Psst... You're Looking at Anxiety All Wrong
Clean Eating|February - March 2022
Suffering from bouts of anxiety? If your first reaction is to go into a tailspin analyzing, dissecting or running from it, social psychologist Amy Johnson, PhD, suggests trying something radically different: Embrace it.
Dr. Amy Johnson
Psst... You're Looking at Anxiety All Wrong

1. Know that it will pass: Anxious thoughts and feelings eventually change completely on their own. Our attention and expectations keep our feelings present in our experience. In truth, thoughts and feelings move through us as weather moves through the sky: naturally, needing neither help nor intervention. Notice this in your own experience.

2. Change your self-perception: Consider that you were not necessarily born an anxious person. Are you relatively peaceful and anxietyfree right now? If so, consider that, with practice, this could always be the case. When habitual thoughts arise, your brain races to identify them as “anxiety." But before those thoughts get louder and more persistent, work to move through them so they become fleeting.

3. Identify where the discomfort comes from: What exactly are you feeling? We're used to pushing anxiety away or trying to hide from it. This is what hurts. Resisting is what's painful. To counter it, be curious about what anxiety related sensations you're feeling, know that they won't hurt you and remind yourself that they will pass.

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