Who are you when you’re not #anxious?
The only way to find out, is to work with the #anxiety, and then slowly, patiently watch it settle. When we’re gripped by all the signs of feeling unsafe – agitation, compulsivity, fuzzy thinking – it’s hard to imagine who we might be other than a total lunatic. But even when our circumstances seem problematic – say, during a pandemic – we can develop ways of noticing how every aspect of what we go through waxes and wanes.
It may not feel like it. If you have a tendency to feel easily unsettled, you might become convinced that you’re simply prone to anxiety. But if you begin to observe how your mind works, what you’ll find are the endless arisings and departures of thoughts, feelings, memories, plans, etc.
This was the #Buddha’s primary insight – that we are empty of any permanent and defining quality. A few thousand years later this insight was confirmed by neuroscientists studying the impact of meditation on brain chemistry. Even the most subtle improvement in how we treat ourselves – offering a little more patience and compassion, for instance – will positively impact our brain chemistry. We are relational creatures, always changing in dependence upon our changing experience.
If you’d like to learn more about the healing potential of #Buddhistpsychology view the resources on this website.
Buddhist Healing Response to Anxiety
