Whilst it's very silly and childish to complain about mask-wearing for your ten-minute shopping run, some people DO get anxiety from masks (myself included!) and it's worth talking about that.

I have some very thick masks and I've found that the weight on my face is a bit claustrophobic so here are my tips:

1) thinner face coverings are available, especially if used with a filter.

2) washable masks can feel a bit rigid after being hung out to dry so give em a bit of a stretch before you pop it on. Make sure it's not folded in on itself.
3) practice wearing them around the house if you need to

4) if you feel like the mask is too tight or pulling too hard on your ears, ear savers are great. I have also tried hooking a hair tie into the loops to extend them a bit.
5) further to this, if you have long hair you can loop the hair ties around your ponytail

6) disposable masks are generally a wee bit less claustrophobic feeling than cloth ones.
7) if you do scent association for your therapy, consider adding a wee bit of your calming scent to the mask. Not too much! Not right on the nose part!

8) if you feel short of breath, part of it might be the feeling of your exhalations bouncing back on your mouth/nose. This is really hard to overcome but I've found scents help and deliberately blowing to the side or down like I'm vaping/smoking can help

9) brush your teeth or use mouthwash just before you put the mask on. Focus on the minty freshness! It helps.

If anyone else has some mask anxiety tips, I'd love to hear them.

Oh, also: face coverings don't have to be masks and they don't have to fit snugly. It's a risk reduction technique. You're not a health worker, so don't feel like you have to make yourself feel extra claustrophobic by wearing an extra tight or fitted mask if you don't need to.

A scarf is fine. T-shirt material is fine. It just needs to catch most of the moisture in your breath, not block breathing entirely.