1 - Change Your Relationship With Anxiety

Anxiety could mean something different for everyone - and it shows up differently for each individual. For some people, just the word anxiety may come off too strong. For them, it could feel more like an undercurrent, perhaps just some background noise - a small sense of worry that’s present and feels uncomfortable. But it’s tame. And for the most part, manageable.

For others, it may be overwhelming, that they experience panic attacks or super intense feelings.

And it doesn’t really matter where you are on this scale, the same technique of learning to deal with it applies. So the first and most important thing to recognize while becoming more harmonious with your anxiety is - changing your relationship with it.

Simply put, it’s really about creating a greater sense of space in the mind. Start to wrap your head around that concept - a greater sense of space in the mind. Like I said, the overall objective is to change our relationship with anxiety. Change the way you see it. Changing our perspective with it. It’s important to note, the goal is not about attempting to get rid of anxiety. That’s unrealistic as there’s really no way we can completely rid ourselves from anxiety. Anxiety is part of being a human being, no matter how much you don’t like hearing that. Also note, it’s not always bad; similar to fear. Sometimes we need it, it might be important. Like the fight or flight response that your body goes into when the mind is triggered by fear. That’s a good thing! But it’s when it starts to become troublesome, when we begin to apply it to areas of our life where it’s not relevant or necessary, where it’s not helpful or where it starts to become destructive - is when it becomes a problem.

So understanding that as a starting point is vital. Again, it’s not about ridding anxiety, it’s about changing our relationship with it. Learning to be at ease with it. Basically being neutral with anxiety when we start to feel it arise in our minds so that we don’t take stock in it, we don’t try and push it away, we don’t resist it. Instead, we’re cultivating the ability to witness it come and go. If you can start to deal with it like that, then you’re on the path to a comfortable and healthy relationship with anxiety.