Mindfulness Techniques for Anxiety!

We have already covered some mindfulness techniques for dealing with social anxiety disorder as well as the anxiety that often accompanies borderline personality disorder, but the techniques can also aid the undiagnosed individual who suffers from occasional (or not-so-occasional) anxiety.

A meta-analysis was conducted in 2010 that provided evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness exercises on anxiety and depression.  The researchers found that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for treating anxiety and improving mood and that the effects lasted beyond the initial improvements (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010).

To begin applying mindfulness to your anxiety, or that of your clients,  Mindful.orghas provided a short description of 10 attitudes that will help build the foundation for successfully addressing anxiety:

• Volition or intention
  This is the building block of all other attitudes. First, you must bring your focus to the intention of working with your anxiety.
• Beginner’s mind
  This refers to a mindset that is ready to see from a new perspective and consider new ideas in regards to dealing with anxiety.
• Patience
  This is a very important attitude to cultivate since it can broaden your perspective and help you persevere when you run into obstacles on your journey.
• Acknowledgment
  Having the mindset of acknowledgment means that you take each experience for what it is; you accept what is happening and be secure in the knowledge that it, like the weather it will pass.
• Nonjudgment
  This attitude involves experiencing your present moment without evaluating and judging it.  It means you let go of value judgments about yourself and how you are feeling and allows you to begin your work from a more balanced starting block.
• Non-striving
  This attitude refers to the willingness to accept a situation or experience as it is, without trying to change it.  To combat your anxiety, you must first be present with it and accept your current state.
• Self-reliance
  The mindset of self-reliance is characterized by trusting yourself and your ability to handle your feelings.  Cultivating your self-reliance will allow you to more easily acknowledge, experience, and let go of your anxiety.
• Letting be or allowing
  Similar to the attitude of non-striving, letting be or allowing refers to the mindset of allowing yourself to feel anxiety.  Often it is more effective to work with your anxiety than expend energy trying to fight against it.
• Self-compassion
  As mentioned earlier, showing yourself compassion is an important part of mindfulness.  Being kind to yourself, as you would be kind to a dear friend or family member, can help you to decrease your anxiety by being a support for yourself.
• Balance and equanimity
  These are attitudes that allow wisdom to develop through a broadening of perspective and an understanding that your whole experience is so much more than your current feelings, whether positive or negative.

To practice each of these mindsets, first read the full description of eachmindsetthen try to embody each mindset or attitude. Take note of how you feel. Afterward, reflect on your experience and describe it, with a special focus on your feelings during the process.

For a rather more simple method of applying mindfulness to anxiety, you can try this quick exercise:

• focus on the sensations that arise in your body when you are anxious.  
• be present and in the moment,
• allow yourself to think the anxious and distressing thoughts, don’t fight them.

By recognizing these thoughts for what they are, you may come to realize that they are not true, and consequently be able to let them go (Hofmann, 2013). If you are interested in trying other mindfulness exercises to address anxiety, you can use this free short document or this extensive workbook (PDF).

If you would like more information on anxiety, and how to approach dealing with it through mindfulness you can also take a listen to Dr. Kim Taylor Show as she clarifies the signs, symptoms of anxiety and suggests viable techniques, resources which can aid the treatment and management of anxiety. Take a listen: