This is a really simple and effective tool to help anyone who is feeling:

• Stressed
• Overwhelmed
• Consumed with unwanted thoughts
• As if their head is full
• Preoccupied with past or future thoughts
• Anxious

It’s called ‘Bring It In’.

Imagine your thoughts work in a V.
The bottom of the V represents now.
The line to the left represents the past.
The line to the right represents the future.
The space between the two lines represents the room for unwanted feelings (stress, overwhelm, anxiety; emotional discomfort).

I find that when you move to the pointed part of the V – the here and now – life is generally okay in this very moment.
Yet when you start to think about the past or the future you can quickly lose yourself in a mass of internal dialog and overwhelming thoughts. It’s at this point that your emotions that can spiral out of control.

The trick is to remember to ask yourself,

“What do I need to do to bring it in?”

Essentially the aim is to detach from the outward thinking and return to the here and now?

• Check your body now, is it okay?
• Check your surroundings now, are they okay?
• Check the world outside, is it okay?
• Ask yourself if you are in the problem right now, in this very moment or if the problem is only alive in your head right now?

By bringing yourself back into the now, you can almost immediately reduce any unwanted sensations, thoughts and feelings and regain a sense of control over yourself.