Just to preface this, these are things that help me specifically, everyone experiences anxiety differently and things that help me might not always work for others <3
Prepare
Prepare for when you know you might have particularly bad anxiety, for me this is when I have placement days at uni, a long day ahead or an exam!
How do you prepare?
Herbal Tea: I have some herbal teas I particularly like on a rotation for when I know I’m gonna have an anxious morning. I like to drink these in bed, I try to go for teas that are zero sugar so I don’t have to get up to brush my teeth again. I tend to go for teas that contain chamomile and lavender. Chamomile has calming sedative effects and is known to reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality, lavander is similar in that it also has calming effects. (Also yummy)
My favourites at the moment: Pukka’s night time tea (both berry and regular), Dozy Girl from Bird & Blend, and plain chamomile.
Outfit and Pack Bag: The night before, especially when I’m feeling restless, it really helps to try and take away as many morning responsibilities for myself as I can. This includes picking my outfit, packing my bag and making a quick lunch. I’m less likely to forget things and reduce the morning panic. Also, I suffer quite badly with emetophobia so if I pack my own lunch I know it’s “safe” if I’m too anxious to challenge myself to eating food I haven’t prepared.
Wind-Down Activity:
Even if I’m feeling super busy, if I know I’m super anxious/ I’m gonna struggle in the morning, I always try and fit a wind-down, cosy activity for myself before bed. This could be reading a nice book, watching an episode of a comfort show or playing a little game.
Some book recommendations:
- “Before the coffee gets cold” series – Toshikazu Kawaguchi, japanese novels based around a time-travelling café.
- White Nights – Fyodor Dostoevsky, 2 main characters, an interesting read, its about a really lonely man who falls in love with a woman
- A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees – Yoshida Kenkō, I have no idea if this is good, I picked it up today and it sounded interesting- it’s about a monk reflecting on the pleasures of life.
my comfort shows:
- Friends
- The Office – US ver.
- Doctor Who (2005-)
Cosy game recommendations:
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure – I’m LOVING this right now, its so cute and I have my little tasks, difficult to put down
- Stardew Valley – I love this game but I play it too seriously, to the point where I plan out each day. So I have a dedicated save just for bed.
- Tamagotchi Connection – HONESTLY, so good, it’s on the DS and any of the connection games are distracting enough to calm down, but not stimulating enough to get too stuck in. I like the laundry and music mini games.
Playing a game can be super dangerous for me – if I open sims 4, I’ll be sat at my desk for the next 3 hours – no less. Now I play wind-down games in bed, either on my switch or DS.
Night Stand Necessities:
This is gonna be super subjective but here are the things that help me.
I always have a handheld fan in case I wake up in the night having a panic attack/ in the morning feeling super anxious.
Chewing gum: Same reason as above, the mint flavour distracts me from the nausea
Water: Little sips help when I have panic attacks, also afterwards I’m exhausted and find that I need water.
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If I do these things the night before an anxious day I feel a million times better even if it’s still difficult, it means I can actually get through the front door. Hope this helped <33
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