94 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
- Repeat each step of the exposure as often as
needed or until you notice a significant decline in
your anxiety. Use the distress scale as a guide! - After completing an exposure in full, keep repeat-
ing the exposure in the future, which will help
with long- term anxiety maintenance. This will
be more beneficial than practicing exposure for
short- term or moment- to- moment emotion
management. - Summarize one or two main learning experi-
ences from each exposure that you can apply to
similar situations in the future. - Remember to prioritize your own physical and
mental safety by choosing exposures that are
appropriate to your ability and capacity.
Remember the Yerkes–Dodson Law: too much
exposure or too little exposure will not be as
helpful as an exposure that creates only some
anxiety and discomfort.
Exercise 3.1: Confront Your A nxiety in Your Imagina-
tion For this mindfulness practice, find a quiet and comfortable
place where you can sit upright on a chair (with an unsupported
back) or on a cushion on the floor. Adopt a relaxed but alert pos-
ture. Once you are seated, set a timer to alert you when five minutes
have passed.
- Identif y something that you more than routinely avoid due
to anxiety, and specif y a behavioral target for exposure. For
example, some people avoid managing their monthly bills
because thinking about finances makes them extremely