Let’s face it: After spending weeks and months adjusting to life in lockdown, the thought of going out in the world comes with many anxieties. With lockdown restrictions gradually easing up, it’s normal to have unsettling thoughts and fear the unknown. Luckily, Finn Prevett, a mental health advocate and co-founder of thepositiveplanners.com, is sharing the five ways to ease your post-lockdown anxiety and help you adjust to a new normal.

1. You don’t always have to be positive! So don’t force it.

While there is power in positive thinking, it’s important to recognize other thoughts, feelings and emotions, to allow you to experience your actual reality. Try taking some time to go over your negative thoughts and experiences.

2. You can’t control everything, so focus on what you can control

Despite the fact that on a superficial level stressing over what you have no power over appears to be counterproductive, it’s really your brain’s method of creating some sort of certainty. This pattern of reasoning frequently triggers nervousness before events even occurred. According to Prevett, “The Circle of Control is a great tool I use when I notice this unhelpful thought cycle creep in. Draw a circle, in which you write everything you CAN control, around this circle write everything you CAN’T control. When you pause to think about it, there is actually still a lot that is in your control and when you look at what you cannot control, it re-affirms there is nothing you can do about it, so it is not worth your energy.”

3. Whip out a notebook and start writing

Writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you understand them more clearly. Instead of suppressing your anxiety by not acknowledging them, journaling helps you gain control of your emotions and allows you to reflect on your written concerns.

4. Take a deep breathe

One of the first things you’ll notice when feeling anxious is that your breathing speeds up. That’s why it’s important to adjust the rhythm of your breath to soothe your anxiousness. Prevett suggests using the 4/6 breathing tool — breathing in for four and out for six — for around five minutes.

5. This isn’t a race! Go at your own pace 

While lockdown restrictions are easing it, you don’t have to do everything at once. Take it slow because this is not a race of who can do the most things post-lockdown. Go at your own pace and re-adjust slowly. Prevett recommends starting and ending your day with the “magic three.” “At the beginning of the day list three things you’d like to achieve and at the end of the day list three things you are grateful for,” he shared.