Combat Anxiety
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a terrific way to combat anxiety. The basis of the practice is to slow down your mind and body so that you are paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judging them as good or bad. The practice allows you to pause and observe without being called to action, allowing you to gain some distance and perspective.
That all sounds lovely, but what does it really mean?
To demonstrate how I can help, I want to tell you a story about a woman named Lisa.
Lisa was a 40-year-old mother of three children; divorced in her early 30s, she married her second husband two years ago. She worked full time as an RN in a hospital.
Lisa was struggling with anxiety that at times became overwhelming. Trying to balance everything while seeking to maintain the “perfect” life she had wanted since childhood, she was crumbling inside. She only slept about six hours per night, making sure that the house was clean and tidy, laundry done and folded, and lunches made for the next day before going to bed.
As she moved through the day, Lisa could often feel the blood rushing along her hands and wrists as if pumping out a distress signal. Her heart raced, and stress mounted in her neck and shoulders causing intense physical pain. She took ibuprofen and other over-the-counter meds, but the pain was nearly constant and made it difficult to sleep. To help relax at the end of the day, Lisa had begun drinking a glass (or two) of wine to help “de-stress” before bed. This helped for a time, but as her children were growing Lisa worried that her alcohol consumption could be a problem and decided to stop.
Lisa came to therapy looking for ways to manage her anxiety. She was interested in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and so we began each session breathing deeply and mindfully…”in through the mouth for a total of 4 seconds, hold the breath for 2 seconds, then exhale slowly through the mouth for 6 seconds.” We did this for 20 breaths.
At that point, Lisa continued to breathe in any easy manner, focusing exclusively on her breathing. Any time a thought entered her mind, perhaps a call to her “to-do list,” she gently brushed the thought away, almost as if wearing blinders. She told the thought that she would deal with it later. She was just breathing now. She may have heard noises from outside my office, she may have noticed her stomach growling, but she gently brushed away such distractions. In that stillness, Lisa could find herself in a warm, comforting cocoon where she felt still and calm.
Increasing Lisa’s Mental Clarity and Emotional Presence
By practicing mindful breathing, Lisa felt a stillness and an acute awareness of the here and now. Her thinking became sharper. She became more patient in her interactions with her husband and children. Most importantly, she became more patient with herself and loosened some of her perfectionist standards. She was generally less distracted by the chatter of her brain and focused on the present moment. In our therapy sessions were were able to talk through how to incorporate this newfound calm into her daily life.
Lisa brought the attention of mindfulness to how she ate, walked, talked with family, and experienced her body. She began to exercise more regularly and attended a local yoga class. She talked honestly with her husband about how they could share household responsibilities. They operated more as a team than they ever had. Lisa could reduce her chronic physical pain, get more sleep, and find greater enjoyment in playful moments with her husband and children.
Now it is your turn
Let’s work together to incorporate mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques into your daily life. You can reap the benefits of the simple but powerful practice to reduce your own stress. Like any new practice, it requires daily practice to build the muscle memory of automatic stress reduction. We can build that muscle together so that you can flex it in the face of mounting anxiety.
Give me a call to schedule a free consultation.