Managing Stress
It has now been proven that practising Mindfulness is a helpful technique to use to calm down your tinnitus and doing so on a regular basis is something that should be considered. The aim is, not only to make peace with yourself but also to make peace with your tinnitus. Once you have achieved this aim, your tinnitus will recede into the background as you learn to manage your emotions, anxieties and irrational thoughts and reactions.
Because stress is so closely linked to the emotional system, negative thoughts and feelings, along with worries and anxieties, will cause tinnitus to be intrusive so it is important to try to reduce stressful situations as much as possible. Sometimes this may mean looking at your lifestyle and making some changes to minimise your stress.
Muscle Relaxation and Visualisation
Muscle relaxation is also very helpful. If you lie on the bed and start from your toes, squeezing/tensing and then relaxing all your muscles right up to the top of your head, this helps to release tension in your body.
Visualisation is also a good idea. Whilst relaxing and possibly, tensing and relaxing your muscles, visualise a place where you have either been, or maybe where you would like to go to (or even somewhere you imagine) – a place that is peaceful and relaxing. This type of visualisation can also help to ease anxiety.
Do not shrink your lifestyle
It is very important not to shrink your lifestyle by thinking that you cannot enjoy all the things that you enjoyed before tinnitus. Doing all the things that you enjoy (taking precautions where necessary when being exposed to extremely loud sounds) and enjoying your life to the full will certainly help you in distracting your thoughts from tinnitus. Try to have as much daylight as possible, embrace nature, your garden and everything around you, and do a mindful breathing exercise. Engage in a hobby, reading, writing poetry, journaling and anything that will engage your attention in something pleasant.
Music
Listening to music can stimulate a calmer emotional response and so it not only helps with relaxation but also allows your attention to focus elsewhere. Classical music can have a beneficial effect by slowing the pulse and heart rate and decreasing the levels of stress hormones.