Anchor dropping exercises can be as short as 10 seconds or as long as 10 minutes.
You can do them anytime,
Anyplace,
No matter what you're feeling.
There are literally hundreds of different ways to drop an anchor and you can easily invent new ones of your own,
But they all revolve around the simple A.
C.
E.
Formula.
A stands for acknowledge your thoughts and feelings,
C is connect with your body and E is engaging what you're doing.
So let's take a practice now.
A,
Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings.
So silently and kindly acknowledge whatever is showing up inside you.
Any thoughts,
Feelings,
Emotions,
Memories,
Sensations,
Urges.
Quickly scan your body for feelings and sensations and notice what kind of thoughts are passing through your head.
As you do this often it's helpful to describe what's showing up inside you with phrases like I'm noticing or I'm having.
So for example you might silently say to yourself something like I'm noticing anxiety or I'm having a feeling of sadness.
Maybe I'm noticing my mind is obsessing or I'm having scary thoughts.
The idea here is to acknowledge your thoughts and feelings without judging them,
Without fighting them or trying to get rid of them.
You're simply acknowledging that right now,
In this moment,
They are here.
And while continuing to acknowledge your thoughts and feelings also connect with your body.
So come back into and connect with your physical body.
You can find your own way of doing this.
Some ways might be to slowly push your feet into the floor.
Maybe straighten your back and your spine.
Perhaps slowly press your fingertips together.
Or maybe slowly stretch your arms or your neck.
As you do this practice you're not trying to escape to avoid or distract yourself from what is happening in your inner world.
Nor are you trying to get rid of those difficult thoughts and feelings.
Let's remember that anchors don't make storms go away.
The aim is to remain aware of your thoughts and feelings.
Continue to acknowledge their presence and at the same time connect with your body and actively move it.
And now as you acknowledge your thoughts and feelings and connect with your body,
Also engage in what you're doing.
So get a sense of where you are and refocus your attention on the activity that you are doing.
Again you can find your own way of doing this.
Some suggestions might be to look around the room.
Notice five things that you can see.
Maybe notice three things that you can hear.
Notice what you are doing.
And we end the exercise by giving your full attention to the activity that you're doing.
The idea of this practice is to run through this ACE cycle slowly a few times so that you can turn it into a two three-minute exercise for yourself.
Remember A is acknowledge your thoughts and feelings.
C connect with your body and E engage in what you're doing.
