Eat something and savor it (and use your other senses to fully experience it). Do this for all of your senses, including taste. Look for something beautiful to study with your eyes. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel? Taste? Be purposeful. Rather than simply telling your brain to stop (as you probably know, this isn’t very effective), ignore your thoughts and turn instead to your senses. It’s hard to concentrate on any one thing when anxiety has thoughts zinging.

Enlist the help of all of your senses.

The present moment acts like a speed bump for those racing thoughts of anxiety. Intentionally focus on what is going on right now, what you are doing and what’s happening around you. When thoughts begin to race so much that they really can’t even be identified, we’ve lost sight of what’s happening in the moment. (What if…, Why did I… I should’ve said…, etc.). Anxiety’s racing thoughts are usually about the past and/or the future. Tips for Taming the Racing Thoughts of Anxiety For this to happen, the thoughts have to calm down. That means that we can work together to tame the racing thoughts so I can go back to identifying and analyzing those anxious thoughts and using reason to make them shrink. These are the times when I tell my brain, “I love you, but I don’t love what you’re doing.” And then I remember that my brain and I aren’t exactly separate entities. I can feel them, but I can’t understand them. However, this approach doesn’t work when thoughts race so rapidly that I can’t even tell what I’m thinking. Then, with a thought in my grip, I can deal with it: examine it, counter it, develop a plan to overcome whatever stress, worry, or anxiety is involved. When this happens, it’s usually effective for me to grab the thoughts, one by one, as they streak by. Sometimes they go so fast that I can feel the heat increase, like molecules of water bubbling and bursting as they explode into steam. It’s almost as though I can feel them pushing and shoving and tumbling and bouncing off my skull. Usually the trouble that it’s up to is creating such a high volume of thoughts and anxiety that I end up losing track of them. I love it, but I don’t always love what it’s up to.) (When I was little and got myself into this trouble or that, my mom would always tell me, “Tanya, I love you, but I don’t love what you did.” To me, my brain is like that. That doesn’t mean we always love what it does, though. Racing Thoughts Make it Hard to Love the Brainĭon’t get me wrong the brain is a wonderful thing. Thankfully, it’s possible to tame these racing thoughts. I’m sure I’m not the only person who hates this with a passion. When anxiety flares, my thoughts race uncontrollably at dangerous speeds.

The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety: The 8-Week Solution to Help You Manage Anxiety, Worry, and Stressīreak Free: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in 3 Steps

The 5-Minute Anxiety Relief Journal: A Creative Way to Stop Freaking Out The Mindfulness Journal for Anxiety: Daily Prompts and Practices to Find Peace The Mindful Path Through Anxiety: An 8-Week Plan to Quiet Your Mind & Gain Calm

Mindfulness Journal for Depression: A Guided Journal Toward Self-Compassion and Positivityġ01 Ways to Stop Anxiety: Practical Exercises to Find Peace A Year of Self-Discovery: Daily Prompts to Inspire Reflection and Help You Embrace Your True Selfĥ-Minute Evening Intention Journal: Inspiring Prompts to Set Intentions and End Your Day with Gratitude

Mind won t stop racing