4 Ways To Calm Anxiety… Or A SPACE Mission

My husband and I prefer to spend our money on experiences, rather than toys and the latest gadgets that clutter our home, so we took our boys to Disneyworld last week as their Christmas present.

While at EPCOT, we rode Mission: SPACE, an attraction that simulates being an astronaut blasting off from planet Earth and landing on Mars. The experience required me to put into practice 4 self-mastery tools that I regularly teach my clients. I want to share the strategies with you here so you can benefit too!

Self-Mastery In SPACE…

We took our seats inside the spacecraft and pulled the shoulder harnesses down over our heads. A moment later, the spacecraft doors sealed shut and the control panel moved toward our bodies, leaving only 8 inches between us and the machine.

My claustrophobia kicked in, but nothing seemed to happen on the ride. No instructions came over the loudspeaker; no videos appeared on the screen; no lights blinked or movement happened on the spacecraft.

We had been on Haunted Mansion earlier in the trip and it had stopped mid-ride for several minutes due to technical difficulties. This is fine when you are in a huge open space with a route to walk off the ride if needed. Not fine in a tiny spacecraft where you can’t even turn your chest to the right or left or fully extend your arms or legs.

My mind immediately did what it does when we feel anxious, scared, and overwhelmed: It blasted to the future, envisioning all the horrible technical issues happening on the outside of the ride that were keeping it from working properly and trapping us in the tiny space container where we’d be stuck for hours.

I regularly tell my clients to stay in their circle of influence (the area that we have power over) rather than their circle of concern (what we worry about but have no control over). With the mindfulness that’s required of self-mastery, I asked myself, “What is in my circle of influence right now?”

Staying in the present and focusing on the neutral facts, I decided.

“What are the neutral facts of the present moment?” I then asked myself.

The neutral facts were that I was on this ride and it hadn’t started yet and I was feeling claustrophobic. The doom and gloom stories in my head were not real but were causing me stress and anxiety.

I could feel my body reacting to the future-based stories in my head. Studies indicate that our body doesn’t always recognize the difference between what we envision in our head vs. what we experience in real life. This is why professional basketball players spend time visualizing perfectly executed free throws over and over again. And why so many successful people use visualization as a tool to generate excellent results and increase confidence.

To let my body know that all truly was OK in the present moment, I took several long deep breaths.

Science teaches us that when we take deep breaths, we increase oxygen in our body, which slows down our heart rate. Deep breaths activate our parasympathetic nervous system, whose job it is to return our bodies to a balanced, relaxed state after stress arousal.

I could feel my deep breaths calming me down, and I was glad. My sons had been hesitant to go on this ride in the first place and I didn’t want to create any fear for them from my own freaking out.

I kept breathing in and out, in and out, in and out. About 60 seconds later (that felt more like 60 minutes later) the ride started, we landed on Mars, and I got to get the hell out of that tiny torture chamber. Needless to say, I will not be going on Mission: SPACE again.

Thank goodness for self-mastery! Here’s a recap of the tools I used that got me through this experience, that you can apply to any challenge you face:

1. Keep your mind in the present. Anxiety, fear, and overwhelm happen when your mind is in the future.
2. Stay in your circle of influence. What do you have control over in the present moment that will help you?
3. Focus on the neutral facts of the experience, not the stories you create in your head.
4. Take deep breaths to regulate your nervous system.

What we need is always right within us.

Carry it with you as you explore this grand planet, or any others Disney simulates for you!

Have it all,

Your coach,

Sara