Life
The ONE Body Hack To Calm Anxiety You Need To Know
When you're in the throes of anxiety, it can feel like relief is a fantasy — it's as if you can't remember ever not feeling as anxious as you do in that moment. A surge of anxiety can throw off your whole day, fogging your judgement, pulling at your attention and souring your mood. It's so easy to just throw your hands in the air and give up on reclaiming your day, which is exactly why you need to know about the one body hack that will calm your anxiety.
When you let someone know you're feeling anxious, they can be quick to offer advice. They might tell you to take a deep breath, to take a walk, to go meditate, to listen to music. They might tell you a crazy story about their day to distract you or help put things in perspective. They might send you a clip of a puppy doting on a newborn baby. They might even try to help you lessen your work load to alleviate some of the perceived pressure.
But if it sometimes seems like every anxiety-squashing hack is just that, you might want to shake things up for yourself and try something completely different — y'know a body hack that actually works. You don't always have time (especially in the middle of your workday) to go meditate for an hour, or go take a walk or slip off and listen to classical music in the bathroom. In a new video produced by BuzzFeed, you'll find a few body hacks that are so simple, and so easy, you won't believe they're real. Among the vast variety, which ranges from pee hacks to brain freeze hacks, is a totally surprising but legit anxiety hack. We'll call it the "Thumb Hack". Here's how to do it:
Be Anxious
OK, you've probably got that part of the equation down if you're reading along.
Take A Deep Breath
Stop whatever you're doing, close your eyes, and take a full, long, deep breath.
Give Yourself A Thumbs Up
Place your thumb in front of your lips. This is both part of the hack, and part of a psychological hack because you're awesome and totally deserve a thumbs up.
Exhale On Your Thumb
Let all that anxiety and bad energy out on your thumb. That's right, just let it go, let it go, let it go.
Be Amazed
Yes, I'm totally aware of how insane and nonsensical this hack appears to be. But i genuinely works — blowing on your thumb stimulates the vagus nerve, which in turns tells your body to slow its heart rate. Watch the video to learn more about this hack and all the others which also seem to cray cray to work, but do.
