Originally Posted by
ScottFromWI 
The practice of Mindfulness and meditation has been very helpful to me in this area, and really in any stressful situation where my anxiety would flare up. That's not to say that i mediate right then and there if my anxiety flares up...but I have actually tried it and it can help.
Thanks Scott! Would you mind describing how you turn your mind to meditation/mindfulness in the moment? I'm curious how you're able to switch it like that. What do you say to yourself?
Long term is where the benefit was, at least for me. Practice of meditation especially allows me to now view my anxiety from the outside in.
THIS!!! I know exactly what you're talking about. Last week, I was able to see my mind start to feel triggered, and I actually observed it thinking itself into panic and anxiety. Viewing it was key to not feeling it or feeding into it. I wish I knew why at that time I was able to do that. Other times, it just happens in a flash and I can't do that.
I can be mindful of the telltale symptoms as they happen - and remind myself that all of them are normal and regular things that happen to everyone. The increasing heart rate and breathing, the sweaty palms, etc.....those are normal and necessary reactions ingrained into our very being and our "fight or flight" responses.
That's interesting. So you are observing the symptoms, instead of feeling the symptoms??
The difference for those of us who suffer from anxiety is that we let those symptoms snowball and it sometimes makes it to the full panic level - literally for some.
Sometimes mine snowball so quickly. Other times I can catch it.
So I practice that when I'm not feeling anxious too - I remind myself that anxiety attach never killed me ( or even injured me! ) and that all of the responses I might have are completely normal. And that it's OK to feel them...they always pass. And when you practice that over and over it literally gets easier and more natural over time. Not to say that i never get panicky anymore..I do. But i'm much more able to see it for what it is, and cut it off before things get too bad.
This is fascinating. I never thought to do this. Instead, I don't want to think about the anxiety anymore. I want the memory of it to just go away, because I hate it. I like your idea to practice how you'd think and act next time you were feeling anxious. What a great tool! I'm still interested if you could walk us through what you say to yourself in the moment, versus feeding into the anxiety.