I've been seeing some (understandably) heightened anxiety due to COVID-19, so I wanted to share some strategies for managing anxiety. The following are pretty widely known but useful:
distraction (especially with pleasurable activities)
reduce exposure to anxiety-provoking media
increase physical exercise
get enough sleep
breathing exercises to promote relaxation
reduce caffeine consumption
meditate (guided or not)
These next few may be less familiar to you:
1. Cognitive distancing/defusion. This strategy involves working to notice that your thoughts aren't necessarily true, that your thinking is a process that you can observe. Try stating ideas in terms of being a thought. For example, consider a worrying thought such as, "We're going to run out of money." This might seem fully realistic or true, but we've all had thoughts like that seem realistic during a fearful moment only to later realize we were overreacting. By saying, "I'm having the thought that we're going to run out of money," you are taking a step back and inviting an awareness that the thought is not a direct experience of reality. There's a lot more to distancing and defusion, but maybe this example can at least illustrate the concept.
2. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). You've probably noticed that anxiety is accompanied by muscle tension -- often most apparent in your neck, shoulders, or jaw. This muscle tension is often brought on by anxiety, but the tense muscles then contribute to sustaining the anxiety -- the mind and body are reminding and encouraging each other to be prepared for a potential threat. Accordingly, intentionally engaging in a systematic process of relaxing those tense muscles engages what's been called the 'relaxation response' -- the body signaling to the brain that there's no need to be on high alert. Here's a video put out by one of the groups at Emory University that does a good job introducing the concept and then providing guidance for how to do PMR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV_ebOzX8OA
3. Mindful acceptance of the physical sensations of anxiety. Negatively judging the experience of anxiety is common but unfortunately, the more strongly a person dislikes feeling anxious, the more likely they are to fall into a feedback loop that just makes it worse. What happens is that the discomfort or dislike of anxiety is so strong that it becomes a trigger for even more anxiety ("I hate this feeling" or "I'll never sleep if I feel this way" or "I'm going crazy"). This kind of negative judgement of the feeling as something that needs to be avoided or stopped ends up backfiring and resulting in significantly increased anxiety instead. As an alternative, it can help to shift toward a nonjudgmental and present-focused awareness of the sensations, noticing the sensations involved with the emotion in objective terms (e.g. "I feel tightness in my chest, my heart is going quickly") instead of judgmental terms (e.g. "I'm freaking out, I hate this..." etc.). For some people, this idea works intuitively after just a little experimentation with it, but most people have to do at least some work to learn to think this way.
FINAL THOUGHTS: If you're finding yourself really struggling with anxiety, you should consider seeking professional help. I'm sharing these ideas because I've been seeing some friends expressing normal levels of anxiety as we all weather this pandemic. But, if you are someone having what might be considered an excessively anxious response or if your anxiety is impairing your ability to function, then I'd encourage you to consider getting help other than just self-help. Many therapists are offering options for online counseling, and I've seen that some of them are doing so at a discounted rate right now because of the current situation.