Can this humble GIF really help ease anxiety?

Anyone who's ever had to deal with any level of anxiety issues knows how difficult it can be to calm yourself and ease yourself out of an anxiety attack.

There are so many different mechanisms people use, ranging from buying a stress ball to dabbling with meditation or even just using a pillow as a punching bag.

Now there's a GIF floating around the internet that many people say has helped to put them in a zen state of mind just from looking at it for a few minutes. It shows a line expanding out into a triangle, then a square, then a pentagon, hexagon, octagon and so on before folding back in on itself in a visually satisfying way.

It's thought that the rhythm of movement and repetition - when paired with deep breathing on the part of the viewer - can help soothe the area of the brain that deals with stress build-up.

Via The Independent

Sometimes it takes something so simple to do a world of difference.