Coaching practices for Urges Pass
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Urges Pass, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- The urge shows up as this relentless voice in my head making the case for why I should just do it, and as long as I’m arguing with the thought it owns me
- The urge to bail hits like it’s non-negotiable, like I have to act on it right now
- The craving to pour the drink, raid the fridge, send the message lands like it absolutely cannot wait
- When a craving hits it feels like it’ll just keep climbing forever until I give in
- The urges seem to come out of nowhere, but I’m starting to suspect they don’t
Practices that may help
- Locate the urge in your body
Track where the urge lives physically — in tension, heat, agitation — rather than engaging with the thought that wants you to act.
Ride the Wave (Urge Management), Made Practical - Surf the urge to avoid instead of obeying it
Treat the avoidance impulse as a wave to observe and outlast, not a command to obey.
Embracing Discomfort: Turning Resistance Into Growth - Urge Surfing: Riding Out the Impulse Without Acting
Treat an urge to act impulsively like a wave — observe it rise and fall without being swept away.
The STOP Skill: A DBT Technique for Crisis Moments - Understand the anatomy of an urge
Learn that urges have a beginning, a peak, and an end — and that acting on or fighting them changes the arc.
Ride the Wave (Urge Management), Made Practical - Map your urge triggers
Know the specific situations, emotions, and states that reliably trigger your urges — so you can intervene before they crest.
Ride the Wave (Urge Management), Made Practical - Ride the Wave (Urge Management), Made Practical
"Riding the wave" is a mindfulness-based urge management technique: rather than acting on an urge or fighting it, you observe it as a rising and falling wave of physical sensation, without doing anything. Urges are time-limited; if not acted upon or fought, they peak and subside. The technique has observational support specifically in addiction contexts (urge surfing), and the underlying mechanism — that urges are temporary physiological events — is consistent with mindfulness and DBT research. - Pros and cons before acting on an urge
List the pros and cons of acting on the crisis urge before you do it — to give the decision back to your wiser self.
Distress Tolerance Skills, Made Practical - Delay action with a time-based contract
Pre-commit to a specific waiting period before acting on any urge — giving the wave time to crest.
Ride the Wave (Urge Management), Made Practical - Observe without obeying
Watch the urge fully — feel its pull, note its strength — without doing anything it demands.
Ride the Wave (Urge Management), Made Practical - Surf the escape urge without acting on it
Treat the urge to flee as a wave — it rises, peaks, and falls without requiring your action.
Panic Surfing
Related concerns
- Mindful Urge Management
Track where the urge lives physically — in tension, heat, agitation — rather than engaging with the thought that wants you to act.
Locate the urge in your body
- Riding Out Impulses
"Riding the wave" is a mindfulness-based urge management technique: rather than acting on an urge or fighting it, you observe it as a rising and falling wave of physical sensation, without doing anything. Urges are time-limited; if not acted upon or fought, they peak and subside. The technique has observational support specifically in addiction contexts (urge surfing), and the underlying mechanism — that urges are temporary physiological events — is consistent with mindfulness and DBT research.
- Urges Are Normal
Track where the urge lives physically — in tension, heat, agitation — rather than engaging with the thought that wants you to act.
- Awareness Of Urges
Know the specific situations, emotions, and states that reliably trigger your urges — so you can intervene before they crest.
Map your urge triggers
- Not Acting On Urge
Treat an urge to act impulsively like a wave — observe it rise and fall without being swept away.
Urge Surfing: Riding Out the Impulse Without Acting
- Physical Sensation Urge
Track where the urge lives physically — in tension, heat, agitation — rather than engaging with the thought that wants you to act.
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