Practice guide5–7 minutes6 sections

Notice When Relief Stops Feeling Rewarding

Begin step 1

Notice When Relief Stops Feeling Rewarding is a short visual guide for moments connected to mindfulness for anxiety.

It covers one core idea: the chocolate experiment illustrates how pleasantness changes from craving to satiation to disgust as you continue to eat.

You will track the moment when an experience changes from pleasant to neutral or unpleasant, then choose what fits next.

The aim is greater awareness and flexibility while difficult thoughts may still be present.

Edited aspractice guide·6 focused visual steps
Working edition 1Published July 22, 2026Last reviewed August 2, 2026Written and developed by · LinkedIn ↗Editorial standardsSuggest a correction

Optional soundscape

Go deeper with background music

Keep the volume soft while you read and reflect. It loops gently and can be stopped at any moment.

01
A passenger looking through a rain-speckled train window while the landscape moves softly beyond the glass.

Step 1 of 6

Check your starting point: Notice When Relief Stops Feeling Rewarding

When you are stuck in your head and every thought asks for a reaction…

Notice what fits this situation today:

  • The value of the reward changes over time
  • mindfulness notices saturation point
  • Attitude to practice itself participates in learning
  • I am not sure yet—I just want to understand

After this guide

Keep the next step small.

Greater awareness and flexibility while difficult thoughts may still be present.

Where to go next

Choose the next useful idea

Choose one if it fits what you need now.

Sources & evidence

Where this guide comes from

The book is the editorial starting point. The research below checks or qualifies the broader ideas used in this guide.

Open book and research details

Adapted from

Unwinding Anxiety

New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind

Chapter 13, “Fixing the Fix: Dana Small’s Chocolate Experiment” · source pages 134–140

View official book details (opens in a new tab)
Written by
Judson Brewer, MD, PhD (opens in a new tab)Addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist; Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences and of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University; Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown.
Edition used
Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2021 · ISBN 9780593421406
Formal review
The trade-book edition does not identify a formal peer-review or clinical-review panel. Endorsements from clinicians are recorded separately.
Public endorsements — not formal review

Daniel J. Siegel, MD (opens in a new tab) — Physician and author; Mark Williams (opens in a new tab) — Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford

Editorial limitations of this book source
  • The book draws on the author's clinical work and research but is not itself a peer-reviewed treatment protocol.
  • The principal app trial was small and involved investigators connected to the product; results require independent replication.
  • Internal-attention practices can intensify symptoms for some people with panic, trauma, or dissociation.
  • New or concerning physical symptoms must not automatically be attributed to anxiety.

Research context

Supporting and qualifying references

Reviewed 2026-08-04

  1. 01

    Randomized Controlled Trial · 2021

    Clinical Efficacy and Psychological Mechanisms of an App-Based Digital Therapeutic for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (opens in a new tab)

    What it supports: A small randomized trial found benefit from the full Unwinding Anxiety app added to treatment as usual for adults with GAD.

    Limits and disclosures

    Limit: Sixty-five randomized participants, treatment-as-usual control, self-report outcomes, incomplete program completion, and need for independent replication; it does not validate each book chapter or NotMyNoise adaptation.

    Disclosure: Judson Brewer is the book author and was connected to development/commercialization of the studied program; treat as product-linked evidence.

  2. 02

    Peer Reviewed Meta Analysis · 2018

    Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and related disorders: A meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials (opens in a new tab)

    What it supports: CBT is moderately efficacious for anxiety and related disorders compared with placebo controls.

    Limits and disclosures

    Limit: Evidence supports structured therapy, not the clinical equivalence of a short educational guide.

    Disclosure: No relationship to NotMyNoise identified.

  3. 03

    Systematic Review And Meta Analysis · 2014

    Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis (opens in a new tab)

    What it supports: Mindfulness meditation programs showed small improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain compared with nonspecific active controls.

    Limits and disclosures

    Limit: Heterogeneous programs and populations; limited or insufficient evidence for several other claimed outcomes.

    Disclosure: Independent evidence source; not specific to the books or NotMyNoise.