I Escaped Anxiety Today - Here's How
I Escaped Anxiety Today - Here's How
Stop anxiety early by learning to observe, detach, and reclaim control over your mind. This is one of the most important lessons imaginable!
"Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside." - Marcus Aurelius
I am not immune to anxiety. I've lived with one most of my life. To this day, I experience attacks of severe anxiety on occasion. The difference is I stop it in its tracks.
Anxiety makes a comeback
In the last couple of weeks, I felt anxiety creeping in occasionally. I felt discomfort in my chest and abdomen. While unpleasant, I much prefer it to a constant, all-encompassing anxiety that never went away as I drowned in my thoughts.
The only escape, a minute of peace I enjoyed, was keeping my mind as focused or busy as humanly possible. I'm not much for substance abuse, so I chose other venues to get out of my head. Sadly, most of our favorite activities are just that—an escape from our minds.
Mine were intense video games, workouts, and adrenaline. There's something so freeing about kissing death and living on the edge., achieving a quiet mind that is too busy trying to keep you alive to torture you with its usual shenanigans.
How do you stop anxiety?
A four-step process of stopping anxiety:
Notice what is happening. Anxiety-inducing thoughts and accompanying feelings are creeping in - catch them.
Detach from your mind. Realize you are not your mind, and these thoughts and feelings aren't real. They mean nothing.
Choose not to entertain those thoughts and feelings. Refuse to think those thoughts. Use words “No! Stop!” or hand gestures (facepalm) if they help create the necessary distance.
Deliberately and intensely observe your mind as a witnessing observer, knowing you are not the mind and that those thoughts mean nothing. Alternatively, refocus on something else, but don't run away.
Notice it happening - catch it
You catch anxiety creeping in by being observant and noticing thoughts and emotions overcoming you, indicating early signs of anxiety.
The key in this step is to discern what is happening and detach from your thoughts and emotions. You are not your mind, your thoughts, or your feelings!
Most people aren't able to stop an attack of negative, hurtful, anxiety-inducing thoughts. They go along with them, never questioning their validity or purpose.
Understand your thoughts and feelings causing anxiety
These anxiety-inducing thoughts and feelings:
Aren't real.
Aren't important.
Aren't true.
Aren't you.
Mean nothing.
You don't have to listen, watch, and follow along.
You can safely ignore them.
You can stop them any time you want.
You're not missing anything.
They do not serve you in any way.
We all have such thoughts, which can result in us feeling horrible. Some of you get consumed by them, as I did, losing yourself in endless loops of repeated thought patterns and accompanying emotions. They feel like a wall is closing in on you from all sides.
Anxiety-inducing thoughts and emotions don't mean anything, aren't real, and you don't have to go along with them. You have a choice.
What causes anxiety?
Only one thing can cause anxiety, dear friends - your thoughts. Nothing else has this power over you.
You can assign any outside circumstance as the cause of anxiety, but that's false.
You can also be forgiven for thinking it's just some feeling you can't help, but again, you are wrong.
You can free yourself from anxiety since you understand anxiety is nothing more than emotions caused by anxiety-inducing thoughts. But first, you have to learn to control your mind.
Become the witnessing awareness observing the mind
The first step is to detach from your mind and notice what is happening without following your thoughts. The sooner you can catch these thoughts and feelings creeping in, the better.
I claimed that you are not your mind. But what are you, then?
You are the awareness behind the mind
You can think thoughts and create images in your mind, but they also "happen" independently. Sometimes, you feel like you can't stop them.
Therefore, you are not your mind; you use and observe it.
The cinema analogy
In this analogy, your mind will be the cinema screen, and you will be the one watching a movie on this screen.
You've fallen into the movie with such intensity that you don't even know you're in the cinema anymore - you're living in the world displayed on the screen.
You're watching a movie in a theater. You notice something you dislike and lean back in your seat. You realize you're not in the film but the person watching the movie in a cinema, thus disconnecting your attention from the screen.
A minute ago, you were completely absorbed by what was happening on the screen. Now, you realize you are sitting in an empty theater watching the screen. It's just a movie. It's not real. That is true for both the movie and the thoughts in your mind.
You can ground yourself by feeling and seeing the chair's texture in the theater or looking around the room. Detach from the screen and mind.
You realize you have experienced thoughts and feelings you don't want to indulge in and accept. You don't have to. It's a choice. You can stop watching the movie, leave the cinema, and almost as easily stop the thoughts your mind serves you.
Observe your mind like a screen
Practice observing your mind like a screen on your TV or in a movie theater. Detach from your thoughts, knowing you are not your thoughts, and they aren't real. It's just a movie displayed on your mind's screen, but you don't have to watch it.
Then, deliberately focus and observe, with your mind's eye, the screen of your mind. It helps to feel like you're actually looking through your eyes under closed eyelids. This focal point will help you stay detached from your mind.
Ask yourself: "I wonder what my next thought will be?" and then simply observe your mind. Be careful not to forget that you are the one observing your thoughts and that you can stop at any time.
Every few moments, detach from your thoughts and move backward in your mind, observing the screen of your mind and asking this question again.
You can visualize leaning back in a theater and noticing that it was just a screen you were so consumed with.
A step further, if this doesn't help, is to imagine yourself watching yourself observing a movie in a theater. You're now watching a video feed of yourself sitting in a movie theater.
Sooner or later, you will detach and notice how silly it was that you weren't able to free yourself from your mind's grip before. It's one of the most important exercises you will ever do, and it's the key to freeing yourself from the torture of your mind.
"Your mind is a wonderful servant but a horrible master!"
Finally, choose other thoughts
You cannot do this until you first realize that you are not your mind, those thoughts aren't real, true, or important, and that you don't have to entertain them.
You can always choose different thoughts by focusing on something else.
You can also merely observe your mind and remain detached and calm, regardless of what the mind displays.
Say to your mind: "Stop! No! I see what you're doing, and I'm not having it! Yeah, we're not doing that. I see you - it's not happening…" Do whatever you need to do to firmly decide you won't entertain, follow, observe, or listen to those anxiety-inducing thoughts.
The truth is, you don't have to - so why would you?
Just say no to your mind! It really is that simple, but it takes understanding and practice.
Fighting your mind usually doesn't work very well. It's best to notice, decide not to go along, and refocus on something else—quickly, decisively, and gently.
The simple act of detaching and observing your mind effortlessly and without any inner struggle will help you achieve the same goal. It has helped me become free from the vicious inner roommate that is "my mind."
What else helps with anxiety?
Firmly ground yourself in the present moment.
Anxiety and fear are always about the future, while regret and sorrow are about the past. They can't survive in the present moment.
Learn the Time-resistant Submarine Meditations!
In simple terms - refuse to dwell on the future or the past. You are only interested in now. Not five minutes from now, but now. At worst, until you go to bed. The rest is none of your business.
Use philosophy and rational thinking
Determine what is and what is not under your control. Then, focus only on what you have power over and completely let go of the rest.
Accept that life is inherently unpredictable and that sometimes there is nothing you can do about it. You can't predict or control the future. Let come what will come, and convince yourself it will ultimately be okay.
Learn to rely on yourself, not outside circumstances. You are calm and at peace because you believe in yourself. You know that whatever comes, you will adapt and survive, as you always have.
Analyze your fears, contemplate the worst-case scenario, and accept this possibility wholeheartedly. Once you know your fear, it loses its power over you.
Thanks for reading. Like, share, recommend, link to, and subscribe. You know the deal with online publishing. Every little thing helps. I appreciate you!