A Meditation for Anxiety
Do you ever feel as if your mind is racing? Does it sometimes feel like there is no end to your thoughts? Does this cause anxious feelings to arise, or even a sense of panic? Are those thoughts keeping you awake at night or distracted from living life? If so, this exercise is for you. (And for lots of other reasons too!).
When it comes to thinking we can sometimes be like fish who are unaware they are swimming in water. We find ourselves swimming in a river of thought, but do not often enough take the time to notice the river itself. We find ourselves caught up in our thinking which can sometimes take control over us. It is not whether our thoughts are right, wrong, good, or bad, but that we spend too much time in them, or looking from them, but not observing them.
Through cognitive defusion, a technique often used in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), we can use to shift our attention away from the content of our thoughts to the process of thinking. This helps us step back and create distance from our thoughts (and even feelings), reducing the power they wield over us. When we can observe our thoughts without getting attached to them, we can see how they are affecting us. We can see that thoughts are just thoughts. And we can learn to let them go, to move on like clouds across the sky or leaves down a stream.