Make a Small Worry Feel Smaller
A 2 minute experiment with one small worry. Free. No sign up to try it.
A worry can feel bigger when the picture in your mind is big, bright and close.
So here is a test: change the picture and see if the feeling changes too.
It may. It may not. Both results tell you something.
Try it now
- Pick a small worry. Something everyday, like an email you are putting off. Not something heavy. If a heavy one comes up, pick a different one.
- Give it a number from 0 to 10 for how strong the feeling is right now. Remember the number.
- Notice the picture. Where do you see it? How big is it? What colour? How far away?
- Change the picture. Make it half the size. Turn the colour down until it is pale grey. Push it twice as far away.
- Look at it like that for a few seconds.
- Give it a number again.
What if you do not see pictures?
Some people hear the worry or feel it in the body instead. That works too. Pick one small worry. If it feels worse, stop. Hear the worry as one sentence in your head. Give it a number from 0 to 10. Make the voice quieter and move it further away. Or imagine the feeling in your body a little smaller and a step further out. Then give it a number again.
What happened to the number?
Went down: good to know. The picture may be part of how this worry feels for you.
Stayed the same: useful too. Try a smaller worry, or try the sound or feeling version above.
Went up: stop here. Look around the room, feel your feet on the floor, and do something ordinary for a minute. This exercise is not for you today, and that is useful to know.
All three results are information. There is no pass or fail.
Why this may help
When you imagine something vividly and close up, it can feel more intense. Research on psychological distancing suggests that stepping back in your mind can lower how strong a feeling is. This exercise gives that idea a shape you can play with: size, colour and distance. Different people respond differently, so treat it as a test, not a rule.
Evidence B
When to use it
Next time the same small worry comes back, try it again and compare the two numbers. If it helped, keep it for small worries. If it did not, you have lost two minutes and learned something about how your mind works.
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