Just wanted to post this because I feel really good about it and myself now. :D
I've been struggling a lot with anxiety and stress lately what with COVID, chronic illnesses, and general chaos. It's greatly impacted my sleep and eating habits, and I finally decided (long overdue) I had enough. Did some googling and found a breathing trick - you're supposed to breathe from your diaphragm and not your chest.
So I was like, heck, why not.
I have trouble concentrating on things when I'm anxious/stressed, and for some reason I was able to concentrate on this breathing thing, which was pretty nice. :3 I did it for about fifteen minutes before finding that I was less wound up and anxious.
I'm going to try making it a daily thing in hopes it'll come more naturally. Do y'all have any tried-and-true methods to relieve anxiety or stress?

my therapist tried to help me do that breathing technique, but I don't remember how to do it. I might have to google it and see if I can remember

Grounding.

I struggle with a not-lovely triad of mental illnesses that can greatly impact my day to day functioning at times. I have some pretty bad social anxiety especially so it's the one I deal with most often.
Grounding doesn't always work for me but it definitely can help redirect me from my thoughts and focus directly on my surroundings. For a while when I was working, I was carrying this like.. pendant necklace I'd wear under my uniform and it had a slot I could put essential oil like lavender and patchouli into and whenever I felt myself getting stressed out, the scent of those would calm me down. I like wearing stone jewelry for the same reason since if I feel a panic attack coming on, I can redirect my attention to the coolness of the stones or how they feel against my wrist. I also really like music for this.

I've also noticed that I tend to get more anxious and spacy when I'm tired or haven't eaten in a day, so making sure I take care of myself is definitely a day to day thing. Showers or working out, for me, are especially good for breaking panic attacks and generally putting me in a better state of mind.