Here to find out if the “Worry Ring” lives up to its name.

by Rachel Linder

Whenever you learn about a new trend or product that’s supposed to lessen those feelings of worry, you’re not crazy to be a bit skeptical. Especially now that anxiety is slowly becoming more widely understood in society, products seem to be popping up all over the place that claim they can make your anxiety more manageable. Consumerism at its finest. What we’re trying to say is it’s crucial to research each one of these new products with caution, as the last thing we want to do is spend money on something that doesn’t work.

Even though you may not have heard of ‘Worry Rings’ until recently, they actually can’t be considered one of those fad products invented just to fit into the anxiety market. In fact, they were actually believed to come from an ancient Tibetan meditation tradition, so there’s no doubt that these rings have been around for centuries. The reason they were used in these meditation techniques is because they were known to have the ability to calm the body and mind by spinning the ring to the right, while on the finger. It was from this movement done during these meditation techniques that they also became known as “Spinner Rings”.

Let’s talk about how these rings are designed. They’re a bit hard to explain, so we'll do our best to paint the picture. Imagine a silver ring with two layers. The bottom layer is the one that secures the ring to your finger, it makes sure when you’re fidgeting with it that you’re not rubbing against the skin on your finger. The outer layer is the part that’s doing the spinning. It’s that part that you can play with, rotating it to no end.

So now that you can imagine what these rings look like, we wanted to do some research to see what exactly contributes to that meditative feeling the ancient Tibetan rituals experienced when using them.

It turns out that it has nothing to do with the ring itself—no secret powers to speak of whatsoever, but instead it has to do with the ability that the ring gives you to fidget. Anxiety can manifest not just through thoughts of worry, but also from actions like nail biting, finger picking, and other forms of fidgeting. This ring can provide the sense of calmness that can come from fidgeting, instead of tearing your cuticles apart—something too many of us are guilty of. It is by far a much safer form of fidgeting, and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. It is from the behind these rings that fidget-spinners became such a huge recent craze. And, they too, have this same effect, which is why so many people now have them. So, if you’re trying to finally address your non stop nail-biting or simply looking for an outlet for your fidgeting, these “Worry Rings” are a good place to start.