Coaching practices for Engage Present Moment Anxiety
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Engage Present Moment Anxiety, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- The moment I’m in a room with people I’m trapped watching myself
- I spend my days bracing for the next wave of it, scanning my body, dreading the moment it shows up
- Even once the worst of it passes, I can’t get back into the room
- When the anxiety takes over it feels like it is me
- In the middle of a stressful moment I get hyper-aware of my own racing heart and how I’m coming across, and watching myself like that only cranks it higher
Practices that may help
- Situational attentional refocusing: shift from self to situation
In anxiety-provoking situations, actively redirect attention outward — to the task, the other person, the environment.
Metacognitive Therapy, Made Practical - Run toward the feeling
Actively invite more of the anxiety rather than waiting nervously for it to pass.
The DARE Response to Anxiety, Made Practical - Engage with the present moment
Once the edge comes off, redirect attention fully into an activity or your surroundings.
The DARE Response to Anxiety, Made Practical - Strengthen the observing self
Notice that there is a "you" watching your thoughts — that witness is stable even when thoughts are not.
Defusion from Anxious Thoughts - Redirect from self-focus to external attention
When anxiety spikes, deliberately anchor attention to a specific external sound or object.
Attention Training Technique (ATT), Made Practical - The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique
Name five things you see, four you hear, three you feel, two you smell, one you taste.
The Anxiety Toolkit, Made Practical - Use a 30-second micro-grounding version for public settings
In public or meetings, a single-sense version — three named things you can see — takes 30 seconds and shows nothing.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique - Divided attention — hold multiple sources at once
Expand awareness to hold three or more sounds simultaneously without collapsing back to one.
Attention Training Technique (ATT), Made Practical - Shift to task-focused attention under performance anxiety
Redirect attention from self-monitoring and outcome worry to the specific process cues of the task at hand.
Attentional Deployment, Made Practical - Rapid attention shifting between sounds
Switch attention between sound sources on cue, making each shift deliberate and immediate.
Attention Training Technique (ATT), Made Practical
Related concerns
- Present Moment Anxiety
Name five things you see, four you hear, three you feel, two you smell, one you taste.
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique
- When The 5 4 3 2 1 Grounding Portable Micro Grounding
In public or meetings, a single-sense version — three named things you can see — takes 30 seconds and shows nothing.
Use a 30-second micro-grounding version for public settings
- Attention Redirection Anxiety
In anxiety-provoking situations, actively redirect attention outward — to the task, the other person, the environment.
Situational attentional refocusing: shift from self to situation
- Attention Shifting Anxiety
Switch attention between sound sources on cue, making each shift deliberate and immediate.
Rapid attention shifting between sounds
- Attention Training Social Anxiety
The Attention Training Technique (ATT), developed by Adrian Wells, is a structured auditory exercise that rebuilds voluntary control over where attention goes — directly countering the self-focused, threat-locked attention that sustains anxiety and health anxiety. Randomised trials support its effectiveness as a standalone and as part of Metacognitive Therapy.
- Background Anxiety Management
Distinguish solvable worries — which need a plan — from hypothetical ones — which need acceptance or defusion.
Productive Problem-Solving vs. Worry
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