Meditation and anxiety
Anxiety regularly creeps up on you, and you anticipate the worst which is, of course, to come? If anxiety paralyzes your existence, it is time to act. Meditation is a first step towards relief.
One of the factors common to stress, depression and anxiety is mental rumination, the tendency to dwell on past events and over-anticipate future situations, to worry without interruption, on automatic pilot. Our thoughts become repetitive, they feed themselves and plunge us into chronic negativity. It then becomes difficult to get out of it and anxiety sets in, or rather: we settle into anxiety.
Meditating allows us to leave these vicious circles of rumination and to get out of the trap of intellectualization, which only plunges us back into the maelstrom of depreciative judgment. Based on the experience of the present moment, on the observation of oneself, of one's immediate environment and of the body's feelings, meditation practice soothes precisely because it allows us to refocus on things of great simplicity (the irritation of the skin that suddenly tickles, a noise from the street or from one's stomach, the desire to drink a coffee), without having recourse to the mind, but without fighting it either: the mind is like those clouds that pass by, they may be dark like the end of the world, but they end up moving away.
Manage an anxiety attack
When anxiety is very strong, we have no distance, no means to take distance. In this case, we should fix our attention on the body sensation and let our mind become agitated, protesting.
When you feel the tumult of thoughts and emotions rising, ask yourself: "How do I feel now? "To become curious about this tumult is to take a step aside and become a simple spectator of the difficulty that is momentarily passing through you.
Focus on your breathing
Focus on your "thoughts-emotions-body sensations". Mindfulness allows you to become familiar with the nature of your pain. In difficult times, you need to know that the core of your being is stable, that it is able to survive the situation.
Become aware of this reality: going through difficult moments is part of life. Emotional pain is not necessarily an enemy. It is an ingredient of life. We suffer because we do not accept things as they are. Leaving the world of the Care Bears makes us responsible: we are witnesses of our lives, let's no longer play the martyr!
Try to perceive the situation as objectively as possible. Sometimes you will be able to do something, sometimes you won't. Choosing to do nothing is in itself a deliberate action. You are acting in the present, and that action can change the problem. This strategy can help you act effectively.
Focus your attention on the source of your suffering: is it guilt, fear, frustration, the feeling of losing something? Is it a whim, an anticipation, a belief?
Distinguish the cause from its effects. Ask yourself questions: "What is the problem? "What effect does it have on me? In this way, you are "reframing".
Prevent a crisis of bulimia or binge eating.
For you, food has become a dietary response to a problem that is not food. In a crisis, here's what you can do.
=> Ask yourself, "How do I feel right now? »
=> Identify body tensions, get back to the present moment.
=> Do the exercise for a few minutes to deal with it and get out of the mind.
=> Ask yourself about the need or desire to eat.
=> Ask yourself again. Your need for comfort is legitimate, but you don't like the way you're about to comfort yourself and then feel guilty about it. Isn't there another way to make you feel good? Take a bath? Offer you a massage? Go to the hairdresser? Call a friend?
=> If it's really the food that tempts you, ask yourself about the origin of the food: who grew it, transported it, processed it?
=> With each bite, test the food with your five senses before putting it in your mouth.
=> Always rest your fork and chew the food for a long time, if possible counting to 20. Observe the swallowing action on its own, like a reflex.
=> Before taking the next bite, ask yourself if you need or want to continue. Observe your body: is it still tense, tense?
=> Repeat the gesture as many times as there are bites.
=> When you are in company, with friends, at an aperitif, an evening, accept to be bored. Don't fill yourself up to kill the boredom: observe it, in full consciousness.
Coping with a difficult situation in a few minutes
This exercise is to be used when you are faced with an uncomfortable situation.
Ask yourself, "How do I feel right now? "Become aware of your thoughts-emotions-body sensations.
Redirect your attention to your breathing and feelings. Let them! Stay in the moment, as if you were witnessing what is happening in your body, as if you had a perfect overview of it.
Say to yourself, "It's okay. Whatever it is, it's okay. »
