They’ve been used successfully by people with PTSD who are learning to deal with disturbing thoughts and memories, and can be quite powerful.ġ. These easy techniques can help slow down your racing thoughts. By using a bilateral approach to activate the parasympathetic half, you can down-regulate the sympathetic half - and calm your racing thoughts. The other half is the sympathetic nervous system, which drives that “fight or flight” response. It’s the healing and relaxation half of your autonomic nervous system. The physical mechanism you’ll be activating is the parasympathetic nervous system. Take slow, deep breaths as you tune into your breathing, sensations in your body, and the earth beneath your feet. There are some effective physical methods you can use to break the cycle of anxiety and feel better.Ĭalming techniques that can stop racing thoughtsīecause racing thoughts result partly from getting stuck in your brain, it helps in those anxious moments to reconnect with your body and the physical world. While that’s good in many ways, the brain’s thought process can benefit from being reined in and reassured in moments of high stress. It’s wired for survival so it naturally stays on the lookout for danger. I’ve often thought of the human brain as a pessimistic chatterbox. Where you are least focused is on the present moment, which ironically is the place where you can feel the safest. If you’re like most women, when your mind is anxiously racing, you’re probably mostly focused either on the past (regrets) or on the future (anticipating bad outcomes). When it’s so hard to convince yourself to be calm And even though you’re focused on real-life circumstances, physical contributors, such as low blood sugar or caffeine in your system, can also intensify anxious ruminations, making situations feel worse than they are. But there’s more to racing thoughts than shifting hormones.įamily and life changes, financial worries, and fears about aging can instantly position you to become more anxious, even about little things. Many studies connect anxiety, serotonin and hormone status, especially when a woman’s estrogen is fluctuating.Ī lot of women seek help with their hormones in midlife, whether it’s with natural hormonal-balancing methods, or even hormone treatments. While everyone worries about something now and then, middle-aged women tend to have more anxiety than they used to. You may even feel additional symptoms like sweating, nausea, shallow breathing, or shaking - all signs of the “fight or flight” response. Once anxiety gets a toehold, your thoughts will begin to race - often in repetitive, circular patterns that feel familiar - reasoning away your galloping thoughts feels impossible because you’re stuck in those very patterns. Whether it’s the undone tasks on your to-do list, a pending confrontation with a co-worker, or a sick kid, your mind is prone to fixating on any issue that’s unresolved - especially at night when you’ve stopped running around.
You can become anxious about almost anything, even if it starts small. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to quiet everything down and even turn off the panic? Turns out you have a built-in calming system that can help you feel less on-edge.Īnxiety is the little monster that sets off racing thoughts. Racing thoughts can take over when you’re trying to get to sleep, struggling to focus, or hovering on the brink of an anxiety attack.
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