N ew 100 PAGES OF CREATIVE EXERCISES TO CALM YOUR MIND

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.ŇĴƔƍƝƢĬƆ PđĬƃƟƔĥ ŴƏƫ÷ŎƒƈƯƞ PĴƎò
Ŕ÷ƂơĬƈƐƮ÷Ƭ ìĴƋƎƮƫđĬƆ òĴƎƃƥƞŎ ŔƑÜƜĢƈƍƠ
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EDITION
FIRST
 If you, or anyone you know, is affected by anxiety, the following
charities and helplines are ready to offer free support.

UK US Australia
Mind Anxiety and Depression Association SANE Australia
www.mind.org.uk of America www.sane.org
https://adaa.org
Samaritans Lifeline
116 123 National Alliance on Mental Illness 13 11 14
(NAMI)
800-950-NAMI (6264)

Disclaimer
This publication is for information only and is not intended to substitute professional medical
advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice. Never disregard professional
advice or delay seeking it.
Always consult your pharmacist or doctor for guidance and before using any natural,
over-the-counter or prescription remedies, and read any instructions carefully.
In an emergency, call the emergency services and seek professional help immediately.
Readers rely on any information at their sole risk, and Art to Reduce Anxiety, and its publisher,
Future Publishing Ltd, limit their liability to the fullest extent permitted by law.
 For many of us, anxiety is just another fact of life; it’s something we
live with every day. Sometimes it feels like a small dot – there, but
imperceptible enough that we can go about our daily lives without
fear. Other times it’s like a gaping black hole, mercilessly devouring
everything that made us feel happy, confident and comfortable,
leaving us as a shell of the person we once were.
Finding the right treatment can totally transform your life, and there
are so many options available. Whether you’re already receiving
treatment and you’re looking for a complementary therapy, or
you’ve yet to take that step and you’re searching for something to
take the bite off your anxiousness, embracing your creative side can
work wonders on reducing the effects of anxiety. Art therapy itself
has existed for decades, and science has shown over and over again
that getting creative offers a range of benefits for the mind, from
helping to explore difficult feelings that can be hard to verbalise, to
meditative opportunities to process our emotions.
Over the following pages, we’ve provided dozens of mindful creative
tasks for you, from colouring-in pages to guided doodling spaces.
We’ve shared some of our favourite grounding techniques, too, to
help you settle your mind when things start to overwhelm you.
4
 k÷ƀòƨƍƭĴĥƄƚƑƧčĴƖƭƎīƚƊ÷
ŔƇ÷ƦƎŎƓƨƟŔƇ÷ƟƎĥƋƨưđĬƆƩƀćƞƒ
W
hen anxiety hits, it can be debilitating.
Whether it creeps up on you, slowly
chipping away at your motivation and
happiness over the course of days or weeks, or it
suddenly overwhelms you with no warning, once
anxiety has taken root in our minds and bodies it
can feel nigh-on impossible to shake it off.
Acknowledging your struggle and asking for
help is the hardest step you have to take to get
tangible help. Modern-day treatments for anxiety
range from medication, including beta-blockers
and SSRIs, to various kinds of therapy, including
CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), and while it
may take some time to find a treatment that works
for you, once you’ve discovered the one it can
change your life.
5
Art therapy is one particular approach that has
proven benefits for anxiety under the guidance of
a qualified art therapist. In particular this method
of treatment works particularly well with children,
the elderly and those who struggle to verbalise
their emotions. That’s not to say that art therapy
is exclusively beneficial to those, however – the
act of being creative can benefit all, including
those who don’t consider themselves artistic
or talented.
Whether you’re engaging in art as a form
of meditation or you intend to embrace your
creative side as a complement to existing
treatment, the act of creating can provide a much-
needed boost to your mental wellbeing. Mental
health professionals have acknowledged the ﹥
wide-ranging benefits of art therapy on those
suffering from anxiety, as well as depression and
phobias.
Over the following pages, we’ve provided some
activities to encourage your creativity, from simple
colouring-in pages, to prompted doodles. Whatever
kind of anxiety you experience, hopefully over the
following pages you will manage to explore your
creative side and find a cathartic release from the
stresses of day-to-day life. Here, we’ll explore the
different kinds of creative pages in this book, and
how you can get the best from this title.
As you flick through the pages, you’ll notice that
there’s a mix of text and empty space. As well as
providing space for you to delve into your creative
side, we’ve shared some so-called grounding
techniques to help keep your anxiety under
control. Grounding techniques are simple routines
that can be used by anyone who experiences any
kind of anxiety to rein in any building sense of
panic or anxiousness.
Over the course of this book, we’ll share many
different techniques that can help to bring you
out of a panicked mental state and into the
immediate present – where there is no danger.
Different techniques work for different people so
it might be necessary to try a few before you find
something that works well for you. It is best to
6
practise them before a panic attack so that you
know the exercise: the middle of a panic attack
is not the time to be trying to remember what to
do next.
Peppered throughout the book, we’ve included
colouring-in pages, ranging from simple and
straightforward, to more detailed, unique designs.
Take the time to disconnect from the stresses of
life and grant yourself the opportunity to colour
meditatively. For many, time alone to focus on
simple, creative tasks provides an outlet for not
just being creative, but time to self-reflect and
process difficult emotions.
You’ll also notice several doodling pages, with
blobs of colour, as well as a full-page colourful
background. Here, you can truly indulge your
imagination and engage your creative side by
interpreting these colours and drawing whatever
you imagine. It can be difficult to draw without
any direction, so we’ve provided little prompts on
every doodle spread to help you see the potential
of these pages.
Don’t forget, this book is just for you – nobody
will be flicking through it, or judging you on how
well you draw or what you choose to put in this
book. Give yourself permission to release your
feelings and stresses in this book and embrace the
freedom that art can offer you. •
 In the UK, Australia and in some states in the
US, art therapists must be registered and/or
licensed. To find a qualified professional in
your region, visit the sites below.
UK: British Association of Art Therapists
baat.org
Australia: ANZACATA
anzacata.org
US: American Art Therapy Association
arttherapy.org

7
 kÜƈĬƁƨưćƑĴƔƧòƢƍƠ
16
Take the time to observe your surroundings
36
ĴĬƓƫƎĥƘƨŘƫëƑƄƚƭč
One of the best ways to regain
to ground yourself in the exterior world control when you begin to panic
rather than engaging in negative cycles in is to control your breathing, so
your head, and acknowledge colour to help try this out next time you need a
you get back on track. time-out.

40
ȤɌȣɌȢɌȡɌȠŔ÷ƂơĬƈƐƮ÷
Sight, sound, touch, smell and
50
hŇĴƆƫƄŎƒƢƯ÷īƔƒƜĥƞ
Ň÷ƋƀƱƚŔđƎƍ
54
ȢɌȢɌȢŇŘƋƄ
Much like the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
taste – the five senses are key Sometimes we tense up without even technique, the 3, 3, 3 rule engages
to helping ground you in the realising, so try out this handy technique your senses and provides you with
present, so use this technique to to give your body a break from the an opportunity to stop focusing on
find inner peace. physical pains of anxiety. your internal anxieties.

.ŇĴƔƍƝŵƨŘƑƬƄĥƅưƢŔƇưÜŔƄƑ
Discover how the physical act of plunging your
hands into water can pull us out of the anxiety
30 31 1 2
loop and help us return to the present.
29 3
28 4
27 5
26 6
5

3
22
Month
One 10
7

9
8
66
xŇÜƂƤŵƎƮƑƦĴƎò
Taking note of how you feel
76
.÷ŔƌƎƯƢĬƆ
We know animals ‘shake it off’ when
– both the good and the bad they’ve experienced a stressful
21 11 – and what made you feel that situation, so learn how the act of
20 12 way can help you to notice movement can provide a positive
19 13 patterns in your moods. release of negative emotions.
18 14
17 16 15

8
 82
čÜƋƥƄĬƆƞƲĴƔŇƁƫƚđĬ
Use puzzles, challenges and
games to divert your mind and
encourage your attention on a
more productive activity.

92
ÜĥƀƍƜƢĬƆƭ÷ìƇƧƈņƮ÷ƒ
Find out how the act of
balancing can disengage your
brain from a negative spiral and
focus it on the present moment.

9
How d o yo u

ìƊƧĴůƋƄƝćƢƍƠŵĴƔƑƚƧŴđƄƓƲƚĬƃ
ŔÜƊƈƧćƍƨƭ÷ƎĆƇƨưđŔƀƅƟƞìƓƬŵĴƔ
ìÜƍơƄĥƏƭƨŇ÷ƈƍƢƭđĬ

A
nxiety affects us all in different ways, and we all
experience it differently – perhaps you notice that your
body tenses up, or you find your stomach churning?
Maybe your legs feel like jelly, or your jaw starts to ache as
you clench your teeth. When you start to feel anxious, try
to notice how your body responds. On the next page, using
whatever colours you feel represent your anxiety best, colour
in where you feel it most. For example, if you feel stress in
your shoulders, you could choose to colour in orange from
the base of the neck to the middle of the upper arm – and if
you feel pangs of fear for the future in your stomach, colour
in the trunk with blue. Noticing these physical symptoms can
help you take the first step to alleviating them – for example,
a full-body shake like a dog to help loosen tight shoulders, or
widely opening and shutting your mouth like a fish to relieve a
clenched jaw.

10
|Ŏ÷ƂƎƥƨŘŇƓƎƠƞŔƘĴƔ
ëÜƂƤƎĬƓƫƚìƊ

16
R
ainbow grounding is a relaxation technique
that works particularly well with anxious
children. The Covid-19 pandemic and
the government response to it produced major
increases in anxiety among children in the UK,
so this might be a useful exercise to help an
anxious child.
It is based on moving attention out from the
internal world to the world around us. Look
around and try to see the rainbow in the colours
of the things in your surroundings. Start with red,
then move through the other colours: yellow,
green, orange, purple and blue. It’s probably best
17
to skip indigo as most people are a bit vague as to
how indigo differs from purple.
As you see each colour, really look at it to see
what shade it is, its texture, the way the light falls
upon it and so on. It’s fine to add non-rainbow
colours too, such as pink, black, grey or brown.
The best thing about this technique is its
simplicity, which makes it particularly suitable
for young children. Over the following pages,
look around your environment and use the space
provided to doodle what you see. Notice the
depth of colour, the shapes and textures, and how
the light throughout the day changes on this item.
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

Without a doubt, the colour red is

the most provocative of them all. For
many, it symbolises emotions on both
extremes: love, passion and desire,
as well as anger, aggression and
dominance. It’s a powerful colour,
often associated with equally strong,
sometimes primal emotions. However,
you might feel somewhat differently
– how does the colour red make you
feel? What do you associate it with?

18
19
20
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

Another bold colour, orange is often

associated with positive energy,
spirituality and enthusiasm. It can also
represent the changing of the seasons
and whatever that might mean to you –
perhaps it’s a time of year that you dread,
marking the end of summer and the start
of winter, or perhaps you feel that it
represents a new beginning.

21
xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

Traditionally the colour of happiness, yellow is

usually seen as a warm, joyful, energetic colour,
associated with positivity. The colour of the sun,
flowers and often linked with summer, yellow
does have a downside, however. Intense shades
can increase any sense of unease or irritation.
As with all colours, our own responses to yellow
are unique. Do you feel positively about the
colour, or do you find your anxiety soaring if
you’re exposed to it for too long?

22
23
24
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

The colour of nature, green is instinctively

comforting and healing for most people.
It represents calmness and tranquillity,
as well as good health and fertility. While
many associations with green are positive,
one well-known negative connotation is
that of envy – the ‘green-eyed monster’.

25
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

As the colour of the skies and the seas, blue

is often said to invoke calmness, serenity,
trust and tranquillity. It’s also believed
to represent compassion, sincerity and
thoughtfulness. However, it can also infer
feelings of sadness and melancholy. What do
you think of when you see the colour blue?

26
27
28
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

The ultimate colour of luxury,

purple has long been associated
with royalty, rarity and opulence
as a result of the dye’s scarcity
in history. It’s also often linked to
mystery and intrigue, in particular
the supernatural and superstitious.
Some parts of the world associate
the colour purple with mourning.
What does the colour purple make
you think about?

29
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

Pink occupies a unique space in colour

psychology. Society has led us to believe
that it’s a feminine, girly colour, but this
expectation has created a somewhat rebellious
counter effect. Generally speaking, pink is
considered to represent romance, kindness
and innocence, especially in its paler shades.
However, bolder hues, such as hot pink or
magenta can evoke a feeling of rebellion,
boldness and excitement.

30
31
32
 xč÷ƏƬŵƂơĴĥƎƆƲƨĆ

Like green, brown can symbolise nature – the colour

of soil, trees, earth – the start of life. However, it takes
this association with nature a few steps further. It can
also represent death and decay – the full life cycle, from
birth to death in its most organic, emotionless state.
Some shades of brown have been noted for representing
security and dependability, in particular lighter tones.

33
P
anic attacks produce hyperventilation. Hyperventilation
floods our muscles with oxygen, making us ready to fight
or run away. But in a panic attack, there is nothing to
run away from. Our deep brain is preparing us for a situation
from our deep past, when what we are actually facing is the
fear of giving a presentation or nerves before an exam, for
example. The situations that produce anxiety in the modern
world are rarely resolved by fighting or running away.
One way to tell our amygdala that there really is nothing
to worry about is to control our breath. By controlling our
breathing we can nudge the brain and nervous system out
of the flight/fight response. To do so, we need to change the
breath pattern into an in-breath to a slow count of four, and
an out-breath to a slow count of four, preferably through the
nose. It’s important that the count is the same length for both.
At the start, when panic breathing has kicked in, it might
be difficult to breathe through the nose, but as soon as it is
possible, we should switch to nose breathing. The difficulty
with this technique is holding on to the slow, even breath count
no matter what thoughts and feelings are assailing us, because
it takes a while for the message of slow, steady breathing to
get through to the deep brain. But holding the slow, even
breathing will send a message through the body to the deep
brain: there is no emergency, switch off the danger hormones.
Note that some magazine articles advocate breathing out for
twice as long as the in-breath, so an in-breath to the count of
four and an out-breath to the count of eight. This rarely works,
as that breathing pattern works to put our system into its rest/
digest state. Trying to switch immediately from the fight/flight
response to rest/digest is simply too big a step – the body
might panic even further at having these contradictory signals
being sent to it. Using calm, slow breathing, with an even
breath count puts us into a neutral physiological state, ready
to respond to external stimuli. This allows the deep brain to
reset itself and enables us to come out of the panic attack.
The best way to prepare for dealing with a panic attack is to
practise the long, 4/4 breath pattern beforehand, so that it has
become grooved by repetition.

36
 |Ŏ÷ƓơƄŎƞƏÜƠƄŎƓƨƝŇÜƖƎƧɌ
òĴƎƃƥƢĬƆưčÜƓƄƯƞŇƘĴƔƟƞ÷ĥ

H
ave a think about the things you see when you go for
a walk, and draw them on this page. Perhaps you see
different types of tree leaves. On the following page,
build up the scene however you like – are those trees in the
distance? Is this a landscape – a farmland at sunrise, perhaps,
or a bog brimming with mosses and curious creatures?

Getty Images

38
40
 īƏƥĴŵƈƍƠŔƇƞƟđŮƄƒƞƧŎ÷ƒ
ŔĴƑƄƭƮŇƍƭĴŔƇƄƩŇƞƒ÷ƧŔ
D uring a panic attack, or when we can feel
anxiety ramping up, the body and brain are
locked into a feedback loop. Feelings of
anxiety make the deep brain think it is in danger,
which leads to it pumping out emergency hormones
while getting the body ready to fight or flee. These
elevated physical levels feed the physical sensations
that accompany anxiety, making us more anxious,
which leads to the deep brain pumping out even
more emergency hormones. But all of this is going
on inside us. There is no danger. Even if the anxiety
trigger is something like a forthcoming event, the
event is not yet – there is no need to panic. However,
the deep part of the brain does not know this.
Future fear has translated into a panic attack in
the present. If we can pull our focus back to the
present, where in fact there is nothing dangerous,
then the body can respond in turn. The 5-4-3-2-1
technique is a way of dissolving future fears into the
immediate reality of our surroundings. To begin, as
an immediate calming technique, slow the breath.
Breathe in for a count of four and then out for a
count of four. Repeat.
Keep this breathing pattern throughout the
exercise, but the next time you breathe out, look
around your surroundings and say out loud the
names of five things you can see. They could be in
the room with you (a chair, a bookcase) or outside,
visible through a window (a tree, the sky, someone
passing by). Then, again speaking out loud, say the
names of four things you can hear. They can be
41
things loud or quiet, near or far. The point is to
focus the attention in your ears at this point. The
third step is to say three things you can feel. This
could be the chair under your bottom or the weight
of clothes on your shoulder or the touch of a breeze
on your cheek. We are working our way through the
five senses, employing each sense in turn to turn our
attention from the thoughts and feelings inside our
mind to the exterior world immediately around us
– a world that is calm and safe. By going through
the senses in turn, we are conveying a message to
our amygdala (which listens to the senses far more
closely than it listens to our conscious thoughts) that
everything is all right.
The fourth step is to name two things we can
smell. If you don’t have a particularly sensitive sense
of smell, it might work to carry around something
that has a distinctive odour to focus on when you
need to employ the 5-4-3-2-1 technique – a bottle of
perfume or a stick of chewing gum, for example. The
chewing gum will come in useful for the final step:
taste. It doesn’t matter what you use to engage the
sense of taste, but something pleasant will help to
wind the exercise down calmly.
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique is a focused sensory
technique to shift our focus away from the storm of
internal thoughts and feelings of a panic attack to the
world outside ourselves. The technique conveys the
message to our autonomic nervous system through
all five senses that everything really is all right and it
can switch off its emergency response.
 ŇÜƖ  Ʒ ƯƄ ŔƇ ƢƧćƒ 
ŵĴƔƂƚƧ

42
 ŇÜƖ  Ɵ Ǝ Ʈ ŇƓ ơ đĬ ƆƬ 
ŵĴƔƂƚƧ

44
 ŇÜƖ  ƭ čƑƄƞ ƭč đƍ ƠŎ 
ŵĴƔƂƚƧ

46
 ŇÜƖ  ƭů ƎƓ ơƢĬ ƆƬ
ŵĴƔƂƚƧ

ŇÜƖƎƧƞŔƇđƧć
ŵĴƔƂƚƧ
 Progressive
muscle relaxation
J÷ƀŇƍƢƧćƇĴưŔƎƑƞƥÜŴ
ŔƇ÷ƦƔŎƂƥƞŎĴƅƭčƄƁƨƝŵ
W
hen we’re anxious, our muscles tense, as the deep
brain prepares the body to fight or run. However,
people suffering from generalised anxiety disorder
(GAD), the most common form of anxiety disorder, who live
in a constant state of chronic anxiety, can have their muscles
in a habitual, permanent state of tension. Progressive muscle
relaxation systematically works through the muscle groups
of the body, learning the difference between tension and
relaxation, and discovering how to successively relax the
body’s muscles.
This technique must be thoroughly practised, ideally
twice a day at first. It takes about 15 minutes and you’ll need
a room where you won’t be disturbed. Start by lying on the
floor or sitting comfortably in a chair. Take five, long, slow,
even breaths.
Progressive muscle relaxation targets muscle groups in
turn. First tense the muscle group as much as possible.
After five seconds, breathe out and relax those muscles.
Concentrate on how the muscles feel when relaxed
compared to when tense.
People usually find it most effective working from feet
to head or head to feet. We will look at feet to head. Some
people find it helpful to have a recording to take them
through the different muscle groups until they have learned
them all.
50
Start by tensing one foot, curling the toes downwards.
Hold, then relax, focusing on the feel of a relaxed muscle.
Next tighten the calf of the same leg by curling the toes
upwards. Finish the leg by tensing the thigh muscles. Repeat
on the other leg.
Clench one hand, then relax. Tense the whole arm by
drawing your clenched fist to your shoulder. Repeat with
the other arm.
Moving on to the trunk, start by tightening then releasing
the buttocks. Next, tense and relax your stomach. Tense
the chest by taking and holding a really big breath, then
breathe out.
To tense the neck and shoulders, hunch your shoulders
towards your ears and then relax. Open the mouth as wide
as it will go and then relax. Squish your eyes as tightly shut as
possible and then open them. Finally, tense your forehead
by raising your eyebrows as high as you can, and then relax.
Once the exercise is familiar and you know what a relaxed
muscle feels like, you might want to switch to tensing and
releasing sections of the body together. Finally, it may
become possible to skip tensing completely and work
through the body, relaxing each muscle group in turn.
The end result should be a relaxed body. As our brains
work in partnership with our bodies, this will tell the brain
that it can relax too.
Images Getty Images
 |Ŏ÷ƓơƄŎƞƏÜƠƄŎƓƨƝŇÜƖƎƧɌ
òĴƎƃƥƢĬƆưčÜƓƄƯƞŇƘĴƔƟƞ÷ĥ

O
n this page, think of the unique kinds of faces you’d
see on a busy street. What do they look like? Are they
wearing something on their head, like a hat or a hijab?
Perhaps some of them are wearing glasses. Give your faces
plenty of character and personality!
On the opposite page, what kind of scene do you see? Maybe
it’s the reflection of a bustling city in a puddle, or perhaps it’s a
lively dance class, filled with colourful figures.

Getty Images

52
54
 hŘĥƋƈƧćƁƚƜĢƅƫĴīƏƀƧƢì
ëƘƭč÷ƏƎưƞŇĴƅƭčƑƄƞ
T he 3-3-3 rule is similar to the 5-4-3-2-1
technique. It employs our two key senses,
sight and hearing, and then finishes with
our most fundamental sense, the kinaesthetic:
our ability to sense the position and movements
of our body. The aim is the same: to move the
focus from the feedback doom loop of anxiety to
the external environment and then parts of our
own body. Doing so sends definite signals to the
brain that there is no emergency and it can stop
releasing emergency hormones into the body. As
with all these grounding techniques, the 3-3-3 rule
will work better if you practise it in less stressful
situations before having to employ it during a full-
blown panic attack. An excellent way to groove it
into our mental space is to employ the 3-3-3 rule
to deal with mild and moderate anxiety symptoms.
Assuming the technique works in these cases will
help you feel more confident that it will work in
extremis. You will also have experience using the
technique when things are more difficult.
To do the 3-3-3 rule, first look around your
surroundings and say out loud the names of three
things you can see. These must be physical things
that you are looking at. As you name each object,
really look at it, as if you are seeing it for the first
55
time. Notice all the details of the object that you
would usually skate past. Even the grain in the
paint on a wall can provide something to look at.
Look at these objects as a painter would look at
them when trying to capture them on canvas.
Then listen. Listen and say out loud what you
are hearing. Name these three sounds, again
paying attention to the subtleties of what you are
hearing. Is the noise of a jet plane approaching
you or getting further away? Is the sound of the
kettle constant or does it vary? What pitch is the
ring of the telephone?
Having employed two external senses, we then
move to our internal physical sense of where
our body is in space and how it is moving. Name
three parts of your body in turn and move them,
one after the other. Say, “Index finger,” and tap
it against the table. Touch your lips with your
tongue. Rotate your right foot by moving the ankle.
As with the first two, concentrate as you move so
that you feel the motions as you are making them,
feeling the working of the muscles in your body.
Combining this technique with slow, even
breathing, in for the count of four and out for the
count of four, will give your body further cues to
shut down its panic response.
 Over the following pages,
really pay attention to what
you can see and hear, and how
you feel. Take the time to draw
them here and be mindful
about what it is you’re drawing
– notice the texture, shading
and smaller details that
make them so unique.
 |Ŏ÷ƘƎƮƫčÜƍƝŎƓƎƩƮĥƋ
ŵĴƔƑƬƞĥƅĴƔƭƨĆ܃ƩƈŇƚƋ

O
ne of the simplest ways of getting out of one’s head is
to put your hands in water. Simply plunging your hands
into a bowl of water produces an immediate physical
effect that pulls us out of the anxiety loop. As your hands go
into the water, note the accompanying sensations; feel the
temperature of the water and the sensation of liquid on the
skin. Some people like to use warm water first and then cold
water. Others prefer the opposite. But with both, the key is to
put one’s attention into the sensation.
Accompany the immersion with controlled, even breathing,
breathing in for a count of four and out for a count of four. If
the water is too cold, this might be a challenge, so it’s best not
to use iced water.

Images Getty Images

62
 |Ŏ÷ƓơƄŎƞƏÜƠƄŎƓƨƝŇÜƖƎƧɌ
òĴƎƃƥƢĬƆưčÜƓƄƯƞŇƘĴƔƟƞ÷ĥ

B
eaches are lively, vibrant scenes, filled with colour and
joy. On this page, draw the kinds of things you would
expect to see on a trip to the beach. What kinds of toys
did you take with you as a child when you’d go to the seaside?
Perhaps you remember your castle-shaped buckets, or your
bright-red plastic spade and inflatable beach ball. Or maybe
you remember the garish swimwear you’d wear with pride. On
the opposite page, think about your dream beach scene. Would
you want to be in the sea, or on the sand? Perhaps you’d be
tucked away from the sun’s rays underneath a parasol.

Getty Images

64
 đŎƂƎƯƞŇƓơ÷čƈƃƝƞĬƂŘƄƬ
ÜĬƃƧƔƚĬƂ÷ƬƎĆƘƨŘƫĆƄƞƋđƧćƒ
O
ne of the key steps in freeing
ourselves from the doom loop of
anxiety is finding out what triggers
anxious feelings. A therapist will often ask
a client to keep a record of their feelings
and the events of the day so that they can
then together go back over the events of
the week and try to discern if there is a
pattern. Other people find it invaluable
to write a journal of their feelings and
experiences in order to better understand
their responses to life. Both of these work
very well with mood tracking.
In essence, mood tracking, or journaling
as it’s also called, is keeping a diary.
However, this is a diary of emotions. You
keep track of your feelings throughout the
day and week by making a record of them.
In order to understand how the world
affects your emotions, it’s also necessary
to note the main details of the day, too.
The key part is simply keeping the
record. Some people just write it down
in a daily diary. Others write sticky notes,
or record an account of the day’s feelings
on their phone. Nowadays, people also
employ spreadsheets or apps.
Since it can be difficult to put feelings
into words sometimes, particularly when
we first attempt to do it, a mood chart
might be helpful for identifying different
emotions. Some idea of the level of the
emotion is often useful, which can be done
by writing next to the feeling an intensity
scale from 1 to 10. With generalised anxiety
disorder, a careful record of periods of
heightened anxiety and panic attacks is
particularly important.
Like keeping a diary, mood tracking is
a very personal approach to dealing with
anxiety, suitable for some people but not
for others.
66
Getty Images

67
 30 31 1 2
29 3
28 4
27 5
26 6
25 7
24 Month 8
23
22
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20 12
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68
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70
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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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Month Three

72
ĴƎòƋƞƲĴƔŇƌƨĴƝɑɑɑ
 |Ŏ÷ƓơƄŎƞƏÜƠƄŎƓƨƝŇÜƖƎƧɌ
òĴƎƃƥƢĬƆưčÜƓƄƯƞŇƘĴƔƟƞ÷ĥ

A
s the saying goes, ‘When life gives you lemons,
make lemonade’. Well, we’ve not quite given
you lemons, but perhaps you could draw your
own fruit bowls or small, citrus, still-life scenes? From
apples and limes to nectarines and plums, fruit is a
whirl of beautiful colour. On the next page, maybe you
see a glorious orchard or a lemon grove at the height
of summer…

Getty Images

74
 ŘŇƍƎƟĆƓơƞÜòƑƄƧƚĥđƍƄ
ë÷ƅƎƫƞìÜƋƦƈĬƆƭčƞƌđƧò

S
ometimes the physical effects of a panic attack are so
severe that it is impossible to focus the mind sufficiently
to employ any of the techniques we’ve looked at in this
book. The amygdala is pumping so many hormones into the
body that it is completely wired, trembling with the sort of
energy necessary to outrun a lion or fight off a hyena.
With so much physical energy coursing through the system,
some people find it necessary to burn off some of the
adrenaline first. This can be done by anything from dancing
wildly around the room, to running along a corridor or up
and down the stairs, or using a treadmill. For other people,
something a little more gentle works better – some people have
even reported that brisk hoovering or manic cleaning burns off
the nervous energy while doing something useful, too. But it
could be that going for a brisk walk in a park or doing some
gardening is sufficient. We all have different thresholds, and
everyone trying to deal with anxiety and panic attacks has to
find what works best for them.
Once the physical activity has taken the edge off the
physical response to anxiety, it is time to employ one of the
more mental techniques to slowly convince the brain that it
can switch off its emergency response.

Images Getty Images

76
 |Ŏ÷ƓơƄŎƞƏÜƠƄŎƓƨƝŇÜƖƎƧɌ
òĴƎƃƥƢĬƆưčÜƓƄƯƞŇƘĴƔƟƞ÷ĥ

T
here’s no escaping other people. On this page, why not
use the silhouettes to doodle the most characterful
people you’ve seen on the streets? Maybe you saw a
man at your local coffee shop with an owl, or perhaps you saw
someone dressed up to the nines on your commute to work!
On the next page, what do you see? Can you make out a lively
coastal scene? Or maybe you see a fashion show catwalk…

Getty Images
xŇƘƭĴīƄƌƨƫđŎƄƓơƞŎ÷ƂƎƥƨŘŇƒ
ë÷ƅƎƫƞŵĴƔƓƮƫĬƓơ÷ńƀƆƞɑɑɑ

82
 rĴīƄƓƢƦ÷ŎƃƈƬŔƑƚƜŔđƎƍ
ìÜƍƛƄŵƨŘƑƟŇƈƞƍƝ
T he cycle of anxiety is perpetuated by
distraction. Anxiety before writing
an important essay can be relieved
by looking at cat videos on YouTube, the
instant release of tension brought through
procrastination leading to a further
deepening of the cycle.
However, there are times when feelings
of anxiety can become so overwhelming
that simply relieving them becomes
more important than anything else. In
these cases, effective and non-harmful
distraction techniques can be both helpful
and necessary.
Among the most effective of these
techniques are exercises that intensively
use the most conscious part of our
brains, the pre-frontal cortex. This is
also the part of the brain that is most
prone to worry as a mental behaviour,
so finding something else for it to fixate
83
upon can allow the rest of the brain to
slowly relax.
Any mental exercise that is sufficiently
demanding to require complete attention
but not too demanding to overtax a mind
that is at its limits is ideal. Many people
find memory games useful, whether that
be reciting memorised poems or learning
something new. Visual thinkers might try to
remember and visualise something familiar:
the kitchen worktop or the face of a loved
one, for example.
More physical mental games, from
jigsaws to Sudoku, can also be effective,
as can the many online games. However,
as a general rule, high-intensity computer
games should be avoided as these will
increase stress levels.
Over the following pages, give your brain
an escape from anxiety with various games,
from visual challenges to anagrams.
‹ đŔƇƎƮƭŔŘƑƧƈĬƆƛƚìƊƭĴìƇƄƜĢɌŔƑƲ
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đŔƌƀƭìƇƞƬŔƇ÷ƜƎĥƨŘƑƟƔĥƕƞƫŎđƎƍƨƧ
ŔƇ÷ƩŇƄƕƢĴƔƬńƚƆ÷ɍ

84
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S
napping out of a negative spiral is easier said than done.
For those who experience bouts of dissociation – feeling
disconnected from yourself and your identity, as well as
the world around you – the act of balancing can be a simple
strategy to return your mind to the present. Engaging in an
activity that requires you to concentrate on balance triggers
the same area of the brain that is linked to dissociative states,
essentially rebooting your brain to focus on its new task.
While many physical activities require balance, such as yoga,
skateboarding or rollerblading, there are other, more relaxed
methods to engage your sense of balance. Why not try walking
in a straight line, one foot straight in front of the other, next
time you’re taking a tea break? Balancing a book on your head
while you’re working can be another simple way to provide
your mind with a balancing task, or you can balance small
objects on your arm. It needn’t be strenuous – just enough to
provide your brain with a challenge upon which to focus!

92
 |Ŏ÷ƓơƄŎƞƏÜƠƄŎƓƨƝŇÜƖƎƧɌ
òĴƎƃƥƢĬƆưčÜƓƄƯƞŇƘĴƔƟƞ÷ĥ

W
hen life around us is overwhelming, loud and stressful,
sometimes it can be cathartic to imagine an entirely
new world. Over these pages, doodle your own
planets – some could be like Earth, others could be totally
unique. On the next page, what kind of landscape would you
want to see on your peaceful new planet? Perhaps your new
world is made up of beautiful islands and peaceful oceans…

Getty Images

96
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