When we are entering into a trigger situation for our anxiety, or just having higher levels of anxiety, we need to do something.  Remember, anxiety recovery needs to be proactive and we need to engage it and recovery is changing our current behavior, therefore to do this we need to do something – we need to Employ the use of tools & techniques.

All the thoughts that we have only last for a very short period of time.  I like to use the image of a firework display; the firework rises, expresses itself and then diminishes.  Thoughts are exactly like this.  All thoughts; whether emotional in nature or when we balance our checkbooks (if anyone still does that?) – all thoughts can only last for a short period of time.

When we are obsessing over something or worrying over something, it is like the grand finale of a firework display.  One thought after another continuously, with only a tiny space between each thought.

Because anxiety is based in fear, our anxious thoughts captivate our attention.  And we feel it is necessary to continue to watch the fear.  I use the example of a scary monster; if you were in a room with a scary monster, where would you be looking?  Of course at the scary monster – in an attempt to predict its next move, watch where it’s going, what its doing – all of this is an attempt to control the situation.  When we have higher levels of anxiety, this is exactly what is going on in our heads.  We are watching the fear in an attempt to control it.

The beginning of changing our conditioning is learning to look away from the anxiety.  Even if for a few seconds at a time in the beginning.  We need to learn that we can look away from it and we can still be ok.  Tools & techniques are things that interrupt this pattern of thinking.

Tools and techniques are things that help us to take our attention away from the fear and focus on something else.  By doing this what happens is that it creates additional space between the fireworks I mentioned above.  It is within this space that anxiety recovery is created.

Do not underestimate the use of tools to create anxiety recovery.  When I first started my own anxiety recovery I questioned their effectiveness.  When we are suffering from anxiety we think we need something powerful, or supernatural to save us.  I myself did not take to the use of tools quickly.  But it is the tools themselves that give us something to actually start to manage our thoughts – create new conditioning & thought habits – and ultimately allow us to look away from the fear that consumes us.

Tools & techniques are either “physical” or “mental” tools.

Physical Tools For Anxiety Recovery

• Ice – let it melt on you
• Rubber band on the wrist
• Flavored mints & gums
• Frozen water bottle
• Squeeze car/house keys
• Count coins in your pocket
• Use a calculator
• Place a small pebble in your shoe
• Scented oils / Fragrances
• Word search puzzles
• Use magazine or newspaper and circle 3-lettered words

Mental Tools

• Counting backward from a high number by 1’s, 2’s or 3’s
• Alphabet games – girls/boys names, song titles, sports teams, etc.
• Use letters on signs or license plates to make words
• Number games – count numbers to make 21, count specific items or colors
• Spell words backward
• Take a larger word and make smaller words from it

The idea behind the physical tools is that you want something that will really engage your senses.  Or in the case of the word search puzzles and circling words, your combing reading, touch and focusing on writing.  These things will engage your mind and keep you connected to the “here & now”.

Mental tools are suggested for longer sustained anxiety recovery.  What these tools do in essence is fill the mind with unemotional thinking; actually creating an atmosphere where the anxiety cannot live.  The more of our brains capacity that is being used on tools, there is less room for the anxiety to continue.

My suggestion is to experiment with these tools – both physical and mental.  Try each one, practice a few each day, even multiple times daily.