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What should we do when anxiety hits?
“Anxiety is the illness of our age.” Thich Nhat Hanh
Anxiety is a common feeling, we’ve all been anxious on occasions about our jobs, relationships, or our well-being.
In fact, we easily find reasons for it, but when difficult situations catch us unprepared, we’re usually overwhelmed.
So, times marked with uncertainty often lead us to respond with anxious and worry thoughts.
These in turn trigger various physical stress signs all meant to alert us of the immediacy of a problem.
The more difficult the “problem” the more we’ll be prone to unwelcome negative thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Since we tend to lose objectivity during these episodes, our actions and reactions are too most often disproportionate.
A Buddhist approach to anxiety
Mind training in the Buddhist path is tri fold, first it invites us to take regular inventory of our state of mind.
That’s where mindfulness comes in, being mindful allows us to be attentive enough to take note of how we’re feeling.
Secondly, we train ourselves to systematically apply better alternatives to prevent our mind from holding sway over our intellect.
Finally, we work at transcending our mental habits altogether, our aim being to keep our balance at all time.
Anxiety & Mindfulnessॐ
“Going beyond fear begins when we examine our fear: our anxiety, nervousness, concern, and restlessness.” Chogyam Trungpa, Carolyn R., Gimian.
Early intervention is key to our dealing with anxious states of mind, thus we daily water our attentiveness with mindfulness practice.
We learn to apply mindfulness both in and out of formal meditation, so life itself become the stage of our practice.
The more mindful we are, the better we notice tension, the faster we realize the presence of anxious thoughts.
Owing to our growing attentiveness to both external and internal cues, we catch and deal with anxiety on the spot.
We take care of it before it takes root.
What you resist persist
“[…] we cannot stop monsters from arising or force them to leave, but we have the power to stop feeding them.” Chade-Meng Tan, Daniel Goleman, Jon Kabat-Zinn
Anxiety like all mental states is temporary, we might feel as if it’s always present, but it just comes and goes.
Whether we’re distressed for no apparent reason or dealing with a real problem, our way out is to cease and desist.
Remember anxiety is a trap, struggling against or trying to push away the arising of anxious thoughts only fuels it.
So, instead of actively and passively resisting the outburst, we learn to acknowledge whatever is coming up.
We attend to what is present and try to identify the underlying emotion the best we can.
Naming the emotion, gives us space and enough emotional distance to relate to whatever is moving through us.
Allowing in effect helps us let-go.
Recognizing emotions as temporary in nature we practice patience.
Therefore, instead of fighting them off, we let our emotions disappear on their own.
Coping mindfully ~ watch your mindset
“Anxiety is the subtle and pervasive destroyer of our happiness.” Jan Chozen Bays
When it comes to anxiety, we can let go of our judgment and self-criticism, given that we don’t control our mind.
We are not at the commands of our feelings and emotions, so there’s no point in blaming ourselves.
Until we train our mind, negative news and unexpected changes will keep on triggering our nervous system.
We can only learn to control the way we react to the arising of anxiety, and practice bringing our attention elsewhere.
Hence the importance of mindfulness, which allows us to check periodically whether anxiety is present.
Our being fully present allows us to pick up the subtlest signs of nervousness arising in body and mind.
Once we’ve noticed, we can apply an ‘antidote’ to quickly step out of our anxious state, thus shifting our mind’s focus.
Our goal is to bring our nervous system to calm down, so we work at turning towards meaningful things and others.
This way the practice helps give rise to both a sense of inner purpose and joy which serve to soothe our mind.
Shaking off anxiety
Rely on Compassion
“[…] the first step in overcoming anxiety is to develop a proper perspective of our situation.” Dalai Lama
Mind training in the Buddhist tradition regards a person as a whole, so it concerns itself with both body and mind.
We are in charge of caring for ourselves, whether it’s food for the body or food for the soul, we’re responsible.
Meditation is the choice we make every day knowing that keeping a healthy routine is chief to our general well-being.
By maintaining a regular practice we help sustain both body and mind.
When we’re anxious our nervousness can spike, we need to bring our mind and body to rest, slow down and breathe.
So, we go back to the basics and willfully change the tune by focusing on the things that really feels good.
Since anxiety stems from our feeling insecure, we choose to turn towards others, ergo we broaden our view.
Our shifting attention towards the well-being of others helps us effectively move away from anxiety.
We train ourselves to open up by nurturing our connection to the world, we strengthen our sense of belonging.
Managing the pressure ~ Take some time out
“Both anger and anxiety, when chronic, can make people more susceptible to a range of disease.” Daniel Goleman
Some seem to be more prone to anxiety than others, whether it’s inherited or due to conditioning, it requires attention.
First things first, we prioritize our well-being, by doing our best to keep our environment free of unnecessary anxiety.
We have willpower over our behaviors, the key is to choose wisely as to what we’re feeding ourselves.
Whether it’s the people around us, the media, or social networks, we stay careful as to what we’re exposing our mind to.
Given our thoughts stem from what surrounds us, we stay away of potential pitfalls to preserve our peace of mind.
Left untreated anxiety can turn into depression, so we should be aware of its signs, care of our emotional health.
When nothing seems to work
Sometimes our best efforts don’t help… if you can’t eat, sleep or shake-off negativity, seek professional help, don’t wait.
Remember anxiety undercuts our intelligence, we jump at conclusions because we’re not thinking rationally.
We buy into whatever comes-up blinded by the belief that it’s the truth, our main mistake, one we can prevent.
Feeling distressed¿ slow down and step back, allow yourself a moment to regroup.
Treat yourself gently, pause to break away from the anxious mind, meditate.
Bring clarity to your mind, take a fresh look at things when you’re calm. remember anxiety doesn’t serve happiness 🙂
Nathalie Bizawi, founder of Wisdom & Mindfulness meditation center. Senior Meditation, Mindfulness and philosophy instructor, From Wingate Academic College. M.A in Education from TAU University, Tel Aviv.
Wisdom & Mindfulness your meditation center in Tel Aviv.