Countdown to ease: Mindfulness meditation as an antidote to anxiety
Let’s face it, the modern world is rife with reasons to feel anxious. Having a front row seat to all forms of suffering in real time during this time of polycrises is not exactly akin to a spa day. Not to mention the rising amount of pressure on us as individuals to do it all and do it right. So let’s start with this (and say it with me): your anxiety is valid!
The next thing I’ll add is that your anxiety is useful. Much like I wrote about in a recent blogpost about grief, anxiety, while unpleasant, has a distinct purpose. In the context of the personal, it is often the driver for seeking practices like mindfulness and meditation techniques. Similarly, when expanded to the collective anxieties we are currently experiencing (hello, climate anxiety; hello, social inequity; hello, so many things!), it is a signal that something is not right. Dis-ease may be experienced from within but it is often a sign that something external is not right; it can drive us to action.
Now, let’s zoom out for a second and recall that anxiety, while perhaps under different names, has been with us for at least as long as humans have been recording their experience of being alive. It’s also visible in animals and other living things. In Buddhism, the teaching of dukkha refers to the universal experience of dis-ease or suffering. Buddhism actually devotes quite a bit of attention to the experience of suffering in its many forms, and how to alleviate it or live in harmony with it.
Anxiety, to me, is one of the most undeniable bits of evidence that our minds and our bodies are inherently connected and one. When we have anxious, looping, or intrusive thoughts, anxiety shows up in the body as shortness of breath, upset stomach, muscle tension, lack of sleep, etc. And when a trauma response is stored in the body from early childhood or as PTSD, it can start somatically and turn into anxious, looping and intrusive thoughts. It’s a vicious cycle, but it’s possible to break the pattern. This is where practices like guided meditation and daily meditation can play a crucial role in breaking the cycle. Here are a few tips on getting started:
Practicing mindfulness meditation in moments when we aren’t anxious. If you’re prone to anxiety, non-anxious moments can be hard to find, but even a 5 minute window can be enough time to practice tuning into your experience and observing your thoughts and feelings. Getting used to doing this when the stakes are lower can give us tangible tools and coping strategies to turn to when we are “in it.”
Awareness is king! Usurp anxiety’s throne! If you catch yourself in an anxious loop, start by congratulating yourself. Awareness is always the first step to stopping a pattern in its tracks. That awareness is already an interruption in anxiety’s reign over your actions! The more you can become aware of when anxiety shows up, the closer you are to being able to observe it rather than be controlled by it. Try to be patient. Revolutions take time!
Try this five minute mindfulness countdown during a moment when you are experiencing a sliver of mindfulness or absence of anxiety. Do it regularly until you feel ready to incorporate it in moments that are a little more intensely anxious.
Anxiety has the power to lock us in a tunnel vision that, when unmonitored, starts a chain reaction of reactivity. Bringing our heads and bodies back into the present moment is a gentle antidote to the limiting effects of anxiety. Like all things mindfulness … It takes practice!
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