Hi everyone,

It’s amazing to see how we all, almost universally, sense that anxiety comes from worrying about highly improbable future events. And that staying in the moment helps.

I’ve found that getting OUT OF MY MIND really helps when I’m anxious. Since all our anxiety inducing thoughts are just that…thoughts running around in our minds. So what I’ve learnt to do is:

1) I try to name the feeling: For e.g: “I’m feeling anxious” or “I’m feeling angry”… Just recognizing the feeling and saying it out loud can be helpful.

2) Remind myself that I’m NOT my thoughts. That thoughts and feelings are temporary, they come and go, like leaves floating in a river or clouds in the sky…

3) Do a brief body scan mindfulness: This seems to bring my awareness out of my own mind and into the present moment in a very tangible way. If anyone is interested, here is a good one by Elisha Goldstein: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsCVqFr6j1g

4) Do just one small thing that would help me feel a bit more in control of the situation: like if Im anxious about a presentation coming up, just do a mental practice one more time. Or if I’m anxious about a trip with my kids coming up, maybe email a friend who has been there for some tips on best places to eat with kids or where are the 24 hour pharmacies etc; Anything. However small, taking that action to problem solve for yourself can help you feel calmer.

Have a peaceful rest tonight everyone 🙂

-Kavetha

When I feel overwhelmed (or stressed), at the moment that I feel that way I take 10 deep, deep breaths.  This usually takes me just a minute or two — like as deep as I can possibly inhale, and then let it all out, 10 times.  This helps to reset the nervous system, as when we’re more stressed or feeling overwhelmed, our breathing tends to become more shallow, which means less oxygen to the brain, and less well-being.

A quick 5-10 minute meditation also helps me to get centered and relieve some of that anxiety. And often I might have a little insight about what I need to prioritize, what I need to just let go of, and what I can outsource (for $3-$10/hr) or delegate to someone else.

I like to take a preventative approach… That is, if I’m getting overwhelmed, maybe there’s more on my plate than is optimal in my life… even if I’m trying to accomplish a lot.

My favorite insight is to realize that it’s not about doing more or working a lot…

It’s all about being the most effective with the least amount of effort.

Bigger results with less input.  Can I line things up so that more gets done while I work less?

Hope that helps Lori. 🙂

Great advice Will..I will be trying your method today!

Peace,

Randy

My anxiety mainly came from my thoughts on what “might” happen in the future, like many of you I’d let my mind run scenarios that always had a negative outcome.

Here is a method I learnt to deal with anxiety.

1. Write down what your anxious about.

2. Write down the worst thing that could possibly happen.

3. Come to terms with the worst, own it, be comfortable with it. Know that you are larger than any external circumstances, that no matter what you have the strength within you to overcome it.

4. Relax, trust in yourself and get a good nights sleep.

I don’t know if this will help any of you but it helped me a lot 🙂

Wow! how do you manage to get 2hrs of meditation into your day? That is impressive 🙂

I started meditating at an early age around 12 when i was diagnosed with crohns disease, my parents took me to a naturopath who taught me about meditation for the first time. As stress & anxiety are one of the major causes for crohns, learning to meditate helped me enormously. I was a tightly wound up kid I stressed and worried about EVERYTHING.

It helped me deal with the anger and frustration I felt during the “why me” phase, and it even helped lessen the pain too.

Anyways, I’d love to learn more from your wealth of experience with meditation – I’ll keep an eye out for your posts 😀

Regards,

Will.

This is an interesting topic, I’m glad you started it! I’ve dealt with trying to figure out what guilt means, but unfortunately I don’t think I have a good answer. For me, a lot of my feelings of guilt have tied into things I could not do (for example, be able to give the support and help someone might need from me). I have also realized the physical feelings of guilt are very simliar to when I am dealing with anxiety. So, for me, I have to sit down and pick apart my feelings – really break down the root of what I am feeling and why. I deal with the feelings of guilt/anxiety by forcing myself to deal with the reality of the situation. I feel that this makes me re-evaluate my actions, my morals, my motives, at times making me realize I would act different (or NOT differently) next time. I think it gives you the opportunity to re-evaluate yourself and should be taken advantage of. Guilt is a way of realizing you might not have held true to yourself and your morals. However, it’s best to make sure you have looked at the situation realistically and make sure you are not being too hard on yourself (something humans tend to do a lot! be reasonable!) Sometimes you realize you have no reason to feel guilty at all!

I agree with Francesca that anxiety comes from a need to control…practicing acceptance has made a huge difference in my life. When you accept what is, you give up the need to control anyone or anything. There are no shoulds or ought to be’s in life – there is only what is!

My anxiety stems from my need to control everything and my inability to predict the future. I am never going to stop worrying about the future but I can try to talk myself out of needing to control every little thing around me.

Stoicism is a huge key in my life that allows me to control anxiety. I actually started a forum topic over here about it.

It’s actually a very interesting philosophy because not only does it deal with anxiety, it deals with sadness, insatiability, and a ton of other negative emotions.

This quote by Audre Lorde always resonates with me when I start to become anxious about DOING. It helps me to reframe my thoughts around BEING a channel for my purpose:

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” 

― Audre Lorde

You have hit on the root of anxiety Louise…purely a future based emotional state.

All made up stories about how we think the future will potentially turn out for the worse.

For me it is realizing that on an absolute scale…everything is OK. Breathing into my lower body is key. And I recently came across Gangaji, she is amazing at getting to present moment awareness and fulfillment.

Here is a video of hers that changed my life, just in the past week in fact:

When I am anxious I always have a strong physical response (like a knot in the stomach). Breathing exercises and a daily mantra help me to be proactive in dealing with whatever life throws my way. 🙂

I relate to a lot of your posts! I’ve dealt with anxiety for a very long time and a lot of it has to do with future scenarios or uncertainty. Yoga, and focusing on my breathing (the “how-to” breathe properly) has really helped me. Sometimes I have to sit and break down what I am anxious about, which helps me realize how unlikely, or fixable, the situation is. Putting things into perspective really helps. In situations where appropriate, I will plan ahead, visually talk the scenario through in my head, and breathe — always seems to help manage my anxiety.