Anxiety is like a snowball: Once it starts rolling downhill, it’s very difficult to stop it. Body awareness, breathing, and knowing my symptoms are only one side of the coin.

The other is actually changing my anxious behavior, which in the moment is extremely difficult to do because the momentum is so powerful. Whatever need is driving the anxious behavior feels urgent and dire — and, for me, that is usually an underlying fear of rejection or not being good enough.

Over time, I have found that I can almost always look back and see that choosing the perfect dress wasn’t so important in the grand scheme of things. Oftentimes, anxiety isn’t really about what we are anxious about intervene with myself in the moment.

These are a few tools that help me intervene with yourself in the moment -

👉Just walking away.

Suppose - "If I am getting sucked into indecision and keep checking, researching, or going back and forth, I gently encourage myself to drop it for now."

👉Setting a timer on my phone.

Suppose- "I give myself 10 more minutes to check different options, and then I need to stop."

👉Keeping lavender oil in my purse.

Suppose- "I pull the bottle out and smell it at moments when I feel the anxiety rising. It distracts me and engages my senses in a different way."

👉Talking to myself, sometimes out loud.

Suppose- "I recognize that I am feeling scared and ask myself what else I can choose to do to help me feel safe."

👉Being active.

Exercise, going for a brief walk, or even just standing up and stretching helps me to reconnect with my body and takes me out of the intensity of the moment. Having some backup activities handy helps: cooking, crafts, watching a movie, or cleaning can help me choose a different path.

Sources - https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/getting-to-know-my-anxiety#4.-Intervene-in-the-moment