Coping Strategies

• Safely take scissors and cut up a piece of heavy cardboard, an old shirt, or a plastic bottle
• Vent to a friend or family member
• Squeeze ice
• Eat a lemon or hot sauce for a sharp sensation
• Flatten aluminum cans for recycling
• Hit a punching bag or pillow
• Use a pillow to hit the wall or your bed
• Listen to music and scream/sing along (genres like heavy metal, hard rock, rap)
• Rip up a newspaper, printer paper, cue cards, etc.
• Throw a ball or ice at a wall
• Dance – have a 1-minute dance party with fist pumping, jumping, or any other dance moves
• Tidy or clean up
• Bang pots and pans
• Hold ice in your hand
• Take a hot or cold shower
• Squeeze a rubber ball
• Drum using a spatula/spoon and a pot
• Stomp around or kick dirt
• Shove a pen into a notebook until it tears through the pages
• Scream into a jar

• Do a task that requires focus and concentration, like a puzzle
• Choose an object in the room and list all the uses of it
• Learn how to do a hobby or task (yo-yo, shuffling cards, needlepoint, crochet)
• Write reviews for things you’ve ordered online 
• Follow a DIY tutorial (5-minute crafts for example)

• Dance slowly to soft, soothing music
• Take a hot bath with bubbles or a bath bomb
• Curl up under a blanket with a hot drink
• Give or make yourself a present
• Hug a loved one or stuffed animal
• Play with a pet
• Make a list of things that make you happy
• Do something nice for someone else
• Listen to motivating music 
• Put body lotion on your legs and pay attention to covering your whole leg with lotion
• Call a friend or loved one
• Watch a funny TV show or movie, or funny YouTube videos
• Visit a friend

• Write down your feelings in a diary
• Cry it out!
• Read 
• Listen to a podcast or e-book to avoid silence

• Put noise cancelling headphones in
• Use a weighted blanket or put on a heavy sweater
• Create a soft, calming area of your room with pillows and blankets
• Hug a stuffed animal

• Play a game 
• Think about what is contributing to the stress and try to solve it – for example, cleaning up clothes from the floor of your room 
• Do a calming activity like colouring, drawing/doodling, knitting

• Lie down and rest, even if you do not fall into sleep
• Watch a video of something you find boring to help drift you into sleep (ex. video explaining photosynthesis, learning to code, watching someone draw or paint, etc.)

• Use a massage ball or back scratcher
• Touch different types of fabrics
• Drum on a surface
• Play a game on your phone
• Untangle cords/necklaces/headphones 
• Puzzle books – sudoku, word search, crosswords
• Wash makeup brushes, paint brushes, or work tools
• Clean your electronics

• Listening to the sound of the birds chirping or wind in the trees
• Smelling the fresh scent of the air or spring flowers
• Noticing the musty smell of an old blanket
• Looking at the clouds in the sky
• Looking at the cracks in the sidewalk
• Noticing the feel of a soft stuffed animal
• Noticing the feel of a bumpy edge or your keys 
• Concentrating on other thoughts like counting shapes or colours, watching TV 
• Count down slowly from 10 to 0
• Breathe slowly, in through the nose and out through the mouth
• Do yoga or meditate
• Do some breathing exercises to aid relaxation

• Listening to soothing music
• Pay attention to the sound of nature
• Sing or hum
• Learn to play an instrument
• Call someone to hear their soothing voice

• Use your favourite perfume or cologne
• Put lotion on
• Spray fragrance in the air
• Light a scented candle
• Put lemon oil on your furniture
• Place potpourri in a bowl
• Boil cinnamon; bake cookies, cake, or bread
• Smell some flowers
• Go for a walk and notice the smells of nature
• Put your hands in soil and notice the smell of earth

• Have your favourite meal
• Have a soothing drink (tea, hot chocolate)
• Really taste the food you eat, eating mindfully 

• Take a bubble bath
• Put clean sheets on your bed
• Pet your pet
• Have a massage
• Soak your feet
• Put lotion on your body
• Put a cold/warm compress on your forehead
• Sink into a really comfortable chair
• Put on a silky shirt
• Put on cozy clothes
• Brush your hair
• Hug someone
• Hug yourself
• Place a heavy blanket or pillow on your lap
• Cuddle into a big sweater or blanket to feel contained 
• Butterfly hug yourself and tap your sides

• Make your space the way you like it
• Light a candle and watch the flame
• Set the table for yourself
• Go see some art
• Look at nature/the stars
• Look at a picture book 
• Watch a dance

• Doing something for others
• Volunteering 
• List as many good things about yourself as you can
• Talk to someone who cares about you
• Remember when you did a good deed
• Get a coffee and pay it forward (paying for the person behind you)
• Read a children’s book to your inner child
• List your recent accomplishments
• Encouragement – provide encouragement by talking to yourself the way you would to someone you care about, or the way you wish someone would talk to you. Repeat statements like:

• I can do this
• I can stand it
• It won’t last forever 
• I’m doing the best I can 
• I am strong and capable

• yoga
• tai chi
• stretching
• learning self-defence 

Journaling can help you express yourself, manage anxiety and stress, clarify thoughts and feelings, and practice  positive self-talk. 

Some examples of journal prompts to try: 

• Write a letter to your past self, or your future recovered self
• Write a letter to your eating disorder
• “Who am I without my eating disorder?”
• “What would my life look like without my eating disorder?”
• The negative impacts of your eating disorder
• Identify disordered eating thoughts and how they differ from the truth
• Reasons why and how you can achieve recovery
• Write about a relapse and what you can do differently next time
• What a day without your eating disorder would like
• Ways you can be kinder to yourself and practice more self-care
• Write about what’s happening in the present moment.

• Needle work
• Holding ice in your hand
• Taking a hot or cold shower
• Squeezing a rubber/stress ball 
• Listening to loud music 
• Gardening/planting flowers or trees

• Colouring
• Stacking dominoes or cards

• Try a body scan exercise
• Try progressive muscle relaxation

• Mind block – create an imaginary wall between yourself and the situation and put it into an imaginary box. 
• 5-4-3-2-1 exercise
• Counting backwards from 100 by 7
• Saying the alphabet backwards
• Naming the provinces and territories of Canada and their capital cities