Mindfulness: Waves of Anxiety

Photo by Anthony Gonzales

Mindfulness

Waves of Anxiety

We cannot often prevent that wave, that feeling of dread, worry, insecurity, and fear that sets in when we feel uncertain about our future. Our guts turn, our chest gets heavy, and we want to run and hide or just shut everyone out. We lay awake at night with racing thoughts or relentlessly diving into problem-solving. Anxiety, when present, feels inescapable. It is incredibly common for entrepreneurs and business operators to have this experience from time to time with different intensities.

It is functional to some extent. That drive has led so many professionals to seek more, more flexibility, more positive impact, more freedom, and more income through starting their businesses. Climbing the professional ladder is the same brain function that can cause us to overthink, ruminate and catastrophize. Ultimately, our minds try to make sense of the world around us and work to prevent discomfort and pain. So, when we don’t have answers to important questions, our survival brain will start writing a narrative that explains why or how something may be happening. This is difficult because it is often filtered through our insecurities, projecting the worst possible outcome.

However common this experience may be, none of us want to feel this way. We can strive to practice mindfulness of thought, which helps observe our thoughts with less emotional attachment to perceived or anticipated outcomes. Our interpretation of information significantly shapes the emotions we take in. If we can develop a more robust ability to focus on “the facts” and less on what these facts may mean, we can reduce our vulnerability to waves of anxiety. When we have a thought, we can acknowledge it for what it is, a simple thought that has entered our mind. We work not to judge the thought as good or bad, but rather just something that is present in our mind. This practice can help to reduce the emotional reactivity to the perceived meaning of these thoughts.

We may have difficulty letting go of thoughts at times. That is understandable. We can take two steps to alleviate this: “Check the Facts” and “Reframe.” Check the facts challenges us to refocus on what we ACTUALLY know about a situation that may create anxiety. Our minds will write stories about our perceived failures or rejection without any evidence supporting that thought. Mindfully focusing on what we know, what we can verify with our five senses, can help to work back from the ledge of fear.

Reframing allows us to ask if there is a different, more effective way to interpret the situation. The most successful way to change the anxious response is to reexamine and reinterpret the outcomes, motivations, and consequences of a given situation.

And when our bodies are reacting strongly to anxiety, we must first calm our central nervous system down before we can alter the way we think or feel in a situation. In previous articles, we explored deep, mindful breathing exercises as a constructive way to regulate our bodies. Physical activity and exercise can help to use up the stress chemicals flowing through our bodies and help to reset.

Anxiety is normal, and we all experience it. And learning to observe our thoughts without judgment can be the most effective way to regain a sense of control when it feels lost.

Anthony Gonzalez, LCSW, QS