New York Times Shares Tips to ‘Cope’ With ‘Election Stress’ on Twitter: ‘Breathe Like a Baby’

The New York Times has released an “evidence-based” guide on Twitter for their readers to help them “cope” with “election stress,” to much derision from conservatives.

“Elections and anxiety often go hand in hand,” the New York Times posted on Twitter on Tuesday evening, offering five different tips for them to help combat the election stress that many of their Democrat readers may be suffering:

• “Try five-finger breathing. Trace the outside of your hand with your pointer finger. When you trace up, breathe in, and when you trace down, breathe out.”
• “Cool down. Plunge your face into a bowl with ice water for 15 to 30 seconds.”
• “Move. Even a walk around the block can offer some relief for an uneasy mind.”
• “Breathe like a baby. Focus on expanding your belly as you breathe, which can send more oxygen to the brain.”
• “Limit your scrolling. Consider plotting out specific times when you will look for election updates.”

Elections and anxiety often go hand in hand. Here are some evidence-based strategies that can help you cope. https://t.co/Bu9Bq5AVqh pic.twitter.com/WkF7ClDpyA

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 8, 2022

Unsurprisingly, the NYT was widely mocked by conservatives on Twitter for posting their election stress guide, including the UK’s Nigel Farage, who quipped that they “cannot be serious.”

You cannot be serious mate. https://t.co/2KxZkeuBUO

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 8, 2022

COPE. SEETHE.

— Logan Hall (@loganclarkhall) November 8, 2022

pic.twitter.com/byrDYfUzXG

— Democrat Plague (@DemocratPlague) November 8, 2022

Here's another strategy to cope with election anxiety that the NY Times left off their list. pic.twitter.com/LDmt402Rjl

— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) November 8, 2022

Other Twitter users joked that the New York Times was almost satirising their own user base, of affluent white liberals with no kids, who love consuming “boxed wine.”

This is what happens when the entire media ecosystem is ruled by neurotic AWFLs. https://t.co/rF249OBRu3

— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) November 8, 2022

white suburban women aged 45-65 who consume btwn 0.5-1.3 bottles of wine per day and own 1-2 small dogs. average TFR 0.8

in short: their core subscriber base

— absolutely not (@absynot) November 8, 2022

Is boxed wine an acceptable replacement for margaritas? I don't want to culturally appropriate Latinx culture.

— Strongarm Zed (@StrongarmZed) November 8, 2022

Commentator Mike Cernovich suggested that the New York Times had only posted the election stress guide because they “know it’s time to accept defeat,” even before the polls had closed, a sentiment shared by a number of other Twitter users.

See? They know. It’s bad. NYT knows it’s time to accept defeat. God help them if they try to cheat. It will be so obvious. https://t.co/dennF0OCqh

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) November 8, 2022

The NYT is already panicking! https://t.co/LkvtHncyg0

— Dr. Steve Turley (@DrTurleyTalks) November 8, 2022

The New York Times is telling Democrats to dunk their heads in ice water. Polls aren’t even closed yet lol https://t.co/s2puArIAw2

— Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) November 8, 2022

The polls haven't closed yet and we've already reached the "plunge your face in ice water" and "breathe like a baby" stages of grief for the mainstream media. https://t.co/Wb2GuM3E3E

— Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) November 8, 2022

Radio host Dan O’Donnell added that the New York Times was really to blame for any stress their readers would be suffering this evening, since they had spent “six months convincing [them] that democracy will end if their party loses.”

Maybe you shouldn’t have spent six months convincing your gullible readers that democracy will end if their party loses. https://t.co/pCs0IcVWaO

— Dan O'Donnell (@DanODonnellShow) November 8, 2022

Kyle Mann, Editor in Chief of the Babylon Bee, was so impressed by the almost-satirical nature of the post, that he offered a job at the conservative satire news site to the person who came up with the tweet, with a number of other Twitter users noting that the Bee would find it hard to compete with the New York Times’s post.

I'd like to offer whoever wrote this a job here at @TheBabylonBee

— Kyle Mann (@The_Kyle_Mann) November 8, 2022

It’s getting really hard for @TheBabylonBee to make satire better than this https://t.co/MB1SZ7U1kV

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) November 8, 2022

The New York Times did have at least one happy customer in Erin Dooley, a former ABC World News reporter who now works as the Public Affairs Officer for the Department of Justice in Texas, who said that while she thought it was “ridiculous” at first, she felt “instantly more relaxed” after she tried one of the methods. “Election or no election, mindfulness for the win!”

This @nytimes guide struck me as ridiculous… and then I tried the five finger breathing thing felt instantly more relaxed. Election or no election, mindfulness for the win! https://t.co/Bm7QPBcQcN

— Erin Dooley (@erindooley) November 9, 2022