Besides focusing on my breathing, what else do people do to calm themselves down?

There are numerous things that people can do to calm themselves down. When I get wound up something that I try to do is focus on activities or thoughts that are slow. For example, weeding a patch of the garden one weed at a time. Removing all of the objects from a cupboard and putting them back in one by one in an organised fashion. Removing books from a bookshelf and putting them back in order of author one by one. Follow a gap between tiles from one end of a room to another. These all require focus and slow thoughts to achieve these sorts of things. Find something that is similar that you can do in your surroundings and go for gold.

I count down from 100 by 3...e.g. 100...97...94...91 etc all the way to zero. It is a simple task that I can take anywhere and apply whenever I need it to give myself a short break and focus on something else apart from the anxiety. Sometimes if I find it hard to visualise, I will say the numbers silently in my head as well as trying to visualise them.

For me, personally, it always helps to be in an open space and to have someone hold my hand if possible. Also, I find that having a water bottle and taking sips helps because it alleviates some of the focus on breathing. Little nibbles helped me too. Mini eggs or Maltesers were always handy to have. Also, if you feel sick, then mint chewing gum has helped both my friend and I. If you like music then certain songs may be able to calm you down or another form of distraction: my go to ones are origami, knitting, painting.. anything to keep my hands busy and my mind distracted.

There are many ways I find useful to calm down. You can distract yourself from what is making you feel so worked up, exercise or writing down what is causing you to feel like you need to calm down may be helpful as you feel a sense of release from what you are experiencing. My personal favourite is the new Tapping method, you can look it up on the internet and receive a demonstration of how it is carried out. It has proven to be VERY successful as it unblocks your energy pores causing you to feel distressed or whatever emotion you are feeling.

Try to focus on your perception. Think about 3 things you can see, then 3 things you can hear, feel, smell. When it works out well, you can look for 5 things or more.

Go for a walk at least five minutes to change for a little while the scenario. It also is very good being in a park, and hear and see and feel how nature has its own process, like the wind, and water, and sun or clouds, the grass, the little bugs, the dogs and cats. If you can't be there, you can imagine it, which is equaly perfect, because it embraces you a sense of belonging, like a litlle meditation.

Count things that you see, feel, and hear. count things that are unchanging. Focus on the feeling and sound of air coming into your nose and into your lungs. Cup your hands over your ears to hear your breathing better.

While focusing on breathing, just trying to mantra to yourself that everything will be okay. Sometimes just listening to music can help calm you down as well.

Something that really works for me is 'grounding'. I find 5 things i can see, 4 things i can feel, 3 things i can hear, 2 things i can smell and 1 thing i can taste. It not only helps me bring myself back to reality but it also passes the time during an uncomfortable panic attack.

Something the enjoy. Like a hobby. Doing something you are passionate about often keeps you distracted and calm

Focusing on breath is my #1 choice, while other techniques I use to build up on the sense of calm I cultivate through breathing. From my personal experience, you may try other techniques too, but I would focus on breathing as if my emotional life depended on it. In a way, it does!

There are many other things you can do to calm yourself down; it really depends on who you are and what works for you. For some people, chewing gum may help calm them down. Going in a quiet safe place may also calm you down. Playing with something in your hand so may also really help calm you down.

Many people like to use imagery and their imagination to calm down. Picturing yourself in a calm and serene environment can help you feel at ease. I like to imagine every single detail I see about my image, focusing on something else, rather then the panic can help divert your attention and calm you down!

I have come to find that the best way for me to calm myself down is to focus each of my senses on something around me. If I am sitting in a full classroom I try to sit at the back of the room so all of the noise is in front of me and not surrounding me. If I feel myself starting to get worked up I will try to zone everything out, I focus my eyes on something in the room, I open my ears up to more sound; like the clock I listen to the steady sound. I carry around a bottle of lavender oil and smell it when I get worked up to focus in my smell sense. I carry around a light snack and eat it as needed, I then will focus on the feeling of my pants or my knuckles. I have found this to be very helpful, focusing on one thing helps drain out everything else around me.

5 senses, find something that you can smell, see, touch, taste, and hear. It worked for me once.

It varies from person to person but I have my own ways of calming myself, some of these include listen to music, read a book, focus on a certain smell or feeling, recite song lyrics or a poem in your head, go through the alphabet thinking of a positive word for each letter, think of a time you were really happy and re-play that memory, create a happy scenario in your head.

Visualise and focus on you fear; give it a colour, shape, movement, sound... Focus on keeping it in one area or even making it smaller; I have asked why this helps my friends and the ones who do it all have different explanations ("you can beat it and push it out", "it's like knowing your fear", "I can stop it from going out of control", "I can know what it'll do next") but it seems to work. This also works for physical pain.

Personally, I write. Whether it’s in my journal or making up short stories but when I am feeling overwhelmed or sad, I am more drawn to pulling out my diary/journal and ranting away. I calm down a lot because I feel like I get all the overwhelming and consuming thoughts finally out. Even though it’s not to a person, it’s out in the open in some form. When I journal, I pop on my favorite tunes and lounge on the floor and begin to write. These writings doesn’t have to be neat and should solely be meant for you so no organization or standards should be met. To calm down I also like to color and listen to a audiobook. I begin to drift off in the audiobook away from whatever I was upset over as I color along. This is also a rewarding project because you can use different coloring books and different things to color, draw, or cut out to do in the meantime. The outcome of the picture is rewarding to your dedication of the photo. This work you put into the photo as you are lost into the audiobook, you calm down and even start to forget why you were so upset.

When I am having a panic or anxious episode, I try to find a quiet place and will play calming binaural sounds. Usually, a cold (but not ice cold) bath that has a couple drops of lavender essential oils inside. Then from there I name 5 different things for each color of the rainbow. I have an obsession with counting, so other times, I will even count to 35 ten different times. Sometimes, taking a walk or driving with the windows down help tremendously. Something about the crisp, fresh air, especially during the morning or evening really does it for me!

Practice Mindfulness, Meditation, or Self-Hypnosis. Mindfulness is to assess your immediate environment and things, objects, and people around you and how it may be impacting your anxiety. Meditation helps to harmonize the mind, spirit, and body to null any difficult emotions. Self-Hypnosis can help to relax the body, mind, and create an effective way to cope with difficult situations. Another effective tool in helping to de-escalate the situation is to write, draw or doodle; in effect, this can help to relieve tension by using a focal point for the brain to organize patterns, ideas and thought, thus disarming the triggers.

Breathing is great. Another thing I tried which is a kinda weird one but does work in an equally weird way is running cold water over your wrists... I know weird but it does kinda work. Another one is to focus on your sensations so sounds or your hand. This puts your minds focucs on something else and let's you get more present to the moment. These are all worth a try and would love to hear which helped you. What things have you found effective so far? haha you could try them all at one time.. Let me know how you go!

reading, taking a shower, meditate, gardening, work out, watch tv, petting their pet, going for a walk.

Everyone is different in calming them selves down. Many take warm baths, go for a walk, or listen to music. Everyone will have to find what's right for them.

well everyone is different some like listening to music, listening to the gentle sounds of a rainforest, even playing games and watching there favourite shows :) we all have our own coping mechanisms :)

Listen to music, take walks, talking to a friend or someone in your family, mindfulness/yoga or using creativity to draw or paint or write poetry. Sometimes your creativity boosts when you are stressed.

Find 5 things you can see, find 4 things you can feel, find 3 things you can smell, find 2 things you can hear, and find 1 thing you can taste. It helps you focus and calm down.

I used to wash my hands with warm water, wash my face with cold water and/or, if I could, do a whole warm shower. Maybe if you feel angry or stressed you can do some physical exercise (ex: running), if you feel sad or lonely you can try to listen some music, talk with someone or do something you like (ex: sing) or watch funny videos on YouTube and Vine. If you need company you can always count on us listeners and chat with us. I hope this helped, have a nice day! :) x

There are lots of things you can do to calm down! Different things work for different people, but here are some good things you could try: listening to music you like, talking to someone (Listeners are here for you!), watching a film, taking a nap, grabbing a snack, journaling, etc. Really, anything that can distract you might help, or something else you might find soothing! Hope things work out for you, lovely!

Count, yes counting can really help, such as anything around you. Clear your mind, then focus only on one thing in the room whether it be your shoe or the hairband on someones head. Jump, have an outburst because sometimes all you need to do is let out that times energy into something so you can calm down quicker to a timed out rate.

I like to listen to calm music and relax with my eyes closed. Try to think logically about what is bothering you.