Feeling Anxious? Therapists Say This 1 Thing Can Calm You Down.

No matter how many times you deal with anxiety or stress in your life, it can feel really hard to look forward to better, calmer moments.

There isn’t just one way to cope with anxiety and stress. Instead there are a host of options for dealing with these emotions — from exercise to mindfulness to medication and more. That said, therapists told HuffPost there’s one activity you may not be doing when feeling stressed or anxious: considering your eye gaze.

“When we are in an activated nervous system state, or in fight/flight, the eyes may protrude and be fixed on one spot ― also known as tunnel vision,” Justine Grosso, a somatic psychologist licensed in New York and North Carolina, told HuffPost via email.

Just think about it: your eyes regularly narrow when you’re upset or you may find yourself squinting at the screen while prepping for a big meeting.

“Visual stimuli [is] the information we process the most quickly… when we’re experiencing the world, our eyes are our most dominant sense,” said Danica Harris, a somatic therapist and coach based in Texas. “So, if there’s been trauma or stress, the eyes become very fixed and narrow in focus, because essentially, what’s happening is… you start looking at the environment in a way of like, where’s the next stressor?”

It’s easy to see how unknowingly being prepped for the next stressor would cause both physical and mental discomfort. Experts say there is one thing you can do to combat this on-the-defensive eye positioning. Here’s what it is:

You should regularly soften your gaze.

The eyes can naturally carry a lot of pressure, said Harris, especially for someone who’s experienced stress or trauma. What’s more, as part of our fight or flight survival, our attention naturally