If you’re looking for ways to relax, consider the SRB method – Stop, Refocus and Breathe. Here’s how you can do that.
1. Stop
As soon as you experience the slightest hint of discomfort or uneasiness, the smallest physical sensation of any sort, the first whisper that something is amiss or different in your body… immediately say: “Stop it.”
Say it silently to yourself – but be emphatic. Shout it out loud if you have to. Stop the "what-if" thinking. Don’t allow yourself to progress to the next stage of anxiety.
You’re probably saying to yourself: "Sure, sounds good, but it is not that simple". True, it’s only the first step. Now move to the second.
2. Refocus
Give your mind something to focus on instead of your catastrophic beliefs. Refocus your attention on the present. Focus furiously on anything present-centered.
Use all your sense to concretely lock in on what you can see, hear, smell, touch or taste in your immediate environment. Try to identify all the sounds, even the faintest ones. Focus your complete attention as intensely as you can on the task at hand – anything to occupy your mind so that there’s no room left for the "what-if" thinking.
3. Breathe
Finally, step three: Begin slow and controlled breathing.
That will further occupy your concentration, preventing your mind from having the chance to sneak back to the "what-ifs". And, as you know, it will initiate the all-important physiological processes that will counteract the physiology of anxiety.
