Part 5: Breaking the Loop—12 Strategies to Shift Fear-Based Patterns

You can change your relationship with your thoughts

This is my final writing in a series of posts re: fear loops. Together, these 5 short pieces build a cohesive journey: 

Recognizing the loop → Understanding your biology → Clarifying the emotions → Reframing your thoughts → Practicing strategies

This last post will get to the strategies, that when practiced, can guide you from stepping out of the fear loop to nurturing resilience and reframing the pain into purpose. (*Go here if you would like to read the other 4 parts of this series.)

Circle back with me to the situation I opened this series with: The family crisis of my husband quitting his job unexpectedly. What if, when Jim came home early to announce he had resigned, I was already educated, aware and practiced at responding to the activation of my threat-based emotional response system with the understandings and tools I have since learned?

For someone wired like me, that type of reflection can easily slip into thoughts of waste, failure, defeat...(Uh oh, another loop trying to form?!) But also in my inner coding is the thing I can’t not do: encourage others and bring hope. Seen through that lens, I now recognize purpose in the pain: an opportunity to model our family values to our children regarding turning to our faith in God and trusting He has a good plan for us, will provide everything we need, and will work all things together for our good and His purposes. 

This in turn, can strengthen our resilience, individually and as a family, for future challenges; and increase our empathic response for supporting others during their challenges. This bigger-picture perspective helped reframe the setback, and countered the temptation to see only waste and harm in the trial we experienced as a family the day the garage door went up midday.

To quote Rick Warren, pastor and author of the globally successful book, The Purpose-driven Life:

There is no growth without change, no change without fear or loss, and no loss without pain.

Over the years, Jim and I have noticed a pattern in our journey – a recurring theme we summarize this way:

 If we had not been through that, we would not have been prepared for this.

 In other words, when we reflect on a season of trial, once on the other side of it, we can see that what we learned or how it changed us was a necessary capacity expansion in order to be equipped to meet what came next. This is a real-life example of one of the strategies I share later: visualizing a peaceful or purposeful outcome. In my worldview, that outcome is often a sense of growth and meaning – a way to find purpose in the pain.

As I immersed myself in the research for this article I came to the realization that no matter the type of intervention - therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment or Cognitive Behavioral or Somatic Experiencing, or the simple, everyday strategies shared at the end of this post –  two ingredients are essential: acceptance and commitment.

I can choose to let a car go by- not get in it!

For me, acceptance means internalizing how my mind will always produce some amount of negative thoughts. That is what the brain is designed to do. But treating thoughts simply as mental activity, and not facts, I can commit to changing my strategy from trying to eliminate unhelpful thoughts to instead, stripping them of power by releasing them rather than latching onto them. (i.e. Don’t get in the cars - let them drive on by.)

My hope is I have offered you a layperson’s understanding of the interplay of our distress emotions and the loops that can entangle us when we are not actively aware of them and intentionally countering the brain’s negativity bias.

To support your ongoing growth and resilience, I leave you with a set of practical strategies – and a few reflection questions - to engage both your mind and body in the process of breaking fear-based patterns.

Questions for exploring...

1.      What comes to mind from your own life when you read about my family crisis and the neurobiological responses that followed? Can you identify a time when you have experienced a similar cycle of  fear, worry, and anxiety?

2.      Have you experienced breaking through such a cycle? What helped you recognize what was happening in your mind and body, and interrupt the fear loop?

3.      What kind of support do you need to consistently practice regulating your distress emotions when a crisis arises?

4.      What is one step you could take this week towards building a more reliable response to or disruption of fear loops?

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12 Doable Strategies for Reducing Fear Loop Cycles and Their Effects

1. Practice Present-Moment Awareness

Gently redirect your attention from past regrets or future worries to what’s happening right now. This helps break the cycle of fear by grounding you in the only moment you can actually influence—the present.

2. Use the “5-4-3-2-1” Grounding Technique

This simple sensory exercise can be helpful in pulling you out of fear loops fast:

Name:

• 5 things you can see

• 4 things you can feel

• 3 things you can hear

• 2 things you can smell

• 1 thing you can taste

3. Nurture Your Spiritual Core

Feed your inner life through prayer, medita0on, or reflec0on. For example, trus0ng in God’s love, care, and sovereignty over all 0me—past, present, and future—can ease the grip of fear and ins0ll peace.

4. Use Breath and Senses to Anchor Yourself

Engage in practices like deep breathing, grounding exercises, or mindful observation. These help regulate the nervous system and bring you back to your body and the moment at hand.

5. Reframe Thoughts as Mental Activity, Not Absolute Truth

Recognize that thoughts are not facts. Picture them like cars driving by on a road—some helpful, some not. You can’t stop the traffic, but you can choose not to get in the vehicles that lead to distress. Let unhelpful thoughts pass without climbing in.

6. Label the Fear

Simply naming what you're experiencing—“This is anxiety,” “This is fear”—can reduce its intensity. It gives your brain some distance and keeps you from going fully swept into the emo0onal wave.

7. Challenge Catastrophic Thinking

Ask yourself: “What’s the worst that could realistically happen?” and then, “What else might happen instead?” This technique, from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), helps disrupt irra0onal or exaggerated fear loops.

8. Create a Safety Ritual Design

A simple daily or situa0onal rou0ne that signals safety to your nervous system—a walk, a calming cup of tea, journaling, or repea0ng a grounding phrase like “I am safe right now.”

9. Move Your Body Gently

Fear is stored not just in the mind but in the body. Try walking, stretching, or yoga to discharge excess fear energy. Even light movement can help reset your system.

10. Limit Fear-Triggering Input

Reduce your exposure to fear-inducing content like doom-scrolling, sensa0onalized news, or social media that fuels comparison or anxiety.

11. Connect with Supportive People

Isolation feeds fear. Reach out to someone who listens without judgment. Even a brief conversa0on with a friend or mentor can rewire your sense of safety and reality.

12. Visualize a Peaceful Outcome

Instead of obsessing over what could go wrong, inten0onally imagine a scenario where things work out. This helps train your brain to expect hope—not disaster.

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 You now have tools to recognize, reframe, and release fear loops. The next step is yours: start small, practice often, and share your growth with others.

Reflect: 

Which strategy will you practice this week — and how will you know it’s helping?

Journaling Prompt: 

Choose one strategy and commit to practicing it daily for seven days. At the end of the week, write about what you noticed in your body, mind, and emotions.

**My offers of support: If you contact me via ‘chat w/ me’ on Perils & Pearls, I will gift you a thirty-minute coaching session to talk about how you might develop your resilience through the struggle(s) you are currently facing.

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Blessed to play a part ~

g