For years I've felt anxiety before moments when I needed to be calm and focused. My heart would race. My thoughts would speed up. Sometimes it was hard to find my words.
Over time I built a toolbox. Breathing techniques, mindfulness practices, things I learned and kept coming back to. Box breathing, a simple 4-count technique, became one of my favorites.
One evening, lying still, trying to quiet my mind, thoughts came rushing in as they always do. I tried to focus on something peaceful and found myself remembering a recent trip to Scandinavia. The water. The open sky. The quiet. What if I counted in Norwegian instead of English?
I learned the words and tried it. It worked. The slight effort to recall them kept stray thoughts from drifting in, a kind of cognitive noise cancellation. Something I could rely on and come back to.
I hope this helps you the way it helps me.
