Stop Resisting Anxiety

“I just want to be happy and calm and not feel anxious anymore.” These are the words from a comment on a recent post, and I’m sure this reader isn’t alone. She goes on to say, “Is there any hope for me that one day the anxiety won’t even bother me at all anymore?”

Anxiety starts to lose its charge once you know how to relate to it at the moment when it arises. And this is very good news.

You don’t need to be concerned with anxiety disappearing forever. Once you bring acceptance and understanding to the experience of anxiety, it stops haunting you.

Remember that what you resist persists. If you go into the story of how you dislike anxiety, you’re resisting it. So do this instead:

Take a few slow, conscious breaths;
Center your attention in the peaceful field of simply being present and aware;
Then open to the physical sensations you’re experiencing. Love them like your children and welcome them like a long-lost friend.

The sensations of anxiety may still be there, but you’ve made peace with your present moment experience. This is how to come fully alive to your messy, scary, brilliant life—one moment at a time.