11 Ways to Calm Down: Quick Tips to Manage Stress

While we can’t avoid stress entirely, we can learn how to accept and manage it so that it doesn’t take over our lives. Some stress is even healthy, but not knowing how to process it can make things worse. Just imagine — instead of feeling overwhelmed by stress, you learn how to calm down with quick tools. In this article, we’ll dive into 11 science-backed tips that can reduce stress and improve your overall well-being.

11 ways to calm down

Struggling to unwind? Here are simple techniques to help you find your balance.

1. Breathing techniques

When we’re stressed, we tend to take short and shallow breaths, which can signal our body's 'fight or flight' system. This can keep us on alert and prevent us from relaxing. By slowing down and taking deep breaths, you can help regulate your body’s stress response and lower heart rate, activating your parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). Basically, slow breathing helps you get out of your 'fight or flight' state and let your body know you’re safe. Depending on the moment, try different breathwork techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, or the 4-7-8 method.

2. Fresh air

Nature has long been shown to help reduce stress and anxiety. Even ten minutes in a green space can reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. If you walk while outdoors, you can also regulate your breathing, helping to promote relaxation on two fronts. More exposure to fresh air and nature also boosts cognitive function, improving overall brain health.

3. Meditation and mindfulness

Focusing on the present can help you leave behind the sadness of the past or the stress of the future. Staying in the here and now, without judgment, can prevent you from ruminating or getting stuck in negative thought cycles. Research shows mindfulness and meditation work at the physical level — they decrease cortisol and improve your ability to regulate your emotions. Different types can be helpful, including mindfulness meditation or progressive muscle relaxation techniques.

4. Stress management devices

There are a few different types of devices that may work to promote relaxation by helping you sleep better or regulate your breathing. For example, the Muse headband is a biofeedback tool that promotes relaxation by giving feedback on your heart rate, breathing rate, and brain waves during meditation. Myndlift is another tool that gives therapist-guided remote neurofeedback and coaching for overall mental health. Biohacking devices aim to stimulate your vagus nerve to calm your sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight-or-flight response.

5. Physical activity

Regular physical activity supports overall mental and physical health, with about 150 minutes a week recommended. Fortunately, even shorter amounts can boost your mood quickly, especially if it gets your heart rate pumping and breathing regulated. For example, one study found that even a single 30-minute session of aerobic activity improved well-being. Exercise often helps people feel more in control of their emotions.

6. Journaling

Sometimes, we need to get our thoughts out of our heads, and putting pen to paper is just one way to do that. Many of us don’t feel we can express ourselves fully, but journaling can help you say everything you can’t say aloud and process what’s going on. It might even help you recognize your triggers and get some clarity on what you can do to help yourself. It’s a safe space where you can explore your innermost thoughts without fear of how someone else might respond. Studies show this style of expressive writing may improve emotional well-being.

7. Listening to music

Music is powerful. It can provoke tears of joy or sorrow, bring smiles to our faces, or make us move our bodies in beautiful ways. If you find music you truly enjoy, it can even lower cortisol levels and boost your mood. No matter the style, different types of music can help people shift their emotional state. It can also improve your concentration or sleep, such as by using white, green, or brown noise to block out annoying sounds.

8. Grounding techniques

Anything that helps connect you to the present moment by focusing on your senses and environment can help ground you. Different techniques work for different people, like grounding meditations, which can get you in touch with your environment and self and reduce stress.

9. Challenging your thoughts

Recognizing and questioning your thought patterns creates the potential to think in a new way and regulate your emotions. Different cognitive behavioral techniques work to encourage you to critically evaluate your thoughts, identify problem spots like all-or-nothing thinking, and replace them with more balanced perspectives. Try speaking to a therapist or researching different methods online to experiment with.

10. Connecting with others

We’re social beings built to survive in groups. Interacting with others is key for our health, with many studies suggesting that supportive relationships help us cope with stress and reduce feelings of loneliness. Taking steps to maintain strong connections or meet new people at hobby or support groups can make a difference and may lower anxiety. Even seeing a friendly face of a close one, for example, may make you feel safer and calmer.

11. Booking a session with a professional or support group

While friends offer emotional support, a mental health professional can give you more personalized guidance and advice that works for you. They’re also equipped to teach you specific coping strategies for your needs. Support groups, on the other hand, can offer a community of people who get what you’re going through. Even group mindfulness programs or classes can help.

Why it's important to manage stress and anxiety

Whenever we feel stressed or anxious, our first instinct is usually to try and 'get rid' of it. We’ve been taught that stress and anxiety are 'bad,' when in reality, they’re necessary human emotions that evolved for a reason. They have their benefits, like putting us on alert so we can think quickly and manage threats to our survival.

If you’re noticing the signs of stress and anxiety, ask yourself, “What is my body trying to tell me right now?” It might be that you need to stop avoiding a certain problem or that it’s time to slow down and rest. If you don’t take the time to address what’s going on and you immediately try to numb or distract yourself, you might unintentionally prolong your suffering by not getting to the root issue.

Confronting, accepting, and allowing difficult emotions to flow through and out of us isn’t something we’re all taught how to do. Taking the discomfort as a learning moment to understand what your body is trying to tell you takes time and patience — you have to build enough trust in yourself to feel safe in the discomfort. This takes consistent practice, just like going to the gym to build physical muscles.

Final word

Go through the list and start by focusing on one technique that can help you feel calmer and safer while tapping into your needs. That might be daily journaling, walking in nature, meditating, or practicing grounding techniques. What works for you will change depending on the moment and your needs, so keep experimenting with what feels right. Don’t forget that seeing a professional mental health therapist can have a dramatic impact on your stress and anxiety. We’re social beings built for support, and learning specific coping tools from a professional can make a long-lasting difference.

Have you given any of these methods a try? Let others know what worked for you, and if you have any questions, leave them here for fellow readers to respond supportively. Let’s help each other by creating a kind and compassionate community with helpful ideas.