50 Positive Coping Skills For Anxiety And Stress

Coping Skills That Are FREE

Every single person has bad days or bad moments where it can feel difficult or debilitating to stick with your normal routine or take care of yourself.  Coping skills for anxiety and stress can help give you a way of processing your emotions, or create a positive experience that can stop you from negative overthinking.

Coping Skills For Stress

What Are Coping Skills?

According to Wikipedia:

coping means to invest own conscious effort, to solve personal and interpersonal problems, in order to try to master, minimize or tolerate stress and conflict.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_(psychology)

There are both positive and negative techniques for coping.  Learn more about negative/unhealthy coping skills in more detail by clicking here.

Positive coping skills for anxiety and stress can include:

  • Processing or releasing your difficult emotions
  • Practicing positive self-care techniques
  • Creating positive emotional experiences to change negative or obsessive thought patterns.

Self-care is a type of coping skill for anxiety and stress.

Sometimes it is easy to take the next easiest step down the ladder emotionally.  For example, if you are very overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious, you may not yet feel ready to process what you are feeling.  It may be easier for you at that time to distract yourself with something positive or practice self-care.

Scan the below list when you are feeling anxious, stressed, or having a bad mood and identify what feels best for you- not what you feel like you should be doing.

Fill out the form below to get a handy one-page printable to hang on your wall, save on your phone, or use whenever you need a reminder of positive coping skill suggestions!

50 Positive Coping Skills For Anxiety And Stress

  1. Write your thoughts/feelings in a journal

  2. Play an instrument

  3. Listen to music– lay back or sit down and just focus on the music and nothing else

  4. Write a story

  5. Write a letter to the person you are stressing over (you don’t have to actually send it)

  6. Eat a healthy and nutritious meal or snack

  7. Go for a walk

  8. Go to the gym

  9. Exercise at home

  10. Do yoga

  11. Meditate

  12. Take some deep breaths

  13. Stretch

  14. Watch a feel-good movie or TV show

  15. Read

  16. Take a social media detox

  17. Paint/draw/color

  18. Crochet/knit/sew

  19. De-clutter or clean your living space

  20. Go for a bike ride

  21. Go to the park

  22. Have a picnic

  23. Listen to a podcast

  24. Spend time playing with a pet

  25. Spend time with family

  26. Spend time with a friend or significant other

  27. Vent to a close friend or family member

  28. Schedule an appointment for therapy

  29. Practice mindfulness– being fully aware in the present moment

  30. Slow down– approach the tasks you normally have to do with a calm and slow attitude

  31. Go for a relaxing drive

  32. Sit outside and take in the sunlight- on a balcony, deck, porch, backyard, etc.

  33. Do your nails/hair/makeup

  34. Take a day for self-care

  35. Do anything creative

  36. Take photos and/or edit them

  37. Shoot and edit a video

  38. Make a vision board of things you love (online or by cutting and gluing things from magazines/print-outs)

  39. Put your to-do list on pause

  40. Take a mental health day off from work

  41. Reorganize your belongings

  42. Redecorate/rearrange your room

  43. Do a face mask

  44. Take a relaxing bath

  45. Write down the things that are stressing you out that you have no control over and rip them up and throw them in the garbage- practice letting go

  46. Create a list of positive affirmations for yourself

  47. Garden– tend to your plants inside and/or outside your living space

  48. Practice gratitude– make a list of the things you are grateful for

  49. Practice compassion– be kind to yourself during the times when you are struggling, notice and change critical or judgmental thoughts

  50. Practice acceptance– accept the emotions you are experiencing not as good or bad, but just as part of your experience- they will eventually pass

I hope you found even one of the coping skills listed above helpful.  Please leave a comment below with any additional suggestions or resources for positive coping skills!

Positive Coping Skills For Anxiety And Stress

Be Calm,

Tati

6 Comments

    • Hi Soniya, thanks so much for the positive feedback and great suggestion! Cycling is definitely an awesome way to cope with stress and anxiety and get out that excess energy and tension.

      Reply
  • Hi Tatiana. Thank for for your list of positive things.i deal with anxiety and sleepiness issues. Listening to meditation music. Walking. always work for me.

    Reply
    • Hi Vernette,
      Thank you so much for your comment! I’m glad you found my list of positive coping skills helpful. Meditation music and walking are excellent coping skills for both anxiety and trouble sleeping. I love both meditating and walking myself when things get difficult.
      Be Calm,
      Tati

      Reply
  • Thank you so much, this really helped me considering I’m a freshman in high school

    Reply

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TatianaGarcia-horizontal

Hey, I'm Tati!

I believe that everybody deserves to live a calm, fulfilling life. My hope is to inspire high achievers to stop fear from running their lives and start putting their needs first.
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