Lovejack - I use your idea of accepting anxiety and moving on and it works well for me. The more I fight anxiety, the worse matters become so accceptance is key once anxiety starts.

H3rmit - I like your DBT model. The "mind" is a tool, to be used and then put away when we don't need it. Most of us are addicted to "thinking" and often it is unhealthy thinking i.e. worry.

My understanding is that those fleeting moments of "feeling normal" Lovejack describes are when our ego/mind-based self drops away are we are simply our "selves", without the mind chatter. Focusing on breathing helps me get away from mind activity when I don't need it and it is unproductive.

Thanks to both of you.