Anxiety

Calm your nervous system quickly when anxiety spikes.

Use whenever you feel your heart racing, your chest tightening, or panic building.

1. 1.Sit comfortably and let your shoulders drop.
2. 2.Exhale completely through your mouth, making a soft whoosh sound.
3. 3.Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose for a count of 4.
4. 4.Hold your breath gently for a count of 7.
5. 5.Exhale completely through your mouth for a count of 8.
6. 6.Repeat the full cycle 4 times.
7. 7.Notice how your body feels afterward compared to before.

Bring your attention out of anxious thoughts and into the present moment.

Use when your mind is spiraling or you feel disconnected from your body.

1. 1.Pause and look around you.
2. 2.Name 5 things you can see, out loud or in your head.
3. 3.Name 4 things you can physically feel (your feet on the floor, fabric on your skin).
4. 4.Name 3 things you can hear right now.
5. 5.Name 2 things you can smell.
6. 6.Name 1 thing you can taste.
7. 7.Take one slow breath and notice you are here, now, safe in this moment.

Contain anxious thoughts to a set window so they don't take over your whole day.

Use daily if you find yourself worrying throughout the day about the same things.

Reduce avoidance by facing feared situations in small, manageable steps.

Use when anxiety is causing you to avoid something important, like driving, socializing, or public speaking.

Test whether your anxious thoughts hold up against evidence, weakening their grip over time.

Use when you notice a specific worry that feels certain and overwhelming.

Interrupt an anxious reaction in the moment before it drives your behavior.

Use the instant you notice urgency, panic, or the urge to react impulsively.

Create distance from anxious thoughts so they carry less weight.

Use when a thought keeps looping and feels fused with reality.

Use movement to burn off the adrenaline anxiety produces before it settles into your body.

Use when you feel jittery, keyed up, or unable to sit still with anxious energy.

Challenge overestimation of danger by comparing feared outcomes to realistic odds.

Use when you're convinced something terrible is about to happen.

Prepare a personalized set of tools in advance so you're not searching for help mid-spiral.

Use to build once, then keep on hand at all times, especially before high-stress seasons.

Contain worry to a defined window so it stops bleeding into every hour of the day.

Use daily, especially if you notice worry intruding during work, meals, or trying to fall asleep.

Reduce fear of physical anxiety sensations themselves by observing them with curiosity instead of alarm.

Use when anxiety produces racing heart, tight chest, or dizziness that scares you as much as the trigger itself.

Face avoided situations in a structured order, anchored to what actually matters to you rather than fear reduction alone.

Use when avoidance has begun shrinking your life around a specific fear, such as driving, socializing, or flying.

Break the cycle where seeking reassurance from others or the internet temporarily soothes but ultimately strengthens anxiety.

Use when you notice you're repeatedly asking the same question of others, Googling symptoms, or seeking confirmation.

Install a short, personally meaningful phrase that interrupts spiraling thought and reconnects you to your values in the moment.

Use in the early seconds of a spike in anxiety, before full escalation.

Create a graded plan that expands your life instead of managing avoidance.

Use once you can identify what you are avoiding.

Find the hidden crutches that keep exposure from working.

Use before beginning any exposure work.

Contain worry to a defined window so it stops colonizing the day.

Use daily for at least three weeks.

Build tolerance for not knowing rather than chasing certainty.

Use several times a week.

Teach your brain that body sensations are uncomfortable, not dangerous.

Use only when medically cleared to do so, several times a week.

You sent a message an hour ago and there's no reply. Your mind starts building a story.

You have a presentation or meeting that feels like it will determine how people see you professionally.

Someone you love is running late and hasn't called, and your mind jumps straight to disaster.

You wake at 3am with a strange physical sensation and immediately begin searching symptoms online, convinced something is seriously wrong.

A friend invites you to something you genuinely want to attend, but anticipatory anxiety about the event is making you consider canceling out of avoidance.

You are in a grocery store and your heart starts pounding. Your instinct is to abandon the cart and leave immediately.

You want to text your partner for the fourth time today to be told everything is fine.