anxiety:

float technique

Claire Weekes taught that anxiety is often fueled by the "fear of fear" becoming afraid of the sensations of anxiety themselves, rather than the situation that first triggered them. This secondary fear can keep the nervous system stuck in a cycle of anxiety.

Her "float" technique encourages allowing anxious sensations to be present without fighting, analyzing, or trying to make them stop. By responding with acceptance instead of resistance, the nervous system has the opportunity to settle and recover over time.

First Fear and Second Fear

SOMETHING HAPPENS

  • thought

  • feeling

  • sensation

  • trigger

  • circumstance

First Fear:

the autonomic nervous systems involuntary response