Anxiety causes an imbalance in your life whereby all of the mental worry creates a top–heavy sensation. All of your focus is moved from the center of your body to the head. Schools of meditation often like to demonstrate an example of this top–heavy imbalance by showing how easily the body can lose its sense of center.

A student is asked to come to the front of the group and stand with his legs apart. The teacher then asks the student to focus on a personal worry or concern. Once the student is fixated on the worry‚ the teacher quietly moves to the side of the student and tells him he is going to attempt to push him over. The teacher pushes on the student’s shoulder and is able to topple the student with relative ease.

The same student is then asked to forget the worry and focus his attention on a grounding visualization. The teacher once again attempts to topple the student but finds much more resistance than previously. The student is grounded firmly in place. The class is given this demonstration to display how important it is to feel grounded and centered in the present and not continuously caught in mental activity. When caught in mental anxieties‚ a person can feel disconnected from life as they go through life on autopilot.

Beating Anxious Thinking
I am going to teach you a single visualization that is separated into three parts. The purpose of the visualization is to enable you to quickly clear mental stress‚ tension‚ and anxious thinking. The visualization can be used when feeling stressed and is particularly useful when your mind is racing with fearful‚ anxious thinking. There are numerous such visualizations found in different self help courses‚ but I have combined three of the most effective ones and adapted them so that the resultant single visualization can be used literally anywhere.

This visualization process‚ when practiced frequently‚ is very effective for eliminating deep–seated mental anxieties or intrusive thoughts. To gain maximum benefit‚ the exercise must be carried out for longer then 10 minutes at a time‚ as anything shorter will not bring noticeable results. There is no right or wrong way to carry out the visualization. Be intuitive with it and do not feel you are unable to carry it out if you feel you are not very good at seeing mental imagery. As long as your attention is on the exercise‚ you will gain benefit.

It is best to do this exercise in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed‚ and then when you are more practiced you will be able to get the same positive results in a busier environment such as the workplace. You should notice a calming effect on your state of mind along with a sensation of mental release and relaxation.

Okay‚ let’s begin.

Alleviating Anxious Thinking
Either sitting or standing‚ close your eyes and move your attention to your breath. To become aware of your breathing‚ place one hand on your upper chest and one on your stomach. Take a breath and let your stomach swell forward as you breathe in and fall back gently as you breathe out. Take the same depth of breath each time and try to get a steady rhythm going. Your hand on your chest should have little or no movement. Again‚ try to take the same depth of breath each time you breathe in. This is called Diaphragmatic Breathing.

When you feel comfortable with this technique‚ try to slow your breathing rate down by instituting a short pause after you have breathed out and before you breathe in again. Initially‚ it may feel as though you are not getting enough air in‚ but with regular practice this slower rate will soon start to feel comfortable.

It is often helpful to develop a cycle where you count to three when you breathe in‚ pause‚ and then count to three when you breathe out (or 2‚ or 4 — whatever is comfortable for you). This will also help you focus on your breathing without any other thoughts coming into your mind. If you are aware of other thoughts entering your mind‚ just let them go and bring your attention back to counting and breathing. Continue doing this for a few minutes. (If you practice this‚ you will begin to strengthen the Diaphragmatic Muscle‚ and it will start to work normally — leaving you with a nice relaxed feeling all the time.)

Visualization to Counter Anxious Thinking
Now move your attention to your feet. Try to really feel your feet. See if you can feel each toe. Picture the base of your feet and visualize roots growing slowly out through your soles and down into the earth. The roots are growing with quickening pace and are reaching deep into the soil of the earth. You are now rooted firmly to the earth and feel stable like a large oak or redwood tree. Stay with this feeling of grounded safety and security for a few moments.

Once you have created a strong feeling or impression of being grounded like a tree‚ I want you to visualize a cloud of bright light forming way above you. A bolt of lightning from the luminous cloud hits the crown of your head‚ and that ignites a band of bright white light descending slowly from your head all the way down your body‚ over your legs‚ and out past your toes. As the band of light passes over you‚ feel it clearing your mental state. It is illuminating your mind and clearing any rubbish that you may have been thinking about. Repeat this image four or five times until you feel a sense of clearing and release from any anxious thinking.

In finishing‚ see yourself standing under a large‚ luminescent waterfall. The water is radiant and bubbling with vitality and life. As you stand under the waterfall‚ you can feel the water run over every inch of your body‚ soothing you and instilling within you a sense of deep calm. Try to taste the water. Open your mouth and let it run into your mouth‚ refreshing you. Hear it as it bounces off the ground around you. The water is life itself and it is washing away stress and worry from your mind and body.

After a moment‚ open your eyes.

Try to use all of your senses when carrying out the visualization. To make the pictures in your mind as real as possible‚ use your senses of touch‚ taste‚ and hearing. Feel the water trickle down your body; hear the sound it makes as it splashes over you.

The more realistic the imagined scenarios‚ the more benefit you will gain. Many people report very beneficial and soothing results from using these simple visualizations frequently. The mind is much like a muscle in that‚ in order to relax‚ it needs to regularly release what it is holding onto.

By visualizing the different situations‚ you are allowing your mind to release. It is like sending a message to your brain that when you close your eyes and begin this process it is time for letting go of anything that it has been mentally holding onto‚ including anxious thinking. To begin with‚ in order to train your mind how to let go of the stress‚ it is important to practice this daily. With practices‚ you can learn to release all stress within minutes of starting the exercise. I recommend your daily practice take place before going to bed‚ as that will enable you to sleep more soundly.

Many people do not do these visualizations in the bedroom but some other room before going to bed. That way‚ when they enter the bedroom and close the door‚ they are leaving the mental stress and anxious thinking behind them.

Visualization as a tool for dealing with mental stress is very effective. If such visualization is carried out properly‚ you can reach a deep feeling of inner calm. From experience‚ however‚ I do not find visualization work to be sufficient to end a panic or anxiety attack (that is left to the One Move technique which I teach as part of the Panic Away program)‚ but it is a very powerful support tool for ridding yourself of general anxiety sensations.

That concludes the two–pronged approach to dealing with anxious thinking and thoughts.

With practice‚ you find you go days without having anxious thinking interrupt your life‚ and importantly‚ this significantly reduces the level of general anxiety you feel.

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Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: Panic Away