Grounding Technique for Anxiety #10: Square Breathing

Square Breathing is a powerful Anxiety Management Technique. This Breathing Exercise is great for stress, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and panic attacks.It’s not just a coping mechanism, with square breathing we channel the power of the breath to learn 2 skills: How to calm our nervous system and how to increase our resilience in the face of stress.We can use our breath in a powerful way to trigger a bottom-up approach to managing anxiety, basically using our body to tell our brain to calm down.This technique can be helpful for stress management, calming anxiety, and for retraining our nervous system to be dominated by the parasympathetic nervous system.When paired with other self-regulation techniques and helpful thinking we can treat anxiety disorders and the depression they contribute to.Square breathing can also increase our “distress tolerance” essentially helping us become comfortable even in stressful situations.Looking for Affordable Online Counseling? My sponsor BetterHelp connects you to a licensed professional for $65/week. Try it now for 10% off https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshellLearn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/courses Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapynutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books Check out my Podcast: Therapy in a Nutshell: https://tinpodcast.podbean.com/Therapy in a Nutshell, and the information provided by Emma McAdam, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.If you are in crisis please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC —- Music licensed from www.Bensound.com or Artlist.io Images from Freepik.com (premium license), Pixabay, or Wikimedia commons

Quick Coping Skill for Anxiety: Locus of Control Find a Way #WithMe

Here’s a quick activity that you can do to cope with anxiety and restore a sense of safety and calm, I do it all the time with my clients in session and you can feel a noticeable difference almost immediatelyThis activity is short and simple, but it can really help decrease anxiety or better cope with anxiety. A big part of anxiety and stress is trying to figure out what you should be doing about certain problems. I mean that’s what worry is, right, it’s thinking about a problem over and over to see if you can find another option or another solution.Coping with Anxiety is all about understanding your locus of control, but the important part is that you draw it- because that does something to help the brain clarify and calm down more than just thinking.Sign up for my Newsletter: https://www.therapynutshell.comThanks BetterHelp for sponsoring the video: BetterHelp- Professional, Affordable Online Counseling starting at around $65 a week https://www.betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell My Intensive Mental Health Courses are now on Teachable!Change your Brain: Mental Health and Neuroplasticity Course: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/change-your-brainCoping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health Course: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/coping-skills-and-self-care-for-mental-healthFREE! Grounding Skills Course: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/grounding-skills-for-anxiety-stress-and-ptsdHow to Help Course: Practical Skills to help Loved ones with Mental Illness: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/practical-psychotherapy-skillsCheck Out My Favorite Books for Mental Health: https://www.therapynutshell.com/post/my-favorite-self-help-booksMusic licensed from www.Bensound.com or Artlist.io Images from Freepik.com (premium license), Pixabay, or Wikimedia commonsTherapy in a Nutshell, and the information provided by Emma McAdam, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.If you are in crisis please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Grounding Technique for Anxiety #10: Square Breathing


this next a instruct act is calledsquare breathing and square breathing can be useful for a couple of reasonsone because our gulp is connected to both the one of the purposes of our nervous system thatwe can control and the one of the purposes of our nervous system that is automatic so ithelps us access that appeasing part of our brain kind of in through the back doorthe other thing about square breathing is you practice it with motley lengthsof wheezes then you can practice frame yourself into a slightlyanxietyprovoking situation which is being out of breath but you’re doing itintentionally in such a way that something that are usually be anxietyprovoking or embarrassing becomes something that you can administer withwillingness so you are basically converting something that might havebeen traumatic into something that is very comfortable and that drills yourbrain to believe that you have the ability to convert something that’sstressful into something that’s beneficial for you so let me justexplain square breathing really quickly so with square breathing youimagine yourself breathing a long a square so you imagine yourself startingat the top right corner of the square and you imagine yourself breathing in forfour seconds and then you imagine yourself holding that breath for fourseconds and then you imagine yourself breathing out so exhaling for fourseconds and then holding that air out for four seconds and you’re back to thetop of the square and you repeat that four times so breathe in two three fourso you’re breathing in that whole time supporting it for four seconds breathingout for four seconds you’re exhaling for four seconds and then you’re stayingwithout wheeze for four more seconds so just like that when you breath you wantto have all the breath out that you are eligible to have out to want to be completely out ofbreath when you’re done with your breath you want to be completely full of breathand the other two are the process of coming in and out now you can lengthenthe amount of time that you’re doing these breaths and exhales and propping soyou can lengthen it out to eight seconds or 10 seconds or 16 seconds but when youlengthen the amount of time that you’re out of breath you’re gonna compel yourbrain to panic for a little bit and that’s where you can kind of challengeyourself to increase your convenience with being out of breath so actually there’stwo ways to do this activity the first road is to just stay at for secondsbreathe in for 4 seconds holds in store for 4 seconds breathe out for 4 seconds holdfor 4 seconds and that’s just gonna be various kinds of naturally mollifying because it’screating a rhythm and the other way you can do this is to challenge yourself tolengthen the amount of time you’re holding that breath and that’s gonna bea little bit more of a mental challenge that creates more resilience so as youdo this activity just watch yourself and pay attention to the sensations that comeup so paying attention to your gulp is going to help you stay centered andgrounded while many ardours go through you I hope this video washelpful thanks for watching and take care hi everyone I’m elicited to announce thatmy udemy course change your intelligence is now live so this is a two hour intensivecourse that goes into the ways that you can change your intelligence chemistry withoutmedication so these are very practical abilities that have been shown throughresearch to improve mental health and combat hollow nervousnes and othermental illnesses in this course I teach the practical application ofneuroplasticity which is the developing realm of science showing that our brainsare adaptable and changing throughout our part lives that our brains canactually reform their structure function and chemistry by how we envision and how weact and such courses coaches ten simple directions that you can improve your mental healthby pleasures that take only a duo minutes every day so I formed thiscourse because this is fundamental information that I think everyone shouldhave access to so satisfy take a look at it the link is in the description it’son udemy.com and I’m including a coupon code if you’d like to take the coursefor free time route me a private meaning and I’ll give you a code so check it outthanks and take care




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Guided Imagery for School Anxiety-Social Anxiety Treatment-Anxiety Skills #15


Hi, I’m Emma McAdam, a licensed therapist, in this little Nugget of Help we’re going to apply some tools from adoption and commitment regiman to help with school and social anxiety. This activity is meant to help build an increased ability to face anxiety eliciting status like institution or social locates The purpose of this activity is not relaxation but resilience meaning the ability to experience uncomfortable perceptions with strong empathy and pacify. So during this activity You may feel a couple of spirits, some comfortable and some unpleasant Please stick with the activity through the end and I predict you’ll develop a greater ability to experience your excitements without them limiting you So first check in with yourself, a be engaged in a comfortable locate close your eyes and Take a depth breath Let it out gradually Take a moment and notice your feet wiggle them Now, press them against the floor.Just feel what the flooring feels like pressing back up against your feet Now move your awareness up your legs clench your calves and then soften those muscles Then clench the big-hearted muscles in your thighs for a moment Now relax them and breathe in and breathe out Now move your awareness up to your belly You may feel some hostility here and that’s okay Pretend you’re scientist who has never noticed what that feeling is like Explore that feeling in your stomach and describe it in your psyche. What does it definitely sounds like? Allow it happening there while clenching your stomach muscles as tightly as you can Now breathe out and then take a big inhale Expand your stomach out as far as it becomes Hold that gulp and notice what that feels like Let that air out and move your awareness up to your chest and back Tense, those muscles attract your shoulders up to your ears and hamper them there tightly, clenched hard Then softened those muscles and breathe out gradually Now clench your biceps your upper arms and then liberate Now clench your fists and liberate Move your awareness up to your face and seize your face muscles tightly And now lightened those muscles in your face Now we’re going to do a speedy check of your bodily awareness, what do you notice in your figure? There might be some places in your organization that feel warm soft and comfortable notice those And there might be some residence that feel tighten or pain notice these areas You don’t need to label these even worse or be discouraged, but merely notice them Notice yourself breathing what does it feel like to breathe? Take one more deep breath in and give away very slowly What feelings or sensations are you knowing right now? Some of them may be painful and that’s okay Just notice them, be curious.What does it feel like to feel those sentiments without needing to escape them? Send each of your feelings a bit mental hug. It’s okay to have feelings. Notice if there are any more spirits, perhaps quieter emotions that “youre gonna” feeling too what else are you noticing? Be puzzled. You don’t need them “re going away”. You can treat feeling them. How would you describe each of these sentiments? Take one more deep breath and notice yourself breathing Now let’s envisage yourself going to the first day of clas The bus pushes up to the front of the school and as you get off the bus you feel your gut tighten a bit Perhaps you feel a lot of energy coursing through your torso You may feel a little tense or jumpy and that’s okay It’s perfectly normal to be having these feelings and superstars Most of the other adolescents are feeling a little anxious and aroused extremely You can administer feeling this action Anxiety and fervor are the same physiological response in our body Both of them prepping us for action to perform well, and it’s okay to have this feeling in your person Your old-time habitual suppose is I need to escape or I can’t handle feeling this way But now you remind yourself I can administer feeling this course and be okay.I Don’t need my agitations to go away for me to be alright, I can feel them and notice them and While they are uncomfortable, they can’t trauma me. I is in fact safe in this moment You look around and remember that probably most of the other children are also feeling a little watchful or stimulated right now It’s perfectly natural to feel this way, and it’s not going to harm you You alter your attention back to your breathing and as you step toward the school you notice something beautiful What is it? Perhaps the clear sky or the light-green grass Take a time and notice that one pretty thing You hear lots of adolescents are running noisily toward the school some are meeting up with their friends some are alone suddenly you were supposed to meditated What if no one will be my friend? or You worry that people are looking at you in a funny way.For a moment You have visions of a catastrophe run through your psyche. You’re afraid of being rejected being alone being a loser But you rapidly notice those remembers they are distressing and loudly judges, but they are just supposes Just as you can notice yourself listening to my expression at this moment. You can notice yourself having those designs They aren’t truthful They don’t help you be the person that you appreciate Because you appraise being style, you be concerned about connecting with people You want to be a good friend. You can act on those qualities and good things will happen People will want to be friends with you when they get to know you because of who you are You notice those frightening thoughts and you imagine them written on the side of the bus and the bus begins to pull away You remember that you’re okay You have some inner endowments to share with the world. Even if you are quiet or observant instead of a thundering idiot. Take a time and think of one of the talents that you have One thing that you are good at like has become a good listener or noticing others needs for example You remember some of the people who love you and looks just like you, your friends your parents You remember that you are safe right now.It may feel uncomfortable But you can handle that You may feel a bit of distres But you can open up some opening for that suspicion inside of you. You don’t need to represent that nervousnes go away to be okay. Imagine that your anxiety is a little child saying What if no one likes me? and you say Come now little tension. I want to give you a hug See it’s awkward, but you can experience it and it doesn’t trauma you. You walk through the figurehead entrances of the school and there’s a lot of noise and commotion Not your favorite So you thoughts over to your locker, You previously know where it is because you went to the open live And you open your locker and a gentle float of your favorite flavor comes out of it You waste a minute.Just bask that fragrance Breathe in deeply Now you walk to your first class, you know Right where it is and you arrive a few minutes early you take your seat and look around There’s a few other adolescents sitting down and you say hi to the girl sitting next to you She says hi back, and then suddenly you feel so awkward You start worrying that you should have said more or maybe you shouldn’t have said anything or that maybe you didn’t determine fairly nose contact and unexpectedly you’re hyper aware of how you’re sitting in your chair and you can feel Your heart thrashing a little faster and your hands sweating a little bit and then you notice yourself Tensing up a little and you can notice your thoughts Now in this moment notice what’s going on in your person and in your mind.You retain what your mentor said you don’t actually act tricky you only feel clumsy No one else has even paying attention to you. They’re all anxious and elicited about their first day of school And they’re too busy worrying about what parties “ve been thinking about” them to notice you You can still feel that tight feeling in your tummy and your sweaty palms and you tell yourself.That’s ok It’s ok to have uncomfortable perceptions sometimes. I can let myself feel this experience without needing to escape it or make it go away You know that it never helps to beat yourself up so instead you precisely testify yourself a little compassion You going to go to noticing for a while and you sifted through your experience in this moment. So Sift is an acronym S is for agitations Notice your physical perceptions precisely notice them both cozy and disagreeable. I is for epitomes What do you envisage in this moment? Can you notice those portraits and then bring yourself back to center with the wheeze? Can you notice those portraits in your manager And then bring yourself back to center by acknowledge your wheeze F is for feelings, what ardours are you knowledge? Are you having more than one? What is one thing you’re elicited about And the T is thoughts Notice, what are you thinking? You don’t need to duel or change your thoughts. Just notice yourself having them You take another deep gulp and you’re feeling kind of proud That right now you’re experiencing a little anxiety But you’re okay with it It’s a little embarrassing But you’re beginning to develop the skill of letting yourself feel it You give yourself a little imaginary pat on the back for being indomitable For letting yourself do hard things and feel hard things and stick with it The bell sounds and the coach starts class he goes through the roll.You Pay close attention waiting for him to call your name.And then when he does you say here and Maybe you wonder a little if you did, okay, but no one even looks at you They’re all exactly paying attention to their own stuff right now You remind yourself that you can do hard things You take another deep gulp and tell it out gradually Then the teacher extends out a sheet of paper to everyone on it is an icebreaker activity You detest these. you have to go around the room and find someone who has broken their arm and someone who’s lived in another state and someone who Has a baby reptile Maybe you’re afraid that you’ll be awkward You might worry that no one will ask you questions or that you’re afraid that people will ask you questions You press your feet into the floor feeling the flooring pulping back up at you You notice your panic It’s telling you to run away, to avoid, to hide to be silent and you notice that fear You be recognized, you say hello fear.I’ve noticed you’re trying to hang out with me today I know I can’t meet you go away But you’re not the boss of me and I still get to decide what matters to me so fear You can restrain constructing suggestions, but I know what’s more important You is a well-known fact that you don’t like these icebreaker works But you also know that you wishes to be oblige some friends and you don’t want to isolate yourself on the first day So you look around and consider another minor who seems kind of hushed and is standing by himself You walk over to him and you feel a little awkward, but you don’t actually seem touchy from the outside. You look perfectly normal When you get to his desk, you look down at your article and you ask him.What’s your favorite notebook? He seems a little shy so you been listening while he says you about the book series that he likes then he looks at his paper and asks you What’s your favorite journal? You tell him about your favorite work and what you like about it and you can see in his smile that he’s speak that one And he likes it extremely. He must be a special type of nerd like you You stand around and other adolescents comes down to you and ask their questions you ask yours and pretty soon your newspapers all filled out The teacher gets back up. He seems nice and also a little funny and you think you’ll like his class The rest of that class leads somewhat smoothly you only sit in your chair and predict the syllabus while the educator tells you the class Rules and talks about what you’re going to learn so far so good You feel proud of yourself after your first day of clas There were hours “thats been” awkward, but that’s okay and there were experiences that were good You learned more about what to expect and although you felt some anxiety.You didn’t let it boss you around You were gentle with yourself Patient with your sentiments and whizs and you two are heroic to show up and feel lots of things today Excitement beauty anxiety hope for new friends and a sense of confidence in your ability to do hard-bitten things Now come back to the present moment Notice your feet on the floor notice your wheeze Think back over this exercise Was it unpleasant at times? But you fastened with it.You chose to do something challenging because something else mattered more than avoidance Take a deep breath and give yourself a little pat on the back for letting yourself experience your passions You are on the pathway to growth an emotional strong Keep up the good work.




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New Explaindio 4 is revolutionary technology which creates fascinating videos by combining 2D & 3D animations, whiteboard sketch elements, and full motion video, all into one powerful, attention grabbing video. This is why I am extremely excited to be able to tell you that now there is Explaindio 4, which is an easy to use video content creation software that allows you to combine 2D & 3D animations, whiteboard sketch elements, and full motion video, all into one powerful, attention grabbing video.

Stress, Anxiety, and Worry: Anxiety Skills #2

What's the difference between stress, anxiety, and worry? And why does it matter? Most people talk about stress, anxiety and worry interchangeably as if they're the same thing. For example: "my test really stressed me out. I was so worried about it." or "I'm so worried about this upcoming performance that is making my stomach hurt." Now the lack of differentiation between these different aspects of anxiety leads to difficulties in knowing how to resolve the effects of them so today we're going to talk about the difference and why it matters.

Worry is the thinking part of anxiety it happens in our frontal lobes the part of our brain that plans and thinks and uses words and it has to do with thoughts like "Is she mad at me?" or "what's going to happen at my upcoming performance?" Now we humans have developed this part of our brain for important reasons. Worry helps us solve complex problems by thinking about them, perhaps over and over again. But if worry becomes distorted, compulsive, or stuck into a repetitive cycle then we can develop disorders like depression and anxiety. Now stress on the other hand is the physiological response to fear- so it's what's going on inside of our bodies when we're reacting to something that's perceived as threatening or dangerous. It's the fight, flight freeze response.

It's rooted in the reptilian brain. It's instinctual and unconscious. Stress serves a perfect function in helping us to escape real threats for example the sweating that comes along with stress helps us stay cool or the adrenaline helps us perform in situations where we have to run away or fight off a physical threat. However if stress becomes chronic and remains unresolved it can have serious consequences in our body: high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and chronic illness are all associated with stress. Anxiety is the intersection of these two reactions the thinking and the biological response. It's rooted in the limbic system and it has to do with this feeling of foreboding or dread like something bad is going to happen. Snxiety helps people be watchful for danger but if it dominates our lives it can make it hard for us to feel joy and to move forward in the direction of our values. If we want to learn to manage our anxiety we need to learn to tailor our interventions to the different aspects of stress. So in order to manage our worry we need to target those thoughts with cognitive interventions-changing how we think and changing what we're constantly imagining and visualizing in our minds.

And if we want to change the stress response we need to take a bottom-up approach incorporating our body's reactions and responses into interventions that change those reactions and responses into a healthy way. The first step of emotion management is awareness. Start to pay attention to what it feels like when you're having an anxious response. Is it rooted in your mind? are you having thoughts or imagining some future catastrophe? or is it rooted in your body? are you having these physiological reactions like an upset stomach or a sweaty hands? As you start to pay more attention to these reactions and gain more awareness around them you'll develop greater abilities to learn how to respond to these these instinctual reactions in a more helpful way. See if you can distinguish between the two aspects of anxiety- the worry and the stress maybe even spend some time writing about it.

And stay tuned to this channel for my next videos on how to regulate each of those aspects of anxiety. I hope this was helpful and thanks for watching Take care!.