1. Radical Acceptance. Instead of trying to push away or resist or thinking “Why me?”, accept that you are having anxiety or anxious thoughts or a panic attack. Accept that your heart rate is rapid, your muscles are tense, your head feels like it will explode, you are having difficulty breathing, you envision the worst case scenarios, etc. Accept it, don’t resist it.
  2. Mindfulness. Using your 5 physical senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell), observe what is happening right now. What can you see, hear, touch, taste and smell using descriptive words like red, shiny, smooth, round, stale odor, soft, sweet smelling, flowery, etc. Describe these things in your mind excluding any feelings or emotions or judgments. Participate in the moment, right now, instead of living in your brain. Don’t be judgmental with your descriptions (no good or bad, right or wrong, etc.) Just be in the “right now.”
  3. Breathing. Slow your breathing down and pace it. Set the timer on your phone for 3 minutes. Then breathe in to the count of 5, hold for a second and breathe out for the count of six. If 3 minutes doesn’t work, set the timer again for another 3 minutes.
  4. Paired relaxation. Start with your feet. Tense the muscles in your feet for a count of 5, then relax them for a count of 5, then tense them again. Move to your calves, tensing, relaxing and tensing again each for a count of 5. Move upwards to your thighs, bottom, back, shoulders, arms and hands. There is research showing that tensing before relaxing actually relaxes muscles more than just trying to relax without tensing first.
  5. Repeat this statement. “This will pass, I am okay” or “relax.”
  6. Overthinking. You may not realize you are doing it, try to catch yourself. Thinking of worst case scenarios is a learned habit so it can be unlearned. Each time you find yourself overthinking a situation, accept it, do mindfulness, staying present and participating in the moment. Right now.
  7. Problem solving. There are four ways to solve a problem: change the situation, change how you feel about the problem, accept the problem and that you cannot change it (this doesn’t mean you like the problem or approve of it) or do nothing and stay miserable. Focus on problem solving rather than focusing on the future problem. It hasn’t happened yet so you can try to cope ahead instead of worrying.
  8. Keep yourself busy. Too much time on your hands can lead to overthinking, anxiety and depression. Find hobbies, volunteer, go for walks being mindful, window shop, exercise, make a list of things to do so when you need an idea the list is available.
  9. Challenge your thoughts with logic.
  10. Schedule “worry” time. If you want to worry, schedule it for 20 minutes per day. Keep the appointment with yourself and vow that you will only worry for the scheduled time.
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