Understanding anger
Anger is a feeling of annoyance or hostility towards someone or something that you believe has done you wrong in some way. People feel anger when there has been injustice. It is data that tells us that we or someone we love has been or could be harmed.
Unconditional self-acceptance
Unconditional self-acceptance is the act of treating oneself with approval and worthiness, regardless of what’s happening.
Frequent misunderstandings about exposure practice
Exposure has to be done the right way, meaning that the person engaging in exposure has to have the right perspective.
The therapeutic attitude of willing acceptance
The moment you are triggered is an opportunity. You have the chance to use it for greater self-understanding and eventually, calmness, compassion, and connection.
Surrendering paradoxical effort
If you try to use mindfulness to suppress or control your thoughts and feelings, they will increase and grow stronger.
The anxiety effort paradox
The opposite of surrender is called paradoxical effort, where the more effort you put towards a certain outcome, the further you get from it. Paradoxical effort keeps you stuck, unable to move through uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and sensations.
Overcoming challenges to starting a mindfulness meditation practice
Start as small as possible to get momentum going.
Managing fixed attentional focus
The opposite of fixed attentional focus is flexible, present moment awareness.
Overcoming fear and self-criticism with curiosity
A curious mind manages fear with compassion and criticism with skepticism.
Adopting a nonjudgmental attitude
Mindful emotional awareness occurs when you bring your attention to your emotion in the present moment with a nonjudgmental stance.
Grab the present moment
In the present moment, your body is breathing and working to keep you alive just fine. Try to watch your sensations as sensations. Try to observe your thoughts like words on a screen, not predictions or threats that you need to engage. Try to notice the urgency in your body and consciously slow yourself down.
How to practice mindfulness in everyday life
In everyday life, as you notice a painful internal experience, cue yourself to anchor in the present.
How to practice formal mindfulness meditation
As you attend to your sensation, your mind is naturally going to wander. Wandering is what minds do. You aren’t doing it wrong. In fact, you should expect the wandering as part of the exercise. You have to wander in order to notice the wandering.
If not anxious, then what do I feel?
I want to teach you to respond to anxiety in a way that helps you rather than hurts you. You’ll overcome fear of fear by inviting in fear when it shows up and choosing to see it as an opportunity, not a threat.
The difference between stakes and odds
What risks are you willing to take in areas where you feel anxious?
The role of anxiety sensitivity in processing other feelings
When anxiety is challenging to identify, label, and allow, all other emotions are usually difficult to identify, label, and allow.
A description of anxiety disorders
Sensitivity to anxious sensations occurs in all of the anxiety disorders. This trait is called anxiety sensitivity and it is a biological predisposition that runs in families and is passed down through social interactions.
Self-monitor in the right way
We want to shift our way of thinking about those triggers away from bracing and avoiding and over into opportunity.
Self-monitor with curiosity
The capacity to observe your experience of anxiety with curiosity — like you really want to know it — is crucial for willing acceptance.