Brilliant Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, 2nd Edition

Getting physical

‘An anxious mind cannot exist in a relaxed body.’

Edmund Jacobson, doctor and creator of the progressiverelaxation method

The processes that catapult us into a state of red alert are largely automatic, and they happen so instantaneously that they can be hard to control. We have already referred to the research that suggests anxious people have a hair trigger response when it comes to anxious arousal. However, the body does have its own mechanisms for bringing itself down from the fight–flight state and returning things to normal. This is the parasympathetic nervous system, and the good news is that it is possible to harness this system to bring levels of arousal down using relaxation strategies.

One thing you can learn to do ...