Using Mindfulness to Address Anxiety

Best Practices

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

I have to start this newsletter by stating this isn’t clinical advice for dealing with anxiety.

This is merely my experience with some research on the connection between mindfulness and anxiety. If you or someone you love is dealing with anxiety, it might be best to contact a qualified professional.

My Anxiety Story

I have always been a worried person since childhood. I always worried about my future, grades, and family.

Growing up in an abusive household only served to heighten that worry.

I always thought to myself…

“Is Dad in a good mood?”

“What can I do to make him not attack me?”

“Are my siblings okay?”

“What can I do to protect them and myself?”

These thoughts, on top of everything else constantly circled in my mind. That was an unsafe environment that traumatized me and now I am picking up the pieces to start to heal that trauma.

But what has been getting progressively worse is my feelings of excessive worry. Now I worry about classes, my future career, my future success, jobs, the fact I am not in a relationship, social media following, and so much more.

It has gotten so bad that I actively avoid tasks I know are important. This is making the quality of my life progressively worse.

So the one thing I have turned to that is progressively helping me is this conception of mindfulness.

What is mindfulness?

It is difficult to define mindfulness in the literature because many papers will have slight variations on what it is.

But I like the definition from the APA dictionary best.

Mindfulness is awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings.

That essentially encompasses what mindfulness is and what it seeks to accomplish as a practice.

Mindfulness means awareness, being aware of how you feel, what you’re doing, and what you’re thinking. It also includes being aware of your environment, your sensations, and your actions.

This brings us to the next question, how does “being aware” help us calm down anxiety?