Dropping Anchor

Mindfulness & MeditationTools & StrategiesSelf Care & BoundariesEmotion Regulation & CopingAnxiety & Stress & Burnout

24 Sep

Dropping Anchor: a circuit breaker for overwhelming thoughts and feelings

Sometimes, when we experience challenging thoughts or feelings, we can become caught up in an emotional storm that makes it hard to think clearly.

Experiencing a distressing thought or feeling can make the body feel like it’s in a potentially threatening situation, and respond accordingly - by activating our survival system of fight, flight or freeze.

That’s where Dropping Anchor can help. A simple exercise to centre yourself and connect with the world around you (to drop anchor) - especially when you’re feeling caught up in a swirl of thoughts and feelings.

What is Dropping Anchor?

Dropping Anchor is a grounding skill from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which was developed by ACT trainer and author of The Happiness Trap, Dr Russ Harris.

This mindfulness exercise can support you to make contact with the present moment and open up to the thoughts and feelings you’re experiencing, while choosing to consciously engage in the activity or situation at hand.

Dropping Anchor takes you out of auto-pilot and brings you back from future time travel (worrying about the future) or ruminating about the past. It provides a steady ground, and offers a way to circuit break problematic mental activity.

Who’s it for?

Anybody can benefit from the Dropping Anchor skill as a way to develop awareness of mental activity, while also making room for what you can control (for example, your ability to control your movement, posture, and/or breath), and then to consciously engage in the present moment.

Therapeutically, this skill has proved helpful for individuals who are seeking support with behaviours that are impulsive, compulsive, aggressive, addictive, or problematic in another way.

This practice is often used as a first step for people needing support with anxiety or panic attacks and chronic pain, or any kind of emotional turmoil that is causing distress.

How do I practise Dropping Anchor?

Dropping Anchor is based on a simple acronym, ACE, and there’s an analogy which helps to bring it to life.

You can practise this skill with me (6 minutes) here, before or after continuing with the details.

The Analogy of Dropping Anchor

Imagine you are a boat, being tossed around at sea. The weather is rough, representing all the external storms or crises around you that you have no control over, along with the inner emotional storm you may be experiencing.

Rather than be tossed around in every direction by these rough seas, you DROP ANCHOR - to steady your boat, and to steady yourself.

Dropping your anchor will hold you steady until the storm passes; it will not stop the storm, the weather is still happening, however you’re less affected by it. That’s why we drop anchor; to be steady while the storm passes.

How to Drop Anchor

First A: Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings, and/or bodily sensations.

One way to do this is to pause and notice what’s showing up inside, in your inner world (that you can sense however no one can see). Another way to do this is to adjust your self-talk from ‘I am feeling…’, or ‘I am thinking…’ to instead say to yourself ‘I’m noticing I’m having the thought ……’ or ‘I’m noticing I’m feeling….’ Or ‘I’m noticing a sensation of…’

While acknowledging your thoughts and feelings (note, this is not a distraction technique, it’s a practice for making room for what is here), you….move to ‘C’.

C: Come back into your body.

You can do this in a variety of ways. If you’re sitting; you might focus on feeling your feet on the floor (press them into the floor, or wriggle your toes), then lengthen your spine, move your arms for a stretch, or drop your shoulders with a shrug. You can utilise breathing here as well – e.g. take a deep breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth (with or without a sigh), or do a few conscious breaths in a way you might have found helpful before.

Many of my clients like the box breathing technique. You can see my blog and video on box breathing here, and a variation I call ‘phone breathing’ here.

This step is about expanding your awareness, to be more than the thoughts and feelings that are arising; aware that you can also move your body. This also acts as a reminder of what you do have control over, this movement you are creating with your body.

Next E: Engage in what you’re doing; or with where you are. You might look around and really notice what you see in the room you’re in; or notice what you are doing – if you’re in a meeting, consciously engage in the meeting – listen to what is being said, place your attention on what you are doing in this moment.

How long do I need to practise?

You can do this in as little as 30 seconds, or as long as 10 minutes, or anywhere in between.

A tip:

Practise Dropping Anchor when you are not in a distressed state, to develop the skill and the memory of how to do the practice. Then when you need it, it will be more accessible to you.

I would recommend practising this in little ways, often. Take time to drop anchor in your day – before you log on for work, when you log off for the day, before you respond to an email, when you sit down to eat….. you get the idea.

Doing this practice briefly, at regular times, will support you in calming your nervous system each time you practice this skill, and also support you in accessing it when an emotional storm arises.

A bit more about ACT:

In ACT, the goal is to increase your Psychological Flexibility; the ability to stay connected with the present moment, while thoughts, feelings, and/or bodily sensations are being experienced, and choosing where to place your attention.

Dropping Anchor is one of many ways to develop psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is a measure of your ability to cope with changes and manage life’s stressors, challenges, and losses.

See below a simple picture of what it’s all about; The ACT Triflex, developed by Russ Harris. In ACT we learn skills to support each apex of the triangle in the image.

If my work, or this practice resonates with you, I invite you to get in touch for a chat about how I can support you in managing difficult emotions through individual counselling, or mindfulness sessions. Nicky