How to save yourself from stress with a toothbrush and dumplings. Lifehacker team experience

In moments of anxiety, I take an old toothbrush, cleaning powder (even washing powder will do), a bucket of hot water and go to clean the joints between the tiles. I start from the floor, and if the reserve of anger allows, I move on to the walls. First the brush into the water, then into the powder - and you start scrubbing. The intensity of the splashing of emotions can be any - the tile will withstand. As a result, the soul is easier, and the apartment is clean. It is even more convenient to polish the joints with an electric toothbrush with an old nozzle.

A week ago, I washed the floors everywhere in my nerves and realized that it works: firstly, your hands are busy and you don’t physically scroll the news, secondly, you see that the environment around you is getting better and cleaner. I especially liked to walk barefoot on the still damp floor afterwards - perhaps this is my version of the psychological grounding technique.

When there are only experiences in my head, I pick up a pellet clipper. Of course, this will not improve the mood much. But this way you can get a little distracted and, moreover, finally put things in order that your hands did not reach before.

Cooking helps me escape from the whirlpool of painful thoughts. The coolest way to spend time is making dumplings. Knead the dough, prepare the minced meat, roll it out, cut out circles... In general, a simple mechanical work for which you do not need to strain your brains. And in general, it’s a little calmer when there are about 150 homemade dumplings in the freezer. My family and I even joke that this is a kind of “food security program” for a single family.

I recently discovered a new relaxation method. I dug up an old painting by numbers of the maximum level of complexity. Very distracting. You train fine motor skills of your hands, and the only thought in your head is: “Where are the fields with the number 22, I’ll paint over all of you now!”. It also reassures that you immediately see the tangible result of your work. And you don't have to be an artist - the work still turns out beautiful.

To calm down a little, I embroider a huge picture with a cross. It has a river, a forest and a sunset. I make another stitch and dream about how I will tell my grandchildren about everything that happens, as if about a distant memory. Of course, I hope that everything will be fine before I finish the embroidery.

Somehow I came across the game Manor Matters, where for a certain time you need to find all the hidden objects. At first, I went into the application when I needed to do something for a couple of minutes: in line or on the subway. But I soon noticed that the search for small things not only entertains, but also helps to cope with excitement. The main thing is to fully focus on the process so that the brain switches and anxiety recedes.

So the game went into action before difficult conversations or visits to the doctor. Well, the last months and even more weeks have been such that I suddenly found myself at level 2473. If I feel an impending panic, I open the application and go through six search scenes - no more, because the energy supply in the game is running out. But this is just enough to calm down and not get stuck on the phone for several hours.

Many of my friends play every day wordle: helps to distract at least for a while, and it's nice that every day we share the results in a chat with each other.

Globally, I have made it a rule to always close the cycle of the stress response. After work, I do yoga, lie in the bathroom, eat something tasty, and if it’s really hard to control myself, I get up on the walking simulator and go until I have no strength left for the experience.

When my anxiety levels are high, I take out my gym mat, find a yin yoga tutorial video, put my phone on silent, and switch off for 40 minutes. During training, you need to fix in one position and lie there for several minutes, breathing calmly and relaxing - a cool way to switch the flow of thoughts from all the bad things to the sensations in the body. Another cool option is kickboxing. Great for dealing with negative emotions!

Cope with anxiety in the way that literally all psychologists advise (to disconnect from the news agenda in the first place), I can’t. I noticed that only one thing helps me: reading familiar books, preferably light, humorous ones. Exactly acquaintances: you are already aware of the plot, and this becomes a reference point - here, right there, everything is fine, predictable, no uncertainty. At the same time, videos, movies and series do not work that way. A moving picture does not occupy the brain, thoughts roll down. Yesterday my husband and I decided to watch a comedy, but at the 15th minute I realized that we both read the news.

Routine helps a lot. It seems that she has no strength at all, but in fact, the morning shower, styling, freshly brewed coffee and the road to the office invigorate and bring to life.

The experts I've read say that during extreme events that you can't influence, it is important to delineate a space around you in which each of your actions has a price and consequence.

I rent an apartment with a friend, we came up with our own set of rules and called it "Plan to Save the Cuckoo". We wash the floors every three days, do not leave the dishes in the sink for more than two hours, we monitor the cleanliness in refrigerator and do not accumulate garbage, we leave water in the jug with a filter in the evening, so that in the morning it will be clean. The rules are refined and expanded every day, and the goal of all these manipulations is simple - to create a stable and predictable space around you. Everything here depends on you and needs you. As long as it works.

Surprisingly, it helped me to communicate with a person who also had an extreme life experience. When he spoke coldly and rationally about it, I thought that he was not empathic and unemotional. But then it turned out that I just didn’t need empathy. And what is really needed is support in the form of a cold mind.