The Dropping Anchor Skill
ACT as a Brief InterventionThe first little skill then, I just call it dropping Anchor, a boats sailing into harbor and a big storm blows up. What's the first thing the boat has to do? Puts it anchor out, I guess. Yeah. Otherwise it gets swept out to sea, right? Yeah. And so this is kinda what happens with anxiety. It's like an emotional storm blows up. All of these thoughts, all of these feelings, and they sweep you away.
Right? Yeah. You're no longer focused. You're no longer attentive. You are just swept away. That's why I call this skill dropping anchor because, it's a way of grounding and centering yourself. So when the anxiety storm blows up, it doesn't sweep you away. And of course, anchors don't control storms, dropping an anchor isn't a way to make a storm go away.
It just kinda holds you steady. The storms come and go in their own time. Okay. Yeah. It's a very simple, practice. There's just kind of three bits to it. We can with a simple formula, ACE, the "A" is for acknowledge what thoughts and feelings are present, the "C" is for come back into your body, and the "E" is for engage in the world around you. Okay. So you can do this with an attitude of curiosity. Take a moment to just notice what what your mind is doing right now, what kind of thoughts are showing up.
And also just notice what feelings are happening in your body right now. What kind of feelings are in there? Guess just a bit of, um tension and a bit of tension, yeah, even a bit of, kind of, I guess, anxiety now. Yeah. You're feeling that where? Chest, tummy? Kinda in the in the tummy. Mhmm. And in your head, what are you what's your mind saying?
That I hope I I get this right. Okay. So again, overly helpful friend, looking out, trying to make sure you get it right. Yeah. That's what minds do. Right? Yeah. And, you know, my mind's very similar to yours, you know. So notice there's thoughts here, there's feelings here, so that's the "A" acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. Then the "C" is for come back into your body. So, you know, just push your feet into the floor, straighten your back, if you like have a little stretch, you can do your own stretch, if you like, or you can copy me, but something that just helps you come back into your body.
So The aim here is to be aware of your thoughts and feelings, so your mind's racing, there's these feelings in your body. And at the same time, to come back into your body and just kind of get a sense of of of your body in the chair. And then the "E" and is for in engage in the world or engage in what you're doing because you and me here, and we're we're working together learning a skill right here right now. So the idea is you're aware of your anxiety, and your thoughts and feelings, you're also in your body, and you're also engaging in what we're doing.
So can we run through that a couple of times? Yeah. Yeah. So with a sense of curiosity, just notice, acknowledge what's going on in your mind, acknowledge what's happening in your body, acknowledge any feelings or sensations, and then come back into your body, push your feet into the floor, Again, have a stretch if you like. So there's thoughts and feelings. There's a body here. There's you and me here. So engage now. As well as these thoughts and feelings in this body. There's you and me doing something important right here, right now.
Can we do two more reps of this, would that be okay? Yep. Okay. Thanks. again, acknowledge, thoughts, feelings, sensations, coming back into your body again in some way, moving, and sometimes breathing can help as well. A breath kind of breathing into your feet. And then engaging again, you and me right now doing something important. And then one more time. OK. Acknowledge, come back, engage. And thank you for giving that a go.
What what was that like for you? I feel kinda like I don't know, like calmer. Yeah. Now or something. Yeah. It's not a way to control how you feel, but if you do feel calmer, enjoy it, the idea is really just to steady yourself, you know, like there's an anxiety storm. I acknowledge the the storm that's going on inside me, but also come back and engage. So if you do feel calmer, enjoy that, but that's the bonus, you know, the the main thing is so that you can actually take action and engage and start to do what's important.
And then If you're willing to come back, next time we'll have a look at how to unhook from all of this kind of stuff. Okay.