OK, so acceptance and mindfulness for anxiety.
But HOW? What does this even mean?!
Reasonable question. Anxious people hear that mindfulness is "good for anxiety". But what does that mean? What does being mindful actually look like? How are you supposed to be mindful when you're afraid of your own body, thoughts, and emotions? Is mindfulness meditation? Is meditation mindfulness? Is this spiritual? How does this connect with acceptance and tolerance of anxiety? Mindfulness calms you down, right? Can you please just tell me how to me more mindful and less anxious?
Do you struggle to understand mindfulness?
It's not just you.
Many struggle to understand what mindfulness is or what it looks like in practice. The word conjures up images of people in white outfits sitting cross-legged on pillows. And sometimes ... it is. But that's not what mindfulness is. That's just what people being mindful sometimes look like. But not always. You can learn to be mindful without ever owning a cushion or a pair of yoga pants! I promise, you can learn to be mindfully aware without ever saying the word "namaste" (though you're welcome to use it if you like it).
While there are lots of preconceptions about the concept of mindfulness, and myths about how it can be "good for anxiety", it's really not nearly as complicated as it might seem.
Mindfulness and acceptance are connected!
Acceptance is another confusing concept in anxiety disorder recovery.
If you're struggling with the concept of mindfulness, the odds are high that you are also struggling to fully grasp the concept of accepting anxiety, willfully tolerating it, surrendering to it, or floating through it. Again, it's not just you. Almost all anxious people wrestle with the idea of acceptance. How are you supposed to accept a thing you hate and fear so much? If you're wondering HOW to accept your anxiety ... well that often starts with mindful awareness.
You Can Not Accept While You Resist
Tough to hear ... but true.
The practical application of mindfulness in accepting anxiety is based on learning to watch your automatic, unconscious, counterproductive reaction to anxious thoughts, sensations, or emotions. You get triggered, then you MUST run, or hide, or fix, or forcibly calm yourself, right? Its automatic? It just happens? You have no choice in the matter!
But ... what if you do? What if you can learn to watch that sequence play itself out? What if you can see the space between trigger and reaction? What would happen if you could consciously consider your response rather than immediately engaging in a knee-jerk reaction to anxiety and fear?
Welcome to the first glimpses of acceptance via mindful awareness.
OK, fine. But HOW do I do mindfulness?
Let's get practical about this.
Let's strip away all the frills and the misconceptions and get practical about how to be more mindful in the context of anxiety disorder recovery. We build our mindful awareness through regular practice. Formally, and informally. When we practice, we become more aware. Simple as that.
OK, so practice. Like meditation? Sitting on a cushion deep breathing?
Sometimes, yes. But just breathing. Not "deep" breathing. But also walking, brushing your teeth, eating, making tea, stretching, gentle yoga, allowing your mind to wander without trying to control it, and a host of other activities. If you can practice paying attention to your experience, then you are practicing being mindful! There is no wrong way to practice being mindful ... except to try to get it just right.
Formal Focus Practice
Sometimes we practice building mindful awareness in a formal way by sitting to focus (on something - not just breath) or intentionally bringing our attention to specific things like the feeling of movement or sensations in our bodies.
Formal Mind Wandering Practice
Sometimes we build mindful awareness by intentionally allowing our minds and attention to wander anywhere they choose to wander while we watch that process unfold without trying to control or resist it.
Informal Practice - Just Pay Attention
Often we practice building mindful awareness by choosing to pay attention to whatever it is we're doing. It could be anything! When was the last time you made tea or coffee or walked your dog ... and actually paid full attention to that activity?
Fine. So How Do I Learn And Practice?
How does this all get applied to anxiety recovery? 🤔
Well ... it is my belief that within the context of anxiety disorders, the best move is to find a teacher or guide that is well informed and trained on the mechanics and treatment of anxiety disorders, and is well informed, trained in the concepts of mindfulness, and has their own well developed mindfulness practice.
Hi. That's Me. 🙂
I am a clinician with a specialization in anxiety and anxiety disorders, I've done quite a bit of training in mindfulness based treatments and mindfulness itself, and I have been practicing mindfulness almost daily for many years. Oh, I also struggled with panic disorder, agoraphobia, OCD, and depression for many years of my life and while I didn't know I was doing it, I used mindfulness principles in my own recovery. So ... maybe I'm a good choice here?
Let's Talk About This 💬
Practical Mindfulness in Anxiety Recovery is a six week small group exploration of how to apply mindful awareness in the context of anxiety recovery. This is an actual skills class that involves weekly meetings, group mindfulness practice, homework assignments, and feedback from your instructor when you need it (that's me).
Can I Join One Of These Mindfulness Groups?
How about trying a sample practice first?
The next Practical Mindfulness in Anxiety Recovery group starts will likely run right after the new year (2025 - 2026).
You are welcomed to join a practical mindfulness group, but first why not take advantage of the free introductory guided mindful awareness practice I've recorded? It's a good way to see if learning mindfulness skills is something you'd like to try.
Get it free right below.
(UPDATE FALL 2025) There is a relatively long waiting list of people wanting to get into one of my mindfulness groups but once I've worked through that I'll open the groups up to everyone that's interested. Download the free practice audio and I'll keep you posted when more groups open up and when I have more mindfulness resources to share.
- Free
Free Guided Mindful Awareness / Attention Practice
- Download
Get a free guided mindful awareness practice that will introduce you to the practical application of mindfulness in anxiety recovery. The audio files are downloadable so you can listen any time. Once my initial waiting list for mindfulness groups is taken care of, I will let you know when I open up more groups, and I'll periodically send mindfulness-focused newsletters that might help.
I don't need the free audio files.
(Just tell me more about mindfulness when you can and let me know when new mindfulness groups open up.)
No problem! Pop your information into these boxes and I'll let you know when new Practical Mindfulness groups are scheduled. From time to time I'll publish email newsletters focusing in mindfulness in anxiety recovery so I'll send those too.