This 5-minute method for dealing with anxiety will change your (and your kid's) life.

For years, we've been told cognitive therapy is the answer to anxiety — that we need to talk our feelings away. But a new neuroscience breakthrough offers a different approach.

Instead of trying to think our way out of anxiety, we're now learning to lean into those feelings. Research shows we can actually harness our 'gut feelings' to overcome anxiety, build stronger boundaries, and find healing.

Watch: Steve Biddulph on This Glorious Mess talking about the 5-minute method. Post continues below.

On a recent episode of This Glorious Mess, world-renowned parenting expert Steve Biddulph shared game-changing insights from his new book "Wild Creature Mind". As the bestselling author of "Raising Boys", Biddulph brings decades of expertise to this fresh perspective on understanding our minds and anxiety.

What is the 'Wild Creature Mind?'

His approach introduces us to the concept of two distinct parts of our brain, with the right hemisphere being what he calls the 'Wild Creature Mind.' This new understanding offers practical tools for both parents and kids to navigate their emotional landscape and find calm within the chaos of everyday life.

"It's like the left brain is good with words, but really, not that smart," Steve explained on This Glorious Mess.

"But the right brain is amazing. It's 100 times smarter. It handles everything that's complicated in reading our environment and reading our body, remembering things that happened ten years ago. That's all going on over here on the right side.

"But the right brain doesn't have words, it's only got one way of getting its message across, which is to talk through the body. And so what we call gut feelings, hunches or misgivings, that's actually our right brain sort of shouting to us, saying 'notice this and wake up'."

According to Biddulph, children naturally connect with their right brain. When experiencing anxiety, they'll often say "I feel sick in my tummy." As we grow up and life becomes more demanding, we disconnect from our right brain's wisdom, increasingly relying on left-brain logic instead.

A shift in language.

Biddulph shared a powerful five-minute exercise we can practice ourselves and with our children. It's designed to help us reconnect with our right brain, listen to our bodies, and understand the messages they're sending — embracing all feelings, whether we label them as 'good' or 'bad'.

"About 200 years ago, people used to talk differently, and they used language with much more precision," he explained.

"They'd say 'something in me yearns for the sea'. And when you say 'something in me feels this way', it means I'm not going to run away to the sea. It's just something in me wants to. So when we're anxious, if you say 'I am anxious' or 'I am angry', it feels very total.

"Whereas if we change the words, and you say 'something in me is anxious', or 'something in me is angry', or 'something in me is upset', it's like there's a bit more spaciousness inside you. It doesn't totally encapsulate you are that feeling."

The seven-step exercise.

1. Get present.

Breathe in and out and look around you, mentally clear a space.

2. Get in tune.

Think of the problem you are concerned about. Notice the body's reaction when you think of it.

3. Say to yourself inside or out loud.

"There is something in me…" and as you do that notice more specifically where in your body this is felt. Where this sense actually lives. What does it feel like? Is it a tightness in the chest? A sick feeling in your tummy?

4. Acknowledge it.

Send it a feeling of welcome, and gratitude for it wanting to help you.

5. Try and describe it.

Try and find some words to describe it. It's always vague at first. Each time you try a new word, notice if the felt sense gives you a sense of 'yes' or 'no'.

6. Notice how it responds.

It might dissolve. If it stays put, alters or moves, just notice that. Find new words to describe its new shape or quality.

7. Watch for the shift.

Either in your thinking, or in how you feel. For new ideas or perspectives to emerge. The intensity might go away, meaning you have integrated the message. Or it might become more present, but in a peaceful and resolute way. You know something new about how you want to go ahead from here.

Listen to Steve Biddulph's interview on This Glorious Mess. Post continues below. 

In the book, Biddulph acknowledges that this process isn't always straightforward.

"If it remains unsettling, turbulent or painful, you might have to restart the process. And of course, you may need a listening friend or a therapist to help if it's just too huge," he said.

"But every little step you take to befriending your Wild Creature feelings will take you forward. It is never wasted. And kids love it, especially if you just take that time and sit with them. Then they can use it on their own when they need to, when they're at school, when they're grown up, and we're not around anymore."

Resilience building for the future.

Speaking about the challenges facing our kids today, Biddulph was candid: "If you're realistic about it, the world is just a dreadful place, and it's not looking like it's getting better," he stated.

"It looks like our kids are going to live through some very tough times. So now we have to give them the tools to handle that," he added.

You can find Steve Biddulph's book, Wild Creature Mind, here.

Feature Image: Canva