Feet on the ground. Press your feet firmly into the floor. Notice the pressure, the texture of your shoes or socks, the solid ground beneath you. Wiggle your toes. When your mind is spinning, your feet are a reliable anchor to the present.

Move the energy. Remember that anxiety prepares your body for action. Sometimes the best thing you can do is give it what it wants: walk briskly, climb a few flights of stairs, shake out your arms and legs. A few minutes of movement can burn off some of the adrenaline and help your body complete the stress cycle.

Supportive self-talk. Speak to yourself the way a calm, kind friend would. Some phrases people find helpful: "I've felt this before and it passed." "I can feel anxious and still do this." "This is uncomfortable, not dangerous." "One breath at a time." Choose one or two that feel true to you, and keep them ready.

Surfing the wave

Anxiety often behaves like a wave. It builds, reaches a peak, and then, if you let it, it recedes. The problem is that when you're in the middle of it, it feels like it will keep growing forever. So you try to escape, and escaping stops you from ever learning that the wave would have passed on its own.

"Surfing the wave" means riding the feeling instead of fighting it. When anxiety rises, try this: notice where you feel it in your body. Describe it with curiosity, as if you were a scientist studying it. "There's tightness in my chest. It's about a 7 out of 10. Now