Step 2: Reduce Physiological Arousal

Anxiety comes with a whole host of physiological symptoms, including increased heart rate, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea or stomach distress, chills, hot flashes, blushing, dizziness, tingling, lightheadedness, or feeling numb. [2] If you’ve ever experienced these symptoms of anxiety, you know that they can be pretty distressing and get in the way of us concentrating and actively engaging during code reviews.

Figure 3. Cognitive-behavioral model highlighting the physiological symptoms of anxiety.

The great news is that we can directly target our physiological symptoms (see Figure 3) using the TIPP skill. The TIPP skill is a mega skill taken from Dialectical Behavior Therapy [5] that’s actually four skills in one. These skills work to “tip” your body chemistry to reduce extreme emotions quickly, and there’s a lot of empirical evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of these skills. TIPP is an acronym, where each letter represents the name of a skill:

• Temperature

• Intense Exercise

• Paced Breathing

• Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Before we dive into these skills, it’s also important to note that these skills aren’t magic – different skills resonate with different people and at different times. So try out each of them and experiment with what works for you and when!