How to Calm Anxiety Naturally (A Simple Mantra That Helped Me)

I didn’t expect a simple sentence to make such a difference during a period of intense anxiety. But it did.

 

Do you know that feeling when coincidence—or maybe “synchronicity” is the better word—brings something into your life at exactly the moment you need it?  That’s what happened to me a few months ago. It was more like a bit of luck in an unfortunate situation.

At the time, I was going through a process of working through trauma. And somewhere along the way, I entered a phase where I was overwhelmed by intense anxiety. At least, that’s how I can describe it now. Back then, those fears felt completely real. It was awful… not something you can easily live with.

I started isolating myself at home. Sometimes I wouldn’t leave the house for days, mainly because I dreaded running into neighbours or acquaintances—having to greet them, or worse, make small talk. It wasn’t that my fears were specifically about that. It just felt like too much effort to be social.

During that time, I stumbled—completely by chance—across a YouTube channel by a Dutch life coach called Life Coach aan Zee (Life Coach by the Sea). I honestly have no idea how I ended up there. I hadn’t been searching for anything like it. One of his videos just appeared in my feed. I can’t even find that exact video anymore. But what he said in it stayed with me.

The coach—his name is Wijnand—has made several videos about dealing with anxiety and panic. This particular one was about that too. In it, he shared a simple mantra he had created—something to keep on hand for moments when anxiety hits or becomes overwhelming:

Center. Calm. Nothing is wrong.

He explained a lot more, most of which I don’t remember anymore. It was a difficult period, and I notice now that even my memory was affected by it. But one thing I do remember is how much importance he placed on rhythm—and how calming that can be. And he was right.

I used that mantra often, and gratefully. Whenever anxiety would surge—starting in my stomach and shooting upward through my chest and throat—I would reach for this mantra like a calming pill. And it worked. By repeating it rhythmically, with a short pause after Center and Calm, it felt as if I was literally returning to my center. Nothing is wrong added a quiet sense of reassurance. Just a few minutes of repeating it was enough to take the edge off.

If you’re dealing with anxiety or panic yourself, maybe this is something you could try.

And if you have things that help you, feel free to share them in the comments. Anxiety can be incredibly intense, so anything that helps is valuable.

For me, this simple mantra made a real difference in moments of acute overwhelm.
A small sentence, but at the right moment, it mattered a lot.

If you happen to speak Dutch, I can really recommend the Life Coach aan Zee (Life Coach by the Sea) channel.

Photo: Viktoriia Kondratiuk