Dr. Kirren Schnack, a clinical psychologist with more than twenty years of experience, outlines eight practices to help reduce hyper-fixation on anxious thoughts and widen attention. The goal of these exercises is to lessen hyper-vigilance and self-focus while making it easier to shift attention away from anxiety. Practicing them can improve attentional control, which may lead to a reduction in anxiety.
The eight skills are not meant to be all used at once. It is suggested to experiment with the different exercises to find which ones work best. Regular practice is important. For those for whom attentional focus is a significant problem, practicing several times a day at the beginning may be necessary.
It is normal to find these exercises difficult initially, as the mind is accustomed to returning to anxious thoughts. Each time the mind focuses on anxiety, it can be seen as another opportunity to practice strengthening the ‘attention muscle.’
1. Switch from worst to best. This skill involves moving attention from what feels like the worst thing in the present moment to the best thing in the present moment. For example, shifting focus from a pounding heart to the safety and comfort of sitting at home with a warm drink. It is a move from a negative bias toward a positive one.
2. Redirect your attention. This cognitive behavioral technique, called situational refocusing, is used to deliberately shift attention away from anxiety and its symptoms. When you notice excessive focus on anxiety, consciously acknowledge it by stating, “I am over-focusing on…” and then say, “I’m going to refocus my attention on…” before shifting to a chosen task or activity. Repeating this process frequently at first can help interrupt the cycle of over-focusing.
3. Use sounds to improve the scope of attention. Set a timer and focus on listening to sounds as closely as possible for one to two minutes, increasing over time to five minutes. Close your eyes, notice the sounds in your space, and mentally count and list them. This exercise should be repeated several times a day.
4. Use textures to improve the scope of attention. There are two exercises here. The first involves moving around a space and touching as many different textures as possible, describing each one out loud. The second requires two bowls of water, one warm and one cold. Place your hands in one bowl, focus on the temperature and sensation for a minute, then switch to the other bowl. Notice the differences. Aim for about five minutes of this practice.
5. Use your body to improve the scope of attention. Focus on sensations felt on bare skin for three to five minutes. Expose some skin by removing socks or wearing short sleeves. Lie down on a cool surface, indoors or outdoors. Focus attention on the sensations where skin meets the surface. Outdoors, you can also notice sounds, sun, wind, or rain. Standing barefoot on a clean surface is another option.
6. Use your vision to improve the scope of attention. Redirect attention using sight in two ways. For color, pick a color like blue and find all objects of that color in your space, saying them aloud. For objects, name items based on a specific category, such as all wooden or electronic objects, while moving through your space.
7. Notice breathing sensations. Expand attention by focusing on the sensory experience of breathing. Sit or lie comfortably and feel the cool air entering the nostrils, the breath moving down the throat, and the expansion of the stomach and chest. Notice the warmth of the exhaled air and the sensations as it passes through the lips. This can help the body and mind feel more calm.
Clinical psychology often employs such attentional training techniques. Research into attention regulation suggests that deliberately shifting cognitive focus can disrupt patterns of rumination and worry common in anxiety. These exercises are grounded in principles found in cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based interventions, which aim to build present-moment awareness and reduce automatic engagement with distressing thoughts.
