This six-part series is designed to focus on feelings of anxiety. You will learn unique methods to respond to your anxiety and to develop the necessary self-compassion to care for yourself as you are. This approach may sound simple, but it can be transformational when practiced daily. Recognizing and accepting anxiety will allow us to live our lives more courageously and confidently.
Anxiety is one of the most prevalent forms of suffering we encounter in our lives. On the surface, it seems like an entirely undesirable feeling, as it doesn’t feel good. However, we will delve into how anxiety serves as a warning signal, alerting us to potential danger, and the importance of discerning whether this danger is real. If we suppress this feeling, we miss the opportunity to determine whether it stems from an irrational childhood wound or is a genuine signal that requires our attention to ensure our safety or strength. Together, we’ll explore how to distinguish between these sources of anxiety and address each specific area where you feel anxious.
If you experience generalized anxiety, we will examine whether it began in childhood and if it was tied to a legitimate fear from that time. If so, you will learn how to confront this anxiety with your wisdom, developing strategies to foster feelings of courage and safety. If the anxiety isn’t rooted in any external threat or pressure, we’ll explore ways to address it directly to lessen or eliminate its intensity. Should this approach not be effective, we’ll also consider what science offers, such as medication, meditation, and other alternatives, to alleviate the suffering anxiety causes.
The key takeaway is that the primary cause of suffering is often not the anxiety itself but our reaction to it. We will work on developing responses in your thoughts, actions, attitudes, and communication to manage anxiety more effectively.
Additionally, we’ll explore how anxiety often stems from worrying about an illusion or an exaggerated perception of risk. A common example is the anxiety many people feel before visiting the doctor for various health checks. By reflecting on how often your anxiety was justified and how frequently the feared outcome actually occurred, you’ll learn to communicate with yourself more clearly, perhaps even finding moments to smile or laugh.
We will also empower you to trust yourself more by recognizing and mitigating anxiety through different approaches. This includes identifying “catastrophic thinking,” considering the effectiveness of medication, understanding when anxiety is based on an illusion, and learning to generate more helpful responses than those you’ve relied on in the past. We’ll explore various methods to help your heart become more relaxed and trusting, reducing anxiety’s impact on your life.