Hey guys. Welcome to Not Another Anxiety Show. I'm your host, Kelly Walker, and today it's just me because Erica is away conquering the Wild West.

So today's episode is short, sweet, and simple.

It's an exercise that was particularly helpful for me and is for my clients as well.

So the exercise is, next time you're feeling anxious, take it one step out of time.

That's it. What I like about this

exercise is it's pretty easy to remember, even in the midst of anxiety. So what do I mean by

take it one step out of time? That's pretty vague. Here's an example. Say you wake up feeling

really anxious because you have a test later that day.

The anxiety already starts in with listing all the reasons why you should stay in bed and skip the test.

What if I panic mid-exam? What if I finish last and look stupid? What if I fail the exam?

Lots of catastrophic forward thinking.

Instead, come on back to the present moment and focus on taking it one step out of time.

What does this look like? It looks like simply starting to move toward the exam. forget the exam, just start moving toward it.

What would you do next when you got out of bed? Maybe you take your shower and then eat your breakfast and then start driving to school and then start walking toward the classroom.

And going about this all the while with the intention to just take it a step out of time.

Because the more you tell yourself, I have to take this exam.

Or for me, a few years back it was, I have to go to work.

The more the fearful part of your brain kicks into gear because we're essentially

threatening ourselves by saying we have to do this thing or else. Think about it. If someone

else said that to you, you'd feel pretty threatened. So it's okay if your goal is to get

through the exam or the workday. I'm not saying let go of that

goal. God knows I never learned how. But being a little gentler and kinder to yourself as you take it

...