How to Calm Anxiety Fast: What Actually Works (and Why)
How to Calm Anxiety Fast: What Actually Works (and Why)
“Calm is a skill.
Confidence is built.
And both are attainable.”
If anxiety hits you out of nowhere, your chest tightens, your thoughts start racing, and suddenly you feel like you need to escape your own body, this is for you.
Prefer to watch instead of read? The video version is right here.
If you're more of a reader, keep reading below. 👇
And before we go any further, let’s clear this up right now.
You’re not weak.
You’re not doing life wrong.
Your nervous system is just working overtime.
I’m Christina D’Angelis, PA-C, and I’ve spent years helping women understand what’s actually happening in their bodies and minds when anxiety shows up. Not just from a mindset perspective, but from a medical and physiological one too.
Let’s talk about what actually helps when anxiety hits, and why some advice works better than others.
Why Anxiety Feels So Intense
Anxiety is not “just in your head.”
It starts in your nervous system.
When your brain senses a threat, real or imagined, it flips on your fight-or-flight response. Your heart rate increases. Your breathing gets shallow. Stress hormones surge. Your body prepares to protect you.
The problem is that modern anxiety is rarely caused by a tiger chasing you down the street.
It’s caused by overthinking.
Pressure.
Midlife transitions.
Hormonal shifts.
Unprocessed stress that’s been building for years.
Your body reacts the same way anyway.
So when someone tells you to “just calm down,” it feels impossible, because your nervous system is already in charge.
The Fastest Way to Calm Anxiety
Here’s the truth.
You cannot think your way out of anxiety in the moment.
You have to calm the body first.
Once your nervous system settles, your thoughts follow.
Step 1: Change Your Breathing
Slow, intentional breathing is one of the fastest ways to signal safety to your nervous system.
Try this:
Inhale slowly through your nose for 4 seconds
Exhale through your mouth for 6 seconds
Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes
Longer exhales tell your body it’s safe to stand down. This is science, not fluff.
Step 2: Ground Yourself in the Present Moment
Anxiety lives in the future.
Calm lives in the present.
Name:
5 things you can see
4 things you can feel
3 things you can hear
This pulls your brain out of the spiral and back into your body.
Step 3: Shift the Meaning, Not the Thought
Here’s where mindset actually helps.
Instead of saying:
“I need this anxiety to stop”
Try:
“My body is protecting me, and I’m safe right now”
That one shift lowers resistance, which lowers anxiety.
Where Infinite Possibilities Comes In
One of the core principles I teach from Infinite Possibilities is this:
Your thoughts are powerful, but they need a regulated nervous system to work.
Visualization, affirmations, and manifestation do not land when your body is in panic mode. That’s why so many women feel like mindset work “doesn’t work for them.”
It’s not that it doesn’t work.
It’s that it works best after the body feels safe.
When you calm your nervous system first, your thoughts become tools instead of weapons against yourself.
What to Do When Anxiety Keeps Coming Back
If anxiety shows up regularly, that’s your sign to go deeper.
Quick fixes help in the moment, but long-term calm comes from:
Learning how your nervous system works
Creating daily regulation habits
Rewiring thought patterns gently, not forcefully
Practicing tools consistently, not only during panic
This is exactly what I teach inside The Calm Starter Kit and The Infinite Circle.
Real tools.
No toxic positivity.
No pretending everything is fine.
Just practical, science-backed calm for real life.
A Final Word
Anxiety does not get the final say in your life.
You can feel calm, confident, and grounded again, even in midlife, even after years of overthinking, even if nothing else has worked before.
You are not behind.
You are not late.
You are learning how to work with your body instead of fighting it.
And that changes everything.
With calm and confidence,
Chrissy D’
