start pretty hectic. Things such as work, school, unfinished tasks, sudden unplanned life events etc can have us feeling stressed and anxious which can ruin our mood for the day ahead. You need healthy techniques so you can distress and help you stay calm.
Use the techniques above to self-soothe and get by your day.
Please share this blog post if it helped you and think it can help others by sharing the link.