lets be calm

When my anxiety first got really bad I was an uncontrollable disaster. I couldn’t go anywhere, I would freak out walking to work and have panic attacks in the park. My physical symptoms are my hands shake and sometimes I start to scratch my hand till it has bled. When I feel the panic come on I get really bad nausea and I then struggle to breath. It sounds stupid when I say to me it feels like I’m drowning and I cant catch my breath. I knew that along with the help of medication I needed to try and find a way for myself to be able to control it.

I am aware that it might never go away but if I learn to control it surely that’s even a small step to improvement. When I first heard of Calm it already sounded like what I needed, I needed to be Calm. So I downloaded the app on my app store for free and started straight away. There is a selection of different scenes with sounds for you to choose from to help relax you. You can then pick from a variety of different mediations, it can be calm, stress management, sleep, anxiety. The sessions usually last about 10 minutes with a guided speaker. To start I found it incredibly difficult to just switch off from everything and just be in that moment. Paying attention to what’s going on with me, the way I’m breathing, how I’m feeling. But after a few sessions I started to get into it. I learnt to flick that off switch to all the noise around me and train my brain to stop wandering and just be in the moment. Being a free app there is only a small amount to chose from, but you could upgrade your profile and unlock all other meditations available. There is a catch to upgrading, it costs. You can either pay a monthly fee which I think was around £10 or you could do the yearly fee of about £30. I went for the year cause it was one off payment a year and so much cheaper to the month. And I knew it was something I was going to be using everyday.

There is so much more guided mediations for you to chose from, one of my personal favourites is Deep Sleep, I use it every night. You can chose from them to last from 5 minutes to half an hour. I usually go for a 15minute it always seems to just be the right amount of time for me. There is even unguided mediations with the option of having it timed which I find very useful if I am needing a quick couple of minutes to myself I can just select what scene I want and just close my eyes and focus on the breath. I couldn’t recommend this app enough. It has helped me in so many situations where I have felt way out of my comfort zone. There is even a section for kids!

When I heard there was a book I knew that was another must have. Its pretty much like the app but in an amazing colourful book full with information on mindfulness and handy tips to achieve it, top 5 tips to help get you to sleep, 25 ways to take a break, it even has fun little activities throughout the book from listing the 3 things that make you happy, to a whole page you can colour in. I have read and re-read this book so many times. Its great to just pick up and flick through picking up some handy tips along the way. For £9.99 I think this book is well and truly worth it.

Calm has really helped me to just switch off and become what it says, Calm. For anyone that’s going through anxiety and/or depression I recommend this app. Even try out the free ones to see how you get on and if you feel any better for it. One of my favourite steps is 7 days to Calm and like I said earlier the Deep Sleep. My favourite scene is the rain, I love the sound of rain I think its one of the most relaxing sounds.

If you would like any information on Calm they have their own website which you can click here.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and I hope you maybe give it a chance someday. Let me know if you do. Or if you are already a Calm user I would love to know how much its helped you.

Thank you for reading.

JustBreathe

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