Clinical psychologist Kirren Schnack outlines eight practices designed to help people manage anxious thoughts by training their attentional control. These methods aim to reduce hyper-vigilance, decrease self-focus, and make it easier to switch attention away from anxiety.
Schnack, who holds a Practitioner Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oxford, suggests that regularly practicing these skills can lead to a reduction in anxiety. She advises that individuals experiment with the different exercises to find what works for them, practicing more frequently if attentional focus is a significant concern.
Switch from worst to best
This practice involves shifting attention from what feels like the worst thing in the present moment to the best thing in the present moment. For example, moving focus from a pounding heart to the feeling of sitting safely at home with a warm drink.
Redirect your attention
This cognitive behavioral technique, called situational refocusing, involves deliberately shifting attention onto something else in the current environment. When noticing over-focus on anxiety, a person can state, “I am over-focusing on…” and then say, “I’m going to refocus my attention on…” before moving focus to a chosen task or object.
Use sounds to improve the scope of attention
Set a timer for one to two minutes, eventually building to five minutes. With eyes closed, notice and mentally list all the different sounds that can be heard in the immediate space, such as talking, machine hums, or wind. Repeat this exercise several times a day.
Use textures to improve the scope of attention
One exercise involves moving around a space to touch different textures and describing them out loud. Another exercise uses two bowls of water, one warm and one cold. Placing hands in each bowl alternately for about a minute at a time helps focus attention on the changing temperature sensations on the skin.
Use your body to improve the scope of attention
For three to five minutes, focus on sensations felt on bare skin. This can involve lying on a cool surface like a floor, with skin exposed. The goal is to connect deeply with the sensory experiences of the body in contact with its environment.
Use your vision to improve the scope of attention
This can be done by picking a color and identifying all objects of that color in a room, saying them aloud. Another method is to name objects based on a specific category, such as all items made of wood or all electronic devices, while moving through a space.
Notice breathing sensations
Find a comfortable position and turn attention to the breath. Notice the feeling of cool air entering the nostrils, the breath moving down the throat, and the expansion of the stomach and chest. Observe the warmth of the exhaled air and the sensation of it passing through the lips.
Use your sense of smell
Engage the sense of smell to redirect focus. This can involve simply noticing the scents in the immediate environment or intentionally smelling a particular object, like a scented candle or a food item, and concentrating on that specific sensory detail for a few minutes.
These practices are presented as accessible tools for moments of anxiety. Schnack notes that the mind may initially want to return to familiar anxious patterns, but each moment of fixation can be seen as a new opportunity to practice improving one’s “attention muscle.” The exercises are designed to be quick, with many taking less than five minutes to complete.
