I struggled with anxiety long before I became a mother. However, since becoming a mom, I have felt feelings and emotions I have never felt before, which included a whole new slew of things that increased my anxiety once again.
In this article, I share some of the ways that I help to control and reduce my anxiety—in the hopes they might help you too!
Tips To Help Soothe Postpartum Anxiety
1. Notice Your Thoughts And Be Mindful
If you’re experiencing anxious feelings, postnatal depression, or intrusive thoughts—start trying to notice your thoughts, especially negative thoughts. And draw some awareness around what you’re trying to control or what you’re worrying about.
Ask yourself; how is this directly affecting my life? And am I actually able to control it? Is this a logical worry?
Journaling can really help you to decipher between what’s important and what’s not.
If you’d like more tips on how to cope with negative intrusive thoughts, then check out my blog post here.
2. Ask Yourself; ‘Is This Helpful’
Whenever you find yourself worrying or trying to control something ask yourself; “is this helpful?” and “is this getting me closer to my goals in life?”
For example, are your thoughts and actions helping you to simplify your life, love your life, reduce stress and anxiety, avoid burnout, etc? Or are your thoughts contributing to severe anxiety and feeding into poor postnatal mental health?
3. Prioritize
Decide what is most important to you. There are many different distractions in life. Choose 3 top priorities and stick to those. This helps to reduce overwhelm. This serves as a good anchor because you can simply ask if your thoughts and actions are contributing to these 3 goals. If they’re not, you know when to move on and readjust your mindset.
4. Learn To Say No
Get comfortable with saying no to things that are not a priority or things that don’t add value to your life. If something is not making you happy, bringing value to your life, or moving you closer to your goals, maybe it is time to say no.
For example; non-essential tasks, one-way or toxic relationships, and pointless social engagements.
5. Have Tunnel Vision
Keep looking forward and stay focused on your top 3 priorities. It can help to write those 3 priorities (and your longer-term goals) down. Visualize and meditate on reaching those goals. Perhaps you also want to write down your motivating factors and reasons why to help keep you going when you’re lacking inspiration.
6. Journal
Journaling has helped me work through my feelings. It has helped me learn my triggers and brought me closer to myself. It’s also a great space to practice gratitude, which helps keep your mind focused on all the amazing things in your life as opposed to all the worries and stresses.
7. Mindfulness Meditation
Meditation is a great way to calm your nerves, especially breathing meditation. A guided breathing meditation is great for beginners. You can find lots of them on YouTube for free!
8. Talk It Out
Sometimes just having someone to talk to makes a big difference, especially if you’re a new parent. I know for me, I get so into my own head and my thoughts turn into mush. When I am able to verbalize, talk it out, and be open with my feelings, things become more rational. And talking to a trusted source helps because they can help you rationalize also.
9. Take a 5er And Focus On Your Breath
This goes along with getting so caught up in your own head, that taking an intentional break helps you to process what you are actually going through. It also allows you to reset and refocus your mind to come back to the situation if needed with a clear head. If you are having any symptoms of a panic attack, what always helps me is to focus on my breathing.
10. Exercise
Exercise is a great way to reduce stress and overwhelm. Again, there are a lot of exercise routines that you can do from home. YouTube is a great source of free information. You can also find plenty of ‘mom and baby’ and ‘mom and toddler’ exercise routines to get your children involved.
If you’d like more health and wellness tips for moms, then be sure to check out my blog post here.
11. Choose Again
Sometimes, we just can’t kick the thoughts rolling around in our heads. I first heard of this method when I read the book, Super Attractor, by Gabby Bernstein. This is a way to intentionally choose your best feelings and thoughts. She explains; “the Choose Again Method stops the spiral of negative thoughts. You’ll slow down your mental momentum and begin shifting toward more positive and empowering thoughts. Bit by bit, thought by thought, you’ll feel better and elevate your energy!”.
Here are the 3 steps of the Choose Again Method:
- Step 1: Notice the thought
- Step 2: Forgive the thought
- Step 3: Choose again
12. Practice Gratitude
Research has shown that “by consciously practicing gratitude, we can train the brain to attend selectively to positive emotions and thoughts, thus reducing anxiety and feelings of apprehension”.
The simple act of reminding yourself of the positive things in your life—even as simple as the roof over your head or food on your plate—can invoke feelings of thankfulness and optimism that make managing stress, depression, or anxiety easier.
Try starting or ending your day by journaling 3 things that you are thankful for.
13. Get Outside And Enjoy Nature
When you’re pent up in your feelings of anxiety or overwhelmed, get outside. Take a walk. Have a picnic. Go to the park. Play in your yard with your kids.
Research shows that getting outside is great for reducing the physiological responses associated with stress and anxiety. Those emotions can build up if you are always cooped up inside and removed from the natural world. Get outside, walk, move, and breathe.
14. Get More Sleep
When you are lacking quality sleep and rest, it is more difficult to handle stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and emotions. I know it’s hard, but try to find the time to cram in rest and sleep wherever you can during the postpartum period.
Sleep deprivation is no joke—and can result in mood swings and poor mental health.
15. Make Time For Self Care
Taking care of yourself is so vital if you’re struggling with a postpartum anxiety disorder or the baby blues. When you feel your best, you can give your best to your family.
16. Skin To Skin
The weight of a human body, no matter how small, is remarkably healing. Skin-to-skin helps to release feel-good hormones, soothes your nerves, and can help to calm your mind. If you are just feeling like you need a hug or are struggling with anxiety, hug your kids, spouse, friends or family. Or, invest in a weighted blanket that can help to mimic the pressure of a human body against yours, to trigger your nervous system into rest mode.
17. Reduce Your Social Media and News Consumption Time
It’s so easy to get caught up in a Facebook or Instagram scroll. Social media can be extremely triggering for poor mental health and can easily start a downward spiral into negative thoughts and emotions.
Try having a social media detox. Or dedicate a certain time each day to check your social media, and then leave it alone for the rest of the day.
18. Seek Professional Support
If required, it’s really important to seek professional help. If your anxiety is leaving you unable to function in your day-to-day life, which also means you can’t be the best mom that you want to be, then reach out to your trusted medical health professional. They’ll be able to support you with something like cognitive behavioral therapy, counseling, soothing techniques, or anti-anxiety medication so that you can get back to you in no time.
Anxiety disorders are no joke and in some cases, anxiety symptoms can get pretty severe—and the same goes for postpartum depression and postpartum OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Don’t try to suffer in silence, and seek medical support as soon as you can.
19. Set Up A Trusted Support Network
In rare circumstances, postpartum psychosis can occur. It can help to set up a trusted support network of friends and family so that others can keep an eye on you too. If you’re experiencing excessive anxiety or severe mental illness, you might not be self-aware of your disorder.
If you have a trusted support network and they are encouraging you to get support, you can simply rely on their guidance and recommendations as opposed to having to make decisions that you might not be capable of making. Obviously, this requires forward planning so that you can set it up during pregnancy in advance of childbirth.
Conclusion
Do you have any more helpful tips for calming postpartum anxiety? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
*Affiliate Disclaimer: I only ever endorse products or programs that I have personally used and benefited from. This post may contain affiliate links which means I’d receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using my links. If you do make a purchase – thank you for helping to support my family through my blog!
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