Mindfulness Strategies for When You’re Anxious

Mindfulness is about becoming the observer of your experience. When you become the observer, you slow down your reaction because you’re no longer emotionally ATTACHED to the situation before you. This doesn’t mean that you become disconnected from your experience or that you’re ignoring your emotions; rather, you connect to the present moment by detaching from the past and detaching from the future.

It’s crucial that we connect to the present moment because anxiety is largely about what’s happened before or about what “might” happen soon. The more often we can place ourselves in the present moment, the more easily we’ll be able to stop anxiety in it’s tracks.

So how do we do it?

As a mindfulness based and somatic based therapist, I work to help my clients strengthen the mind-body connection. That’s what I want to help you with now too. Here are a few of my favorite mindfulness based strategies to help reduce anxiety:

1) Alternating your focus

With this strategy, focus your attention first on the anxious feeling in your body. Notice exactly where anxiety is showing up physically. Pinpoint it and perhaps place a hand on the feeling. As you breathe and focus your attention on the sensation, try not to judge it. Instead, observe the qualities of the sensation with empathy. After a few moments, scan your body for where you might feel even the slightest bit calm, comfortable or safe. Pinpoint that calm or safe sensation and perhaps place a hand there. Breathe for a few moments as you focus your attention on the qualities of this calm sensation. When you’re ready, alternate your attention back to the anxious sensation, then again, back to the calm sensation. At your pace, continue to alternate until you feel more at ease.

2) Find your center

Even in the midst of feeling anxious, you might be able to find at least one area on your body that feels steady and strong; consider this your “center.” When you notice yourself becoming triggered, find your center and imagine a healing light (choose a color representative of healing) beaming from this center out into the rest of your body.

3) Make somatic adjustments

Because anxiety is largely a physical experience and not just a mental one, you’re capable of intervening on your anxious cycles by simply making adjustments to the way you experience your body. For example, imagine stacking your vertebrae and lengthening and straightening your spine. At the same time, gently float your chin up to bring it parallel to the ground, breathe deep and let your shoulders roll back and down (see if this shifts anything for you emotionally, even if only ever so slightly).

4) Practice patterned breathing

You can try box breathing, which involves inhaling to a count of 4, holding to a count of 4, exhaling to a count of 4, and holding again for 4. Repeat. Or, you can try inhaling to a count of 4, holding for a count of 7, exhaling for a count of 8 and repeat. By engaging in patterned breathing, you regulate your nervous system through paced inhales and exhales and you slow down your anxious thought spirals by focusing intently on counting. For a deepened mindfulness practice, focus your attention on the sound of the breath and the specific sensations of each inhale and exhale.

The truth about these coping skills is this: they won’t fix the stressors you’re encountering.

The other truth about these coping skills: they will fix how you feel about the stressors you’re encountering.

It’s imperative that you separate what’s in your control from what isn’t on your journey to improved mental health.

For more support from a California therapist, learn more here.