3 Steps to Interrupt Anxiety

Interrupting Anxiety: 3 Simple Steps to Change Your Response

Anxiety can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to control your life. By learning to interrupt the anxious process and changing your response, you can regain a sense of control and calm. In this post, we’ll explore three simple yet effective steps you can take to shift your perspective and manage anxiety.

Step 1: Look Up

When anxiety strikes, it’s common to feel trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts and worries. One way to break free from this cycle is by changing the ‘how’ that you are using to generate that anxious feeling. Simply looking up can help shift your response from the overthinking and create space for a different response.

Try this:

• When you notice feelings of anxiety creeping in, take a moment to lift your gaze upward.
• Focus on something above eye level, whether it’s the sky, a tree, or a ceiling.
• Notice how this simple act of looking up helps to expand your field of vision and brings a sense of openness and perspective.

By looking up, you’re signaling to your brain that it’s time to break free from the patterns of anxious thinking and see what else is possible.

Step 2: Drop Your Shoulders

Anxiety responses often manifest physically, leading to tension and tightness in the body. Dropping your shoulders is a simple yet effective way to release some of this tension and change the pattern of anxiety.

Here’s how to do it:

• Take a deep breath in, allowing your shoulders to rise towards your ears.
• As you exhale, consciously relax your shoulders, letting them drop down away from your ears.
• Repeat this process several times, focusing on the sensation of tension melting away with each breath.

By dropping your shoulders, you’re sending a signal to your body that it’s safe to relax and let go of the physical manifestations of anxiety.

Step 3: Wiggle your toes

When we have an anxious response, we follow a pattern we have learned over many years.  Creating interruptions to that pattern sends signals to our brain that we can respond in a different way.  Moving a part of our body that isn’t usually part of the pattern of response can interrupt this pattern and promote a sense of calm and ease.

Try the following:

• Take a moment to breathe in, then as you breathe out, wiggle your toes, one at a time.
• Consciously wiggle each toe, focusing on moving it back and forth, independently of the other toes.
• As you work your way through each toe on each foot, notice where your thoughts are going.

By wiggling your toes, you’re encouraging your body to shift out of the pattern you associate with anxiety and towards a more relaxed and balanced state. By focusing on each toe individually you are interrupting the repetitive nature of your thoughts, and clearing your mind to create space for a different response.

Managing anxiety doesn’t have to be complicated. By incorporating these three simple steps into your routine – looking up, dropping your shoulders, and wiggling your toes – you can interrupt your anxiety pattern and change your response to stressors. Small changes can have a big impact, and with practice, you can change your patterns of response and work to create new, and more helpful, patterns.