{"id":12955,"date":"2025-07-08T12:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12955"},"modified":"2025-07-08T12:04:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:04:06","slug":"feeling-anxious-try-these-6-odd-techniques-that-actually-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12955","title":{"rendered":"Feeling anxious? Try these 6 odd techniques that actually work!"},"content":{"rendered":"
When it comes to anxiety, we\u2019ve all heard the usual advice: \u201cTake a deep breath,\u201d \u201cThink positive,\u201d \u201cJust relax.\u201d But what if you’re past that point, when your body is buzzing, your thoughts are racing, and you’re desperate for something actually useful to stop the spiral before it starts?<\/p>\n

Here are six science-back techniques that may sound unusual, but that\u2019s exactly why they work.<\/p>\n

1. Chewing gum<\/p>\n

It sounds silly, but multiple studies have found that chewing gum lowers cortisol levels and reduces anxious thoughts. The repetitive motion mimics eating – something we only do in safe environments – signalling to your brain that everything\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n

2. Look left and right, slowly<\/p>\n

Neuroscientists that moving your eyes from side to side for 30 seconds while thinking about what’s stressing you out helps the brain reprocess emotions more calmly. This mimics EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), a therapy used in trauma treatment.<\/p>\n

3. Bite a lemon – seriously!<\/p>\n

It may be crazy but psychologistslogists state that strong, unexpected sensory input (like biting into a lemon) can interrupt anxious thought loops by shifting the brain\u2019s focus from emotional to sensory processing. It is essentially a shock to the system but in a good way. Don\u2019t worry, this includes any other citrus fruit or even a sour candy!<\/p>\n

4. Hold onto something oddly textured<\/p>\n

This grounding technique\u00a0redirects attention through touch. So anything rough, soft, or bumpy textured will engage your senses and help interrupt spiraling thoughts (your Labubu would do).<\/p>\n

5. Splash your face with cold water<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just TikTok wellness fluff. The \u201cMammalian Dive Reflex\u201d is triggered when your face hits cold water, slowing your heart rate and calming the nervous system. So splashing your face with ice cold water for as littleas 10 seconds can jolt your body out of panic mode.<\/p>\n

6. Name five things you see \u2026 backwards<\/p>\n

Basic grounding? Helpful. But doing it backwards activates your prefrontal cortex, the rational, decision-making part of your brain. Instead of naming \u201c5 things you see,\u201d name them in reverse alphabetical order or describe each in detail. This forces your brain to focus and kicks it out of the fear loop.<\/p>\n

These tricks aren\u2019t about pretending everything is fine.They\u2019re about giving your brain a moment to reset – interrupting the spiral long enough to breathe, think, and move forward.
\nSometimes, that\u2019s all you need.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to anxiety, we\u2019ve all heard the usual advice: \u201cTake a deep breath,\u201d \u201cThink positive,\u201d \u201cJust relax.\u201d But what if you’re past that point, when your body is buzzing, your thoughts are racing, and you’re desperate for something actually useful to stop the spiral before it starts? Here are six science-back techniques that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}