I used to read a lot of fiction books and particularly “heroic fantasy” to help me de-stress and forget about things. I would read a book on my kindle and as soon as it was done, I would get another one and another. I would look for authors with trilogies so I could just roll into another book with the familiar characters. I think I was overdoing it a bit and trying to escape versus find ways to deal with stress. However, I did pull a technique from one of these fiction books that I call “ghost Viewing”.  

Ghost viewing is where I view myself as if I were a ghost hovering 10 feet above looking down on myself with a sort of detached attitude. Now why would I do this I hear you say? Well around 2016 as I read a heroic fantasy book, one of the two heroes suggested this approach if the other was struggling with stress or having to go into a tense situation and needed to relax and perform. The way it was worded with it being so specific I figured it was a real technique or at least semi-true. The effect should be an instantaneous calming of the mind and the body and for me it's like a burst of peace that descends on you if only for a short time. 

The technique stuck in my mind for some reason, and I don’t think I intended to use it, but just so happened I did one day when I was walking my dog and I was amazed by the results. So much so I have added it to the list of tools that work for me. It's a technique when you notice your trigger that can be used before you go too far down your stress or anxiety tunnel.  

Ghost Viewing for Anger:  

While walking my dog one evening during a time when I was working too many hours, not getting enough sleep and starting to worry about things, all mostly work related, it resulted in me being cranky, tired and prone to a burst of anger. As I walked my retriever and because all retrievers like to sniff, he would sometimes stop suddenly and nearly yank my arm from its socket. When this happened, my anger would flare instantly. It wasn’t the dog's fault as he was doing what he was born to do but the anger still came. The Ghost Viewing technique popped into my head, so I tried it. I viewed myself and Hunter from 10 feet above as we walked and I said with an air of detachment, “There I am, walking the dog, no big deal”. Instantly the anger subsided, and I was calm again. I was amazed. However, if you are in a bit of a twist with the red mist you might need to do this a few times and along with some box breathing.   

Ghost Viewing for Stress and Anxiety:  

Let's say you wake up at 4:30am in the morning stressed about a work situation or you just get a bout of anxiety coming on. If it's not an extreme case, then Ghost Viewing could help. As you lay in bed, view yourself from above with an air of nonchalance, “there I am, no big deal, in the bed going back to sleep.” If you have a physical feeling in your chest or body, try to view it from above and sometimes it helps if you give it a colour, I use red. View it from above and say, “There it is no big deal”, accept it and view it passing out of you. Practice is needed like all new techniques and if you combine with virtual Tipping it gives it even more power to settle the mind and body and get that valuable sleep. Tipping is a stress helping technique where you tap points on your head and upper body in a sequence. If you have practiced Tipping physically then ghost viewing yourself tipping as you lay in the bed even though you are not actually doing it can have the same effect as if you are. But you must practice tipping normally first, so you are experienced with the feelings it induces.   

Ghost Viewing for performance:  

Because the effect is instantaneous it’s a great tool to have if you are about to go on stage to give a talk or do a presentation. As you walk on the stage you would view yourself from above and follow the process and the nerves will disappear. You might have to do it a few times if it's a long walk :). Same with a presentation you must give in front of a lot of work colleagues, just view yourself giving the presentation with the air or “detachment and no big deal” and a peace will fall on you even if only for 5 seconds but enough time to get you moving. 

I also like it in sporting contexts if you have an important hand eye coordination task to do like with golf, snooker, tennis or taking a penalty etc. I like to Ghost View for those 3 or 5-foot golf putts where you need the ball to drop to save par. It's a pressure situation where your mind can impact what your body needs to do. It's a perfect tool to calm you for the time you need to make the putt. If you practice you will be able to Ghost view on demand and use it to your advantage.  

Like all the techniques in our Self-care toolkits they are personal to us and what works for me might not work for someone else. But we won’t know until we try, so give it a go as Ghost Viewing just might float you to cloud 9.   

Yours from above,