Low-grade anxiety is nearly universal; clinical anxiety is common. Both benefit from the same five practices — simple, low-cost, evidence-backed. One important flag first: if anxiety is preventing you from living a reasonable daily life, the tips below are supplements to professional help, not substitutes for it.

1. Name what you're feeling, specifically

"Anxious" is too general. "Worried I'll look stupid in the meeting" is specific. Research on affect labelling shows that naming emotions with precision reduces their intensity by up to 40 %. Specificity is the key; vague feeling-naming does not produce the effect.

2. Move your body

Twenty minutes of moderate exercise produces anxiolytic effects comparable to short-acting medications in mild-to-moderate anxiety. Not a cure; a reliable modulator.

3. Breathe with a longer exhale than inhale

Four seconds in, six to eight seconds out, for three to five minutes. The extended exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system directly. Works in under five minutes; use it before stressful meetings.

4. Question the thought, don't obey it

Anxiety produces "what if" thoughts that feel like predictions. The cognitive-behavioural move is to treat them as hypotheses to test, not facts to plan around. "What's the actual probability of this? What would I do if it happened?" Most anxious thoughts deflate under direct examination.

5. Sleep is a prerequisite, not a luxury

Undersleep amplifies every anxiety signal. Seven to eight hours isn't a wellness aspiration; it's the base condition for any other anxiety intervention to work.

When to seek professional help

If anxiety interferes with work, relationships, or sleep for more than a few weeks — or involves panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, or persistent avoidance — see a therapist. Cognitive- behavioural therapy has a stronger evidence base than almost any medical intervention in common practice. The five tips above work alongside therapy; they don't replace it.