Mindfulness for Anxiety
Most of us have had some experience with feeling anxiety. I feel all too familiar with the anticipation, dread, scattered thoughts, nervousness, tightness in my chest, and elevated heart rate. Feeling anxious was a big part of my life for a long time and still seems to be my default when I am feeling like things aren’t okay.
My autonomic nervous system responds to a stressor or the anticipation of a stressor that it perceives as a threat and suddenly I am experiencing some of these symptoms in a way that can feel overwhelming. I have had to find practices that help me work with anxiety so that I don’t get lost in it.
Research shows that anxiety decreases with both mindfulness and self-compassion practices. Anxiety is often the result of anticipation or fear about what might happen that is a threat or perceived as unsafe. Practices that are founded in the intention to pay attention to anxiety, ground in the present moment, down-regulate the nervous system, regulate emotions, and create some distance by acknowledging and observing anxiety with a kind, curious, non-judgmental attitude can be helpful when facing this challenging emotional state.
When we can attune to our emotions, using affect labeling or “Name it toTame it,” we begin to create distance around the emotion and don’t get lost. We become the observer. The part of us observing can explore it from a distance.
Mindfulness practice helps us begin to see that our experience is not all of who we are. Our experience is just one start in the night sky. Our awareness is the entire sky.
-Dr. Shauna Shapiro
With mindfulness and emotional attunement, we can begin to explore where we feel anxiety in the body. As I mentioned earlier when describing my own experience with anxiety, I would often notice tightness in my chest and an elevated heart rate. Sometimes bringing my attention to the felt sense of anxiety would heighten the sensations I was feeling at first. If it felt like too much, I would then shift my attention to where my body makes contact with my cushion or take some moments with my hands placed on my heart. I would just give myself some moments here to ground and then if it felt okay to explore the sensation of anxiety in my body again, I would make my way back to exploration and experience.
Mindful exploration of anxiety as an experience gives us some helpful information about what happens for us when we are feeling anxious. Meeting our anxiety with self-compassion can further shift our emotions and autonomic state even more. Self-compassion is a pathway to nurturing ourselves during a challenging time.
I would like to note that sometimes we are just feeling too anxious to sit in meditation. Please don’t force this. I find that if that is the case, it is much more effective to switch gears to a gentle breath guided movement practice focusing on body awareness. At the end of the practice, I am much more likely to feel ready to sit afterward.
Mindfulness for anxiety practice may include RAIN (developed by Tara Brach)
Recognize that you are feeling anxious. Name it to Tame it.
Allow this to be what is happening at the moment. Let go of resistance as much as you can.
Investigate where are you feeling anxiety in your body? If this begins to feel overwhelming, back off by feeling where your hips meet your cushion. Stay in your window of tolerance.
Nurture-Place a hand on your heart. Take a slow deep breath in through the nose and sigh your breath out through the mouth. Or say a kind and supportive phrase to yourself such as “I am here for you.” Repeat as much as you need.
After your complete RAIN allow yourself to rest in awareness and noticing how you are feeling with kindness and care.
Sometimes anxiety is too much for us to face alone and we need support from a therapist or mental health practitioner. Mindfulness of anxiety can be used in conjunction with therapy, but it is important to talk with your therapist about what you are doing and the effects of your practice.
Resources:
Good Morning, I Love You by Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D.
Widen the Window by Elizabeth Stanley, Ph.D
Radical Compassion, Tara Brach
Image by @notquitemax