Here’s what I do when anxiety hits:
Anxiety spirals at 2 AM? I say, “Fear is here.” Breathe. I Watch it flap around, saying, You’re still here.
Sounds stupidly simple. The real challenge is doing it every time. If you do, you’ll get why monks smirk at chaos: feelings drift like clouds, you stay like the sky, unbothered and too wide to own. So, you need backup?
Here’s your dirty little Monk Drill Pack , no chanting, no caves, no incense. Five minutes tops, random moments. That’s all. You have time to scroll Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok, you have time for this.
Micro-Moment Drill (1 min, anytime)
Pick one tiny daily annoyance: spam email, dumb generalizations in meetings, doors slamming, random clown in traffic.
When it hits, don’t snap.
Say in your skull: “I see you.”
One breath, slow and heavy.
Let the thing stay. Don’t wrestle with it.
That’s your rep. One breath. One catch. This isn’t heavy lifting.
Name & Frame (2 min, once a day)
At day’s end, stop scrolling for ten seconds. Ask:
What feeling kicked me in my ribs today?”
Name it without drama: “I felt incredibly resentful when Steve slammed my work.”
No shame. No fixing. Label it, done.
Single-Breath Reset (1 min, anytime)
Stick a note somewhere dumb: “One Breath.”
Whenever you see it, shoulders drop.
Belly breath in for four, hold for two, out for four.
This wires your lizard brain to relax before it starts flipping tables.
The “If I Pause” Dare (2 min, daily)
Pick a mild daily poke:
Partner’s sigh.
Kids fighting over chocolate.
Teams meeting at 9 PM.
Catch the itch to react.
Pause. Count to three.
Ask: “If I pause, what explodes?”
Answer: Nothing.
Bonus MATT LR concept: The Cloud Watch
Once a week, sit five minutes, watch your thoughts scuttle by like trash in the wind.
No judgment. They’re weather, not granite. Let them pass. They always do.
Key Rule
Regular lifting beats massive(straining all muscles) training once-in-a-blue-moon.
No retreats, no guru.
One breath caught is better than ten missed.
Feel it. Spot it. Breathe. Pick your move. Monk-mind it in a dirty world.
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Excellent suggestions. I had serious issues with anxiety for years, and several of these methods helped see me through.
Thanks Mitch! Appreciate. Even now, I falter, and especially with those closest to me. This is one of the reasons why I write stuff down. And then I also remember, even the master-martial-arts-dude practices each day. He/they have bad wood-smashing days. I attempt to sharpen these skills each day. It works, now I also need to get warm and go do some actual weight training!