Anxiety Skills

Notice and Name Body Sensations

Noticing and naming body sensations involves gently observing and explicitly identifying physical sensations occurring in your body, especially during intense anxiety, panic, or dissociation. This mindfulness technique helps ground awareness in the present, reconnecting mind and body, and enhancing emotional regulation.

Overview

  • Difficulty:
  • Best Use:
    Best for reconnecting with the body during dissociation or panic
  • Time:
    3-5 min
  • Tools:

What to do

  1. Pause and take a slow, deep breath to center your attention in the present moment.
  2. Gently scan your body, starting from your head and moving down to your feet, noticing any sensations (e.g., tension, warmth, tingling).
  3. Clearly and objectively name each sensation as you encounter it (e.g., "tightness in my chest," "coolness in my hands").
  4. Maintain a neutral, non-judgmental attitude toward these sensations, observing them without trying to change them.
  5. Continue breathing calmly and deeply as you note sensations throughout your body.
  6. Finish by briefly acknowledging any shift in emotional or physical state after naming sensations.

When to use

Why it works

Noticing and naming body sensations effectively grounds your attention in the present moment, interrupting anxiety or panic loops by engaging the brain's mindfulness and sensory processing regions. This practice helps reduce immediate stress and anxiety by stabilizing the nervous system and reconnecting you with your physical experiences, counteracting dissociation or emotional overwhelm. Regular mindfulness of bodily sensations enhances emotional regulation, reducing trauma-related reactivity, and increasing resilience.

Benefits

  • Rapidly reduces anxiety and panic symptoms
  • Alleviates dissociative experiences
  • Enhances overall emotional regulation
  • Improves body awareness and connection
  • Promotes long-term emotional stability and resilience to stress and trauma-related triggers

Tips

  • Practice regularly, even during low-stress moments, to strengthen your body awareness.
  • Pair this technique with deep breathing or grounding exercises for amplified calming effects.
  • Gently redirect attention back to bodily sensations whenever distracted by intrusive thoughts.
  • Journal regularly about body sensations to identify patterns and enhance mindfulness practice.

What to expect

Variations

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

Skill Categories
Mindfulness
Body-Based
Issues Addressed by Skill
Anxiety
Trauma
Stress
Emotional Regulation
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