A “Tactical Pause,” or an “SBF” to Focus Our Anxious Brain

But it’s one thing to read about difficult circumstances in people’s lives in an earlier age, and it’s quite another to be living in a day and time when VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) is at an all-time high. Consequently, chronic anxiety is the norm for most of us.

As practitioners of Resilient Leadership, we employ several techniques to understand and manage chronic anxiety. Some of these include “Six Second Centering,” how to “Cultivate a Curious Mindset,” and what it means to “Balance the See-Saw.” Much has been taught and written about these ways of managing anxiety. Another technique you learn in our coaching and training programs is to “Manage Our Own Functioning.” As a supplement to this practice, I’ve recently learned a new technique called a “Tactical Pause.” I learned this method on the meditation app Headspace. The teacher, Dr. Jannell MacAulay, is a retired Air Force pilot. She describes using this technique even when piloting an airplane in an emergency when people’s lives were at stake. I have found it be to be practical, easy to remember, and helpful even though our daily challenges rarely have life and death consequences.

This practice is helpful because we can be triggered by the people or circumstances we interact with. When these triggers result in a reactive or defensive response from us, the results are too often unpleasant, perhaps even damaging to ourselves and others. Rather than blurting out the first thing that pops into our head, a better choice is to take a “Tactical Pause.” A tactical pause is to Stop, Breathe and Focus. I like the acronym SBF for short. Here is how Dr. MacAulay teaches it: in that instant before you react - Stop, Breathe, Focus.

• STOP: imagine pressing the pause button in your mind. Be present in this moment.
• BREATHE: In through your nose, out through your mouth. Pay attention to the body’s sensation associated with this breath.
• FOCUS: You are calm, you are present. Filter through the distractions. You can handle this moment; what is the best choice you can make, given the circumstances as they truly are?

Stop, Breathe and Focus is similar to Six Second Centering. SBF is another effective way to answer the eternal question “What is my Part in This?” Rather than an unconscious emotional reaction in an anxious moment - stop, breathe and focus. In those few seconds you can get clear on what the best thing you can do is, right now, in these circumstances.  That type of choice, while not usually the easy one, frequently produces the best outcome for ourselves and others. Finally, practice SBF throughout your day so that in the anxious moments it is just naturally what you do. I’ll bet you have more productive outcomes in your work and family life!