Anxiety accompanies us for a significant part of our lives, since it almost always arises when a person is faced with uncertainty, or with new life circumstances, or when he is forced to make important decisions. But neurotic, overly expressed anxiety interferes with a full life, takes away our time, energy, and weakens us mentally. and physically, distracts from solving vital tasks. If you do not pay attention and allow anxiety to increase, then it can develop into chronic, in which the emotional and other areas of the personality suffer: a person is not happy with anything, his relationships with loved ones, friends and colleagues deteriorate, the overall quality of life deteriorates. Therefore, it is important to learn how to overcome anxiety, or at least weaken its power over you. After all, human capabilities are not so limitless that we can spend them not only on real, but also on imaginary dangers. One of the principles to reduce anxiety is the “snowball” principle. When a snowball forms, it constantly grows, more and more snow sticks to it, and eventually it can become huge and crush a person. And if the snowball is not allowed to grow to enormous sizes, crushed and made “snowballs”, then in the end it becomes smaller. You can even make a snowman from it or build a snow composition. If you imagine anxiety as a snowball, it will be much easier to deal with it by dividing it into “snowballs”. That is, analyze real facts, your thoughts, feelings, reactions to what is happening, i.e. the main symptoms of your anxiety. And each answer to the question will be a “snowball”. For example, if you ask yourself: “What happens to me when I worry about (a specific situation is called)?” What are my thoughts: underestimating my ability to cope with the situation, overestimating the danger, fears and “catastrophic” thoughts, underestimating the help available. What are my feelings: irritability, panic, nervousness, etc. What are my physical reactions: muscle tension, sweaty palms , rapid heartbeat, dizziness, flushed cheeks, etc. My behavior: I try to avoid situations that cause anxiety; I’m trying to get out of a situation where anxiety has already arisen; I strive to do everything perfectly or control an event to prevent danger. That is, awareness and articulation, the designation already reduces the intensity of anxiety. The next “snowball”: Determine in what situations I experienced similar anxiety, how strongly developed the symptoms of anxiety are (from 0 to 10 points ), how effectively did I cope with them (from 0 to 10 points), how was I able to cope earlier? Calm down, weigh all aspects of the upcoming event, separate the main from the secondary. Realize the nature of your anxiety: is it real or imaginary? Answer the questions:- How important and necessary is what I am worried about? - What is the worst thing that could happen if everything turns out the way I fear? - What will happen if it happens differently? - What will happen if everything turns out well? If you add relaxation methods, breathing practices, draw, write, talk about your anxiety, you can make sure that the “snowball” becomes smaller, as it is fragmented into “snowballs”. What a person pictures in his imagination rarely exists in reality. It is necessary to adequately evaluate your actions, actions and their consequences. All people make mistakes, everyone faces uncertainty, a threat to stability and balance. But anxiety does not help solve the problem; it is rocking in a rocking chair instead of getting up and taking concrete actions. You need to think not about imaginary dangers, but about those things that you need to solve for yourself. Arrangement of our lives, maintaining physical and psychological health is our responsibility and our choice. Feelings of anxiety, like fear, are a normal and natural reaction of the body, warning of real.