5 Unique Ways To Ease Your Reopening Anxiety

The world is finally opening back up! Exciting right? We’ll be able to venture out and begin creating a “new normal.” But for some of us, getting back out there might actually be anxiety-inducing. Especially after a holiday weekend.

We’ve taken this past year to zero in on our needs, set better boundaries, and develop new routines. So, the idea of having to go back to the way things were can be scary. Thoughts like, “will these practices and feelings stick? Am I going to fall back into my old habits?” may be racing through your mind.

Given that the mandates have shifted quite a bit in the past few weeks, I’ve put together a few ways in which you can continue to take care of yourself and ease reopening anxiety in the process. Each of these will help you to decompress and truly make the new normal work for you.

Talk Therapy

This is the most tried and true form of therapy. In a talk therapy session, you can really just let it all out. Talk therapy is great when you’re feeling anxious or need to get a grasp on your feelings. Who doesn’t want to express themselves with an unbiased listener who has your best interest at heart? 

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that is meant to help stimulate the flow of Qi—or energy, throughout your body. During the session, your practitioner will insert a very thin stainless-steel needle into various acupuncture points in the body to help your energy flow more freely. Acupuncture has been proven to benefit those with chronic pain, PTSD, stress, anxiety, nausea, and so much more. 

Breathwork

Deep intentional breathing is one of the key ways to reduce stress and anxiety, so a number of dedicated breathwork studios and classes have been gaining popularity in recent years. During breathwork, you intentionally change your breathing pattern throughout the class. According to Healthline, those who have practiced breathwork have found that it’s aided in boosting their self-esteem, immunity, ability to process emotions, reduce anxiety and stress, and increase joy and happiness.

Hypnotherapy

Now, this may bring on a bit of skepticism, but don’t worry hypnotherapy isn’t going to put you in the Sunken Place. Hypnotherapy is when the practitioner helps to bring you to an altered state of consciousness that allows you to be more deeply relaxed, focused, and open to suggestions. Hypnotherapy has proven to help with relieving stress, fear, anxiety, self-esteem, and symptoms of panic disorder.

Sound Bath Meditation

This is a practice that has been around for thousands of years. A Sound Bath is essentially the process of healing the body through sound using spiritually cleansing music or waves. The waves are produced by healing instruments like gongs, singing bowls, chimes, rattles, and so forth. These meditations help the body to relax and expand your awareness.

I originally wrote a version of this story for Tia Mowry’s Anser blog.