The main problem with any intrusive thought is that it's impossible not to think about a pink elephant if you need to not think about a pink elephant. Therefore, if you have an intrusive thought that consumes all of your energy and prevents you from engaging in your daily life, you can use a paradoxical method — think only about that thought. There are two options for this technique:

• If you have free time: think only about it, don’t try to get rid of these thoughts; instead, intensify the intrusive thought, ruminate until your brain exhausts itself, and the thoughts will eventually cease.

• If your time is limited: set aside a specific hour, half an hour, or at least 10 minutes, and during that time forbid yourself to think about anything else. Set a timer, and when it rings, you can engage in other activities, but until that moment, you should do nothing but think about your intrusive thought.

People with anxiety often have tense muscles; this is their way of protecting themselves from dangers in the external environment. Exercise helps them relax, feel their bodies, and distract themselves from stress.

What to Do:

• Aerobic exercises. These include running, walking, jumping (including skipping rope), cycling, and boxing. Such exercises focus on endurance and improving heart function. Additionally, cardio workouts are excellent for helping to control breathing.
• Yoga, stretching, Pilates. These types of workouts include various exercises for relaxing and contracting muscles, which leads to the brain releasing certain neurotransmitters. As a result, a person becomes calmer and more focused.
• Breathing exercises. People experiencing stress should pay attention to their breathing: during panic, many lose their normal breathing rhythm and may even start to suffocate. Proper breathing exercises can help stabilize the heart rate and regain control over one’s emotions.

This technique is for those who have accumulated feelings and emotions inside that they cannot cope with.

Take a pen, a sheet of paper, and write: "I am currently feeling..." Then, write down everything that comes to your mind—any feelings, thoughts, emotions, ideas, and desires. Continue writing until you feel a pleasant emptiness and calmness in your mind.

This technique can be used on a regular basis. By jotting down your feelings on a clean sheet of paper in the morning, you leave your "emotional reservoir" empty, allowing you to fill it with something new throughout the day.

If you experience a panic attack or an overwhelming emotion, you can reconnect with your body by starting to "tune into" your senses:

Sight

Use your sight to distract yourself from the event that triggered this reaction and focus on something else. Count how many items of a specific color are in the room and say them out loud.

Hearing

Try to hear all the sounds that surround you right now. Can you catch the chirping of birds or the noise of cars outside? If you are in a quiet room with no sounds, try to create some on your own. These could be claps, snaps, sounds from rubbing your palms together, or the rustling of pages in a book.

Taste

Put a piece of candy or any other food in your mouth, close your eyes, and try to focus on the sensations. Notice to yourself whether it is salty or sweet, crunchy or melting in your mouth, dry or juicy.

Touch

Take any object in your hands and examine it. If there is nothing around, run your fingers through your hair or on your skin. Feel the weight, texture, and temperature of the item you are holding.

Olfaction

Try to focus on what the air smells like. Can you identify the scent or break it down into its components?

Vestibular System

Your emotional state can change due to the movements of your body. Try standing on both legs, feeling the support, sensing your weight, and shifting it from one leg to the other. If you have the opportunity, move to your favorite music.

One of the most effective techniques for working with anxiety through thoughts is the practice of distancing oneself from one's thoughts (this is also referred to as "defusion" or "decoupling" from thoughts). The primary goal of such techniques is to try to "see" thoughts "from the outside" and to understand that our thoughts are just phrases that do not always correspond to reality. Here is an example of such a technique:

• Try to imagine that your thoughts are like credits at the end of a movie. Observe how they flow down the screen.
• When a new thought comes, notice it at the top of the screen and watch as it gradually disappears from the bottom.
• Just observe the flow of thoughts—the "credits"—without trying to evaluate or challenge them. What changes in your state do you notice?

Our emotions, thoughts, and behavior are inseparably connected. One always influences the other. Therefore, the simplest way to reduce anxiety is through activating behavior.

• Imagine that magic exists. You waved a magic wand, and your anxiety decreased so much that it no longer interferes with your ability to live life to the fullest.
• What would you allow yourself to do right now? What would you allow yourself to do more often and more? How would your life change overall?
• Try to compile a small list of simple things that you love to do, which have always interested you, but that you either completely stopped doing or started doing much less often.
• Choose the simplest and most accessible action from this list (for example, rewatching your favorite movie; finally starting to read that novel you bought a long time ago; taking a 30-minute walk with your dog instead of just 5 minutes; going for a swim, etc.).
• What can you do today? And what can you realistically do in the coming days? Give it a try, and you might be surprised at how other elements in this chain—your mood and thoughts—tend to improve as you activate this behavior.