Personal rituals
Adding personal rituals to your daily routine can help you manage anxiety in the long term. These can carry a spiritual connection, but they don’t have to.
What’s most important when engaging with a personal ritual is that you set an intention for it — anyone can brush their teeth or wash their face in a rushed or detached way, but if you do it with a quiet focus on caring for and being present to your body, it can be a powerful anxiety-fighting ritual.
Some rituals include:
- A bedtime routine
- Keeping a gratitude log
- Journaling
- Filling in a tracker
- Meditation
- Lighting a candle
- Setting an intention
- Interacting with an altar or sacred/beloved object
- Repeating a mantra
- Quiet time for reading
- Prayer
- Cleaning or tidying
- Caring for or being with a pet
- Yoga or stretching
- A bath, shower, or other self-care ritual
- Creating or using sigils
- Spellcraft or magic
Spiritual community
If you belong to a temple, church, mosque, or other faith community, attending regular services and participating in worship rituals can help with anxiety. Talk to a religious leader in your faith community about help and guidance.
If you’re not part of a faith community but want to try it out, search for faith communities in your area that offer something you’re interested in. Consider:
- Meditation
- Contemplative prayer
- Taizé services
- Spiritual retreats
- Labyrinth walks
- Musical worship
- Small groups
- Prayer circles
- Spiritual discussion groups
- Spiritual counseling from a faith leader
Some faith communities, especially those who don’t fall under the umbrella of organized or Abrahamic religions, don’t always meet at temples or central spaces. You can find a community to practice with by searching for groups in your area or checking Meetup.com.
Because I do not engage in these practices, I can’t speak for the efficacy, but many people find help with anxiety from practices like crystal healing, tarot readings, sigils, reiki/energy healing, and spellcraft or magic.
Any ritual or practice that helps you feel safe, in control, or connected to the Divine can be a powerful tool for addressing anxiety.
If you’re not interested in spirituality or a faith community, you can also check out secular groups that practice meditation and other centering rituals. Spirituality is not a requirement for finding a supportive community to meet with consistently!
This article is part of the “So You Had A Panic Attack” resource guide. Go back to the SYHAPA index page
