The power of Zooming Out

As I sit at my desk, I look over at my empty therapy room and glance over at the empty quiet street outside. My mind automatically starts creating some scary thoughts which aren’t always easy to shake off.

So I turn to my valuable tools to help me cope - my training, my knowledge, and work. I’d like to share one of these tools that has helped me most: “Zoom Out”.

When we face difficult situations or challenging thoughts, as humans we tend to zoom in to these and struggle to look at them from a different perspective, or even from a distance.

When you hear or read about someone who has overcome an incomparable goal or an incredible challenge, you can’t help but feel compassion, pride, and gratitude for how fortunate you are in your own life. Zooming out refers to this instant shift in perspective.

When we are Zoomed In a specific situation, we cannot think of others, something bigger than ourselves or our situation. It is naturally difficult for us to shift our perspective and look at our problem from a different viewpoint.

Studies show that taking a few minutes to acknowledge 3-5 things you are grateful for can significantly decrease the intensity of emotions such as sadness, anger, jealousy, and anxiety.

So why not take a minute now, close your eyes, take a deep breath and think of 3 things you are grateful for. It might be the fact that you have a roof over your head, you might think of your family or friends, perhaps even that glorious cup of morning coffee you sipped in peace earlier today!

My way of zooming out in such challenging situations is to look at a picture of the Grand Canyon, the Earth from space, or noticing something outside my window. Each of these reminds me that everything is much bigger than myself, ultimately making my situation seem slightly more manageable.

Unfortunately, there is no magic trick to eliminate challenges from our life or to remove scary thoughts from our minds. These are simple and small techniques that are easy to apply at any time in the day. The aim of this tool is to help you gain some distance from the problem you are facing and to make it manageable for yourself.

This tool is easy to share with teenagers and young children using language that they understand at their level.

I wonder what image you might choose to help guide yourselves slightly further away from your problem! This is where we allow our creativity to run wild! Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below or by private message! I’d love to hear your ideas and be inspired by your creativity!