Anxiety and Focus

Everything you experience is the result of your thoughts. Regardless of how categorical this may sound it is a basic Truth in Neuroscience. You cannot talk without a thought; and in fact, when you talk you are simply thinking aloud [1]. You cannot move or act without thinking. And when you behave or are learning or writing, you are thinking. When we break it down like this, it may become easier to understand why you cannot possibly experience anything without your thoughts, and why, therefore, everything you experience is the result of your thought, and cannot be any different from the result of your thought [2]. And there is no exception to this fact.

This can be great news for those with Anxiety. Once they know it is about their thoughts, they then know that whatever they may be thinking they are experiencing related to their anxiety is the result of their thoughts.  And, in their thoughts lie the solution to their anxiety.

This is neither simplistic nor reductionistic, nor easy.  However, if our thought is the basis for everything, then logic follows that to address anxiety requires addressing our thoughts.

How do we go about doing that? There are several ways to go about this, which we will be addressing during our full-day webinar on Skills for Anxiety. There is also a simple rule, known as the 10 Minute Rule, which can be found to make a world of difference.

First, the remainder of this article will cover some underlying concepts that will prepare you for a fuller understanding of this Rule. Then, at our full day webinar, we will be outlining the Rule what it entails and the different steps to follow; how to best implement the Rule for the best possible result; and which pitfalls to avoid. 

When you are anxious, you become aware of it through manifestations in your body and/or your feelings [3]. And as we already explained in a previous article, by the time you are experiencing your feelings or your body is feeling the emotions, all bets are off. This means you have already experienced a number of associated thoughts, and are at the point where an action potential takes place in the brain. This therefore means, while trying to manage your feelings of anxiety at the level of feelings, it is too late to really make a significant difference because the brain has already fired.

This also means working with the associated thoughts is also too late, and that an intervention that will truly make a difference for anxiety has to be at the level where the threshold at which the action potential takes place has yet to be reached.

If you remember the Belief-Identity Pathway, you will recall that immediately prior to the associated thoughts is focus. Focusing is the focus on the meaning you have given to the initial neutral thought in your active thinking process. And because focusing is more likely to be conscious and still below the action potential threshold, this is a very strategic place.

With this understanding, you are ready to learn the Rule of 10 for Anxiety. And if you are a clinician who would like to help your patients with anxiety in a way that will truly make a difference, then please join us for our full day 6 CEU webinar on Skills for Anxiety. Click here to register, and

We will see you then,

Karen and Mardoche

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[1] Gould, Wendy Rose. “Go Ahead, Talk to Yourself. It’s Normal -and Good for You.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 10 Oct. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/better/health/talking-yourself-normal-here-s-how-master-it-ncna918091.

[2] Noë, Alva. “Thought and Experience.” American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, pp. 257–265. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20009969. Accessed 3 Mar. 2021.

[3] 12 Effects of Anxiety on the Body – Healthline. www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/effects-on-body.