What's Happening in My Brain
Your heart is racing, your thoughts are speeding up, and your body feels like it's on high alert. You need to hit the brake on your stress response fast.
Deep breathing
You're lying in bed and your brain keeps replaying something that happened earlier. You can't switch it off.
Grounding — 5-4-3-2-1, deep breathing, body scan
Your friend tells you that talking about your feelings always makes you feel better. Is she right?
Myth — sometimes it helps, sometimes it makes things bigger; timing matters
You come home from a hard day and you go straight to their cage. Just holding them and feeling their warmth releases a calming hormone in your body. Who are they?
Basil and Bean
You're stressed but you don't want to think or talk about it. Name a strategy that uses your body instead of your brain.
walking, stretching, dancing, sport, cold water
You sit down at the piano and start learning a new chord progression/ song. Twenty minutes later, you look up and realize you completely forgot what you were worried about. What happened to you?
Flow state / absorbing activity
It's 11pm. You can't fall asleep. You're about to reach for the melatonin. Name one thing to try first.
Deep breathing, body scan, stretching, cold water
You're having a hard day. One of your sisters asks you to help her with something. You stop and help her. Could this help you feel better?
Fact — shifting your focus outward and doing something for someone else triggers your feel-good system
You're spiralling a little. You pick up your phone and send one message. Five minutes later you feel calmer. Whose calm is most contagious to you?
Maddie
You put on your favourite show for an hour and feel better temporarily — but an hour later the feeling is back. What's the difference between what you just did and actually coping?
Distraction is temporary; coping addresses the emotion itself
You've been anxious all day and your shoulders are tight, your jaw is clenched, and your chest feels heavy. Your thoughts aren't helping. What do you do instead?
Movement / physical release — stretching, dancing, walking
You know that Maddie is going to a different school. You're home alone and the sadness hits hard.
Text Maddie, call a family member, journal, cry it out
You tried box breathing once when you were anxious and it didn't really help. Does that mean it's not a good strategy for you?
Myth — different strategies work for different emotions and moments; one try isn't enough to know
You've had a stressful week and your body feels wired. You head outside and do this — and an hour later the tension is gone.
Hockey/ Go on a walk
You're in the middle of a really hard moment. You have 30 seconds. What's your one go-to?
*You pick!*
Your thoughts are spinning so fast they feel overwhelming — like you're trapped inside them. You need to get them out of your head.
Journaling / writing it out
You're doing something you wanted to be perfect at and you made a mistake. Your inner critic starts to feel very loud.
Self-compassion — say something kind to yourself
You're mid-panic and your friend makes you laugh. Your panic completely disappears in that moment. Is that actually possible?
Fact — laughter and anxiety have a hard time existing in your body at the same time
You're feeling overwhelmed and you open this app... not to scroll mindlessly, but to intentionally redirect your attention somewhere that feels good.
You know some of these strategies. We've talked about them before. But when things actually get hard, your mind goes blank. Why does that happen?
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You splash cold water on your face and suddenly your heart rate slows. Why is this helpful?
Your body and nervous system starts to calm down, by activing your vagus nerve!
Someone keeps crossing your physical boundaries at school. Every time it happens you freeze. Later the anger is still sitting in your body.
Physical discharge — hockey, dancing, walking, shooting pucks
You made a mistake and you're being really hard on yourself. Someone tells you to be kinder to yourself instead. Does this help?
Fact — being kind to yourself works better than self-criticism; it reduces anxiety and actually improves performance
Every week you do this to track how you're feeling — and science shows that the simple act of naming your emotions reduces how intense they feel.
Mood tracking / feelings pixel
Every strategy on this board was designed by someone else (me!). If you could build one perfectly designed for you — what would it look like?
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