2. • Add an item that calms you by touch, such as a fidget toy, an old teddy bear, or a
textured material you like.
• Add something that calms you by smell, such as lavender or something that
reminds you of a happy time, maybe chocolate or vanilla etc.
• Add a visual reminder of a time/place/person that makes you happy – maybe a
photo of a holiday, a loved one, or a pet.
• Add something that you can use to treat yourself such as a bath bomb, hair
mask, a permission slip to play your favourite movie or video game, a puzzle or a
Rubik's cube.
• Add your favourite memory stick of music, a recording of your best friend's
voice, or maybe the sound of water running.
Create a Self Soothe Box that Engages the Five
Senses
3. Engaging the Five Senses:
Go for a run/walk.
Engage the five senses when you are out:
Sound – Listen to the noises around you, notice
how many there are, can you identify them?
Smell – Smell the air, what can you smell?
Touch – Touch your own hand, your clothes, the
things around you, what does it feel like?
Taste – Do you have some sweets, gum, etc in your
pocket? Notice the taste.
Sight – What do you see? Look for five things
around you, think about them, their colours, their
texture, what are they?
4. Create a mind map.
• Start by asking yourself, why
do I feel this way?
• Branch out from there:
• Where do I feel it in my
body?
• What are my thoughts?
• What are my feelings?
• What has triggered this?
• What can I do to help
this?
• Then ask:
• What are my strengths?
• Are my thoughts
realistic?
• What evidence do I
have?
• And so on, so that you
eventually have a visual for
what is in your head.
5. Getting it Out!
Class Group A Group B
Class 1 82 95
Class 2 76 88
Class 3 84 90
• It can be good to keep a diary. This may help
you find if there is a common theme. Include
your daily achievements as well as your
anxieties, a reminder of your successes can
help balance your thoughts. Poems can help
too.
• If writing is not your thing, you can get
creative and draw pictures of your thoughts
and feelings. Many people find creativity is
great outlet or distraction. Do not limit
yourself to drawing, creativity can come in
many shapes or forms, even making a short
film!
6. Let’s Get Physical
Any form of exercise is great!
Running/walking
Gym
Climbing
Swimming
Combat Sports
Dancing
This can be done alone or with a friend/relative.
Anxious thoughts can create an excess of
adrenalin that exercise can use up. It also
produces endorphins – the happy hormone!
7. And Dare I Say It?? Diet!!
• I love food too, but diet is important for anxiety,
too much sugar makes us feel anxious as it puts our
body through highs and lows. To maintain those
highs we keep eating to avoid the sugar crash which
also results in a low when we look in the mirror 😣
• Diet also includes what we drink; alcohol is a
depressant, so not too much of that either 🙄
• We should be eating plenty of fruit and veg and less
sugars and carbs (bread/potatoes etc).
• Why do we crave carbs? They turn into sugar if we
eat too many of them. Why do we crave sugar? It is
said to be more addictive than cocaine!
8. You are Special, You Deserve Me Time
• Do you put others needs and wants before your
own?
• Where do you come in the hierarchy of your life?
Friends/family?
• What about you? What do you want?
• It is important to make time just for you. You are
allowed to say NO. No-one will hate you for it (and
if they do, they don’t deserve you!).
• Put yourself first, treat yourself and do one of your
favourite things. These can be little treats or big
treats. New clothes, new music, time alone, new
video game, a day out, a meal out, a holiday…it
goes on.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
9. A Time For Calm
• Many find a good meditation app very helpful, there
are many out there now such as: Calm, Headspace, and
Mylifemeditation.
• Mindfulness apps are also very good – give them a try.
If they do not work, you haven’t lost anything, but if they
do, you have gained so much.
• YouTube has many solutions including: white noise,
ASMR, and story reading for sleep, all of which can be
very calming.
• Lastly things like yoga, Tai chi, Qigong, or the
breathing exercises shown in the image to the right.
10. Acknowledging it and naming it helps when an anxious
thought comes to mind, acknowledge and recognize it for
what it is – a thought, nothing more and nothing less:
“My thought about accidentally falling and hurting the baby
is scary. But it is just a thought, nothing more and nothing
less. I am going to just watch the thought float by in its own
time, eventually passing out of sight.”
Observe the thought with interest and curiosity. Notice it and
its impact on your body and feelings. Just allow it to be,
without judging, reacting to, or changing it in any way.
Try:
• Counting 6 numbers in random order repeatedly.
• Sitting with feelings and allowing them to happen, know
that anxiety is horrible but it will pass.
• Grounding techniques, sit in a chair feel the floor under
your feet, feel the chair on the backs of your legs, feel the
weight of your body pressing down etc.
Coping Techniques
11. Soothe Away Counselling
• Whatever you find works for you, everyone is
different and that is okay.
• These are just a few ideas, there are many more out
there, so if they do not work for you, do not give up.
• There are lots of resources you can try on Google,
YouTube, Facebook, and many more.
• Remember you are not alone, talk to someone,
communication is the most powerful tool we have at
our disposal so please use it if you can.
• Soothe Away Counselling
• www.sootheaway.co.uk
• Julia@sootheaway.co.uk
• T: 07754909608
