It was one of those days when my mind felt like a hurricane. I could feel my heartbeat racing, my palms clammy, and a tightening in my chest that made me feel as if I couldn’t breathe. Anxiety had wrapped its claws around me, and I couldn’t see an escape. I tried deep breaths, but my mind was moving too fast. Then, I remembered the advice my therapist gave me one time—"Just drink some water, go for a walk, and do something small to bring yourself back to the present."

At first, it seemed too simple to work, but I was desperate for anything. That’s when I realised the power of the 5 W’s—five simple and quick methods to help calm anxiety.

Here’s how you can use these five easy tools to bring relief when anxiety takes over:

1. Water

There’s something incredibly grounding about water. Not only does staying hydrated have a direct impact on your physical well-being, but sipping cold glass of water slowly can also help calm your anxious mind. When you feel overwhelmed, dehydration could worsen symptoms of anxiety, leading to dizziness, a racing heart, or feeling faint. Drinking a glass of cool water helps in two ways—it rehydrates your body and gives your mind a momentary focus away from the chaos while the coolness of the glass helping you stay in the present.

How to Use Water for Calming Anxiety:

- When anxiety strikes, reach for a cold glass of water and drink it slowly. Focus on each sip, feeling the coolness spread through your body.

- Splash cold water on your face. This action triggers the "dive reflex," slowing your heart rate and calming your nervous system almost instantly.

- A soothing bath or shower could also work wonders for anxious thoughts, helping you relax both physically and mentally.

2. Walk

When anxiety kicks in, movement can be one of the quickest ways to shake off the uncomfortable feelings. Walking, in particular, has the power to reset your mind. A short walk, especially outdoors, engages your senses and gets you out of your head. It doesn’t have to be a long walk—just a few minutes can help ease anxiety and bring clarity.

How to Walk for Anxiety Relief:

- If possible, head outdoors. Nature has a grounding effect, and the sights, sounds, and fresh air can bring instant relief.

- Focus on your surroundings rather than your thoughts. Notice the colors of the trees, the sound of your footsteps, or the breeze on your skin.

- Walking also releases endorphins, which are natural stress relievers that can help reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety.

3. Watch

When overwhelmed by anxious thoughts, "watching" can mean focusing your attention on something visually calming. It could be anything—a candle flickering, clouds floating by, or even watching your pet play. Shifting your focus from the internal chaos to something outside of yourself can be a powerful tool for calming the mind.

How to Practice Watching:

- Find a visually engaging but calming object, like your favourite scented candle, a beautiful painting, or moving water.

- Set a timer for a few minutes and let yourself just observe. Watch the object’s movements, patterns, and changes.

- If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to the object.

4. Write

Writing is a powerful tool to calm anxiety. When your mind is racing, putting thoughts down on paper gives them a place to land, helping you organize the chaos. Whether it's journaling or jotting down a list, writing gives you a sense of control over your thoughts.

How Writing Helps Ease Anxiety:

- Keep a journal where you can freely express your feelings without judgment. Writing about your fears can sometimes help you see them in a different light.

- Create a list of your anxious thoughts, then write down evidence to counter those fears. This practice can help you challenge negative thinking patterns.

- Write about things you're grateful for. Shifting your focus to positivity can help reduce anxiety.

5. Wind Down

One of the most crucial steps to managing anxiety is learning how to wind down and relax at the end of a stressful day. Anxiety thrives on tension, and creating a relaxing bedtime routine can help calm your mind and body. "Winding down" can include any calming activity like reading a book, listening to soft music, or practicing deep breathing before bed.

How to Wind Down for Anxiety:

- Set a specific time for winding down each night. Create a bedtime routine that doesn’t involve screens, as blue light can keep your mind alert.

- Engage in relaxing activities like gentle stretching, meditative breathing, or even light reading.

- Use this time to disconnect from the day's worries, reminding yourself that this is your time to rest and recharge.

Anxiety can feel like an unstoppable force at times, but these five W’s—Water, Walk, Watch, Write, and Wind Down—can offer quick, simple ways to regain control and calm your mind. Next time anxiety creeps in, give yourself a moment, take a deep breath, and try one (or more) of these grounding techniques.

Over time, practicing these small acts of self-care can make a big difference in managing anxiety and fostering a sense of inner peace.

Sometimes body pain can be quite difficult to figure out. ‘Is it my shoulder muscle, or is it shoulder joint that’s causing me pain?’ We have all had these questions and struggled while answering them at the doctor’s office. This is a common experience that we all go through, and it can make things like finding what medication will help elevate the pain difficult.

So how do doctors figure this out? Explaining this in a video, Dr Pooja Chopra MD, shares a post on Instagram. Posted on 8th September, in the video caption Dr Chopra explained, “As a PM&R and Pain specialist, my first job is to be a detective. Tracing pain back to its precise source is the most critical step, because each source requires a completely different treatment plan.” She further goes on to give a simplified guide to help people understand their pain better. Understanding where the pain comes from can help people feel more at ease as well as figure out how serious the problem could be.

How To Tell Whether Your Muscle Is Causing Pain, Your Joint Or Nerve?

Muscle Pain

Muscle pain, also called myofascial pain, feels like a dull, deep ache. When you press on the sore spot, you'll feel tenderness and might even find what feel like tight knots or bands. This kind of pain gets worse when you use the muscle that's hurt, but it often feels better with simple things like resting, putting a heating pad on it, or doing some gentle stretches. You can usually point with one finger to exactly where it hurts.

Joint Pain

Joint pain, or articular pain, is a deep, internal ache that feels very stiff. It's not on the surface; it feels like it's coming from inside the joint itself. You might feel a sharp pain when you make a specific movement, like reaching high above your head. This type of pain is often at its worst when you first wake up in the morning, but it tends to get better as you start moving around and warm up the joint. Because the pain is deep, it can be hard to say exactly where it is.

Nerve Pain

Nerve pain, also known as neuropathic pain, is the most distinct kind of pain. It feels like sharp, shooting, burning, or "electric" shocks. People often describe it as a tingling sensation, like "pins and needles," or even numbness. A key sign of nerve pain is that it travels along a clear path, for example, from your neck all the way down your arm. This pain can come on unexpectedly, even when you're completely still and not moving the body part.

It's important to remember that these types of pain can be linked. For example, a problem with a joint could make the muscles around it tense up in a protective spasm, which could then pinch a nearby nerve. This is why a proper diagnosis from a specialist is so important. They use advanced tools like diagnostic ultrasound, which lets them see exactly what's happening inside your body, so they can treat the root cause of the pain precisely.

A new study has pointed out that people who have chronic insomnia could be at higher risk of dementia. One of the best things a person can do to recover from a tiring day, whether it is from a stressful day or after a tiring workout. However, it is not easy for everyone, there are many people who suffer with sleep problems like chronic insomnia.

An estimate of 16.2% of people around the globe suffer with insomnia according to 2025 Sleep Medicine Reviews, which is a condition that makes it hard to fall or stay asleep. A big number of these people have what's called chronic insomnia, meaning they've had this problem for at least three months, with poor sleep happening three or more nights a week.

Previous studies have already connected insomnia to serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes. But now, a new study in the medical journal Neurology has found an even more concerning link: people with chronic insomnia might be at a much higher risk for developing dementia and other memory problems. The study suggests that their brains could be aging faster as a result.

How Does Insomnia Cause Dementia?

For this study, researchers followed 2,750 older adults for an average of five and a half years. At the beginning, everyone was mentally healthy. The researchers found that the people who had chronic insomnia had a 40% higher chance of developing dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Researchers explain that this is a huge finding because it means chronic insomnia could be a bigger risk factor for memory loss than having both high blood pressure and diabetes. They also discovered that those who slept less had more of the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer's disease in their brains, like amyloid plaques, and other signs of damage to their brain's blood vessels. This shows that poor sleep isn't just about feeling tired—it's linked to real, physical changes in the brain.

Why You Should Prioritize Sleep?

Experts believe that a big part of the problem is that insomnia is often overlooked. Many older adults just assume that bad sleep is a normal part of getting older. However, doctors stress that chronic insomnia is a real medical issue that goes beyond typical age-related changes. They urge doctors to start talking to their patients about their sleep habits during every check-up.

The good news is that chronic insomnia is a treatable condition. The main treatment is a type of talk therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). The hope is that by recognizing and treating insomnia, doctors can help protect a person's brain health for years to come.

How Does Insomnia Affect Our Memory

Previous studies have shown that our cognitive abilities are affected by how much we sleep. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, explained that there is a strong connection between a person's sleep and their risk of developing Alzheimer's. We know that sleep is crucial for learning and creating memories. Studies have found that a lack of sleep and conditions like insomnia are not just a symptom of Alzheimer's—they may also play a role in its development.

This means that sleep disorders can have a significant impact on whether someone gets Alzheimer's and how fast the disease progresses. Because of this, it's important for doctors to pay more attention to sleep issues when diagnosing and treating patients. By properly screening for and managing sleep disorders, we might be able to help prevent or slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

A new study from Stanford University suggests that daylight saving time isn't just an inconvenience; it could actually be bad for our health. The research shows that our twice-a-year routine of changing the clocks disrupts our bodies' natural rhythms, which can lead to serious health issues. This is a big deal because it provides the first real scientific evidence that this time-switching practice has a biological cost.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

According to the Sleep Foundation, daylight saving time (DST) has been an official practice in most of the United States since 1966. Only a few places, like Hawaii and parts of Arizona, don't follow it. The routine is simple: on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward by one hour, losing an hour of sleep. Then, on the first Sunday in November, we set them back, gaining that hour of sleep. This is why many people remember it as "Spring Forward, Fall Back."

How Daylights Saving Time Affects Our Health

According to the study, if the U.S. got rid of daylight saving time and stayed on standard time all year, it could prevent thousands of strokes and significantly reduce obesity. The researchers, using mathematical models and data, estimated that this single change could prevent 300,000 strokes and lead to 2.6 million fewer people with obesity every year. This adds to what we already know about the negative effects of the time change, such as a spike in heart attacks and car crashes in the days after we lose an hour of sleep in the spring.

How Does Daylight Saving Time Affect Sleep?

Our body's internal clock is heavily influenced by light. When the clocks change, the amount of natural light we get in the morning and evening shifts. This can throw off our sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to feel alert in the morning and sleepy at night.

The “spring forward” change is particularly hard on us. One study found that on the Monday after the time change, the average person gets 40 minutes less sleep. This lack of sleep can build up over time, affecting our mood and increasing the risk of accidents.

While the "fall back" change in November can give us an extra hour of sleep, some people still struggle to adjust to the new schedule. For most people, the effects fade after a few days, but some studies suggest that others never fully adjust, leading to ongoing health problems.

Why Time Changes Mess With Our Bodies

The core problem lies in our body's internal clock, or circadian rhythm. Think of it as the conductor of an orchestra, directing all your body's processes. When it's working well, everything is in sync. But when it's thrown off, like by getting light at the wrong time of day, your body's systems can become disorganized.

This can weaken your immune system, mess with your sleep, and increase your risk for diseases like stroke and obesity. The study found that switching between standard and daylight saving time is the worst thing we can do for our body clock, much worse than staying on either time year-round. It's a bit like having the conductor suddenly change the tempo for no reason—the whole orchestra, or in this case, your body, gets thrown off.