Last Updated on April 11, 2022
Anxiety while traveling or while stuck at home can be miserable. These 7 anxiety relief exercises will help take your mind off of those anxious thoughts or feelings through focus, breathing, balance, and mental + physical strength. In light of mental health awareness month, and especially during a time of mental struggle, share these exercises with your friends and family to help get them through some tough times.
1. Lunge Twist to Half Moon to one-Leg Balance
This anxiety relief exercise focuses heavily on breathing, balance and concentration – all great things to help calm the mind of anxious thoughts. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Start in a runners lunge with either the back knee on the ground (easier) or the back knee lifter (harder). Make sure the front knee is right over the ankle and is not extending over the front toes. Whatever leg is in front, take that same arm and twist your body to extend it above you up towards the ceiling. Hold for a few seconds.
Reset back into your lunge position and then reach both arms up above you towards the ceiling and back into a half moon position. Hold for a few seconds.
Reset back into your lunge position and then shifting your weight onto your front foot in one swift motion, stand up tall onto that front leg while balancing the back leg near your ankle or knee. Hold for a few seconds.
Switch sides and repeat all steps.
2. Tabletop Opposite Leg/Arm Extension to Pushup
This anxiety relief exercise focuses heavily on breathing, balance and concentration, and strength – all great things to help overcome anxious thoughts and feelings. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Start in a tabletop position on your hands and knees. Extend one arm out in front of you and extend the opposite leg out behind you simultaneously. Hold for a few seconds and then switch sides.
After completing both sides, reset back to tabletop position and then lift yourself up into a plank position. Hold this plank for a few seconds and then go down into a pushup (you can drop your knees for the pushup if needed).
Then reset back into tabletop position and repeat.
3. Downward Dog to Plank Knee to Elbow
This anxiety reliever exercise focuses heavily on breathing, balance and concentration – all great things to help calm the mind of anxious thoughts. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Starting in a downward dog position, focus on extending your shoulders and bringing your chest close to your quads. Now, focus on pushing your heels as close to the ground as possible. Hold for a few seconds or however long you need.
Extend one leg back behind you and shift your weight to your hands into a plank position as you bring that back knee to the same side elbow. Hold for a few seconds.
Reset back to downward dog position and repeat on the opposite leg.
4. Reverse Burpee Pike Hold to Rollup to Stand
This anxiety relief exercise focuses heavily on breathing, balance and concentration – all great things to help calm the mind of anxious thoughts. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
In this workout, start in a standing position and roll back onto your back into a pike position while supporting your back with your elbows and hands. Hold this for a few seconds.
Roll back up to standing in one swift motion (try to not use your hands to push you up, but rather momentum from the roll).
Reset and repeat.
5. Single Leg Deadlift to One-Leg Balance
This anxiety relief exercise focuses heavily on breathing, balance and concentration – all great things to help calm the mind of anxious thoughts. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Start by standing on one leg. Extend the other leg behind you and while keeping your hips square, reach down with both hands to try to tap the floor, your toes, or as far down as you can reach.
Stand back up, keeping the standing leg slightly bent and then hold a one-leg balance for a few seconds.
Reset and repeat on the opposite leg.
6. Sumo Squat Pulse to Roll Up
This anxiety relief exercise focuses heavily on breathing, balance and strength – all great things to help calm the mind of anxious thoughts. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Start with your feet a little wider than hip-width apart with your toes pointed slightly outward. Go down into a squat position as low as you can while maintaining your knees in line with your feet (not extending over your toes).
Pulse in this squat position for a few seconds (about 3 pulses or more) and then squeeze your glutes to stand back up.
While you’re standing up, let your upper body go limp towards the floor and slowly roll it up to standing position. When you reach the top, roll your shoulders up and back.
Reset and repeat.
7. Cat Cow Vacuum
This anxiety relief exercise focuses heavily on breathing, stabilization, strength and concentration – all great things to help calm the mind of anxious thoughts. Throughout the entire exercise, focus on taking deep breaths… in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Start in a tabletop position on your hands and knees. Perform a cat cow (rounding your back up and arching your back down) at a slow pace while focusing on breathing.
Once you’ve completed one round of cat cow, reset into a neutral spine position and you’re going to suck in your belly button as if there were a string attached to it pulling it up through your back.
Continue to breathe normally here in this vacuum, but maintain a sucked-in belly button. (this will take some practice to achieve the correct feeling).
After a few seconds of holding a vacuum, reset and repeat starting with the cat cow.
