Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts

Anxious thoughts are overwhelming, making it difficult to be present, mindful and knowing you values and how you want your life to be. Anxious minds keep you in a loop of overthinking, which your more anxious, which leads to more overthinking, and so on.

How can you get out of this vicious cycle? Avoiding or repressing anxious thoughts will not work; they will pop up again, sometimes with intensity.

There are more effective techniques from being mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapies.

1.     Opening to the present moment by willing to sit with the feelings and sensations (wanted or unwanted). Accept them.

2.     Knowing what your values are. Keep the anxious mind in your pocket and know they are there and still participating in what you enjoy and what is important to you.

3.     Do not fuse with your thoughts. Keep it at a distance. They are just moving words passing through your mind, rather than your perceived truth about the situation. The problem is not whether we have unmated feelings or not, rather the problem is when we get stuck in those feelings.

4.     Label the type of thought you are having, rather than focusing on the thought. Are your thoughts judgmental? Labe them as Judging. If you find your mind criticizing you, label its as criticizing. This way you are aware of your mental process, and you are giving space between your mind and your awareness. Are there less worried and critical ways to see the situation?

5.     Your mind likes to make up stories. Not all these stories are accurate. The mind is biased on past negative experiences. What is your experience in the PRESENT moment? Is this something that is happening or something that might happen in the future? Notice that they are not the same thing, even though your mind may think it is the same.