Anxiety is something everyone experiences at times, and feeling anxious is a perfectly natural reaction to some situations.

But sometimes feelings of anxiety can be constant, overwhelming or out of proportion to the situation and this can affect your daily life. It can make our heart race, we might feel sweaty, shaky or short of breath. Anxiety can also cause changes in our behaviour, such as becoming overly careful or avoiding things that trigger anxiety.

These resources are aimed at helping to lift anxiety, helping us to rethink it in a more positive way and ways to settle when anxiety is getting on top of us.

ME: CATCH IT, CHECK IT, CHANGE IT.

Check out this video.

Use this when you feel concerned by an anxious thought.

GIVE AWAY: THE ROOTED TREE

This is a great little exercise that you can print off and share with an older neighbour who’s struggling with anxiety. They can do this anywhere. The exercise gets us to imagine roots going down into the ground from our feet. It makes us feel more stable, more secure. Just to note, if standing is a problem, you can even do this sitting in your favourite chair. Download it below.

Use this when you want to remind someone that they have overcome things before.

DO TOGETHER: THE NOSE BLOW

The Nose Blow helps us calm when we feel stressed, increases blood flow to the brain and enables us to feel calmer and able to face things when we feel worried. Do this in a gentle and fun way and make sure your older neighbour feels comfortable whilst doing it. You might start by demonstrating this yourself.

Use this when we want to help someone feel a little calmer.

WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?

We really recommend the NHS pages on Anxiety which are excellent and full of further information and ideas to help.