Anxiety is a significant public health concern, affecting about 31% of adults and adolescents, which is nearly one in three people (NIMH, 2022). Research shows that mindfulness practice is effective in reducing anxiety (Hofmann & Gomez, 2017). In this video that I developed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, I discuss what mindfulness is,Continue reading “How Can Mindfulness Help with Anxiety?”
Tag Archives: anxiety
How Do I Develop Acceptance?
Human beings have likes and dislikes. When confronted with an experience that we dislike, we often do what we can to prevent, avoid, or minimize it. Whether it is an internal experience like emotions/sensations or an external experience like social interaction, if it makes us uncomfortable, we have countless ways to avoid it. What happensContinue reading “How Do I Develop Acceptance?”
How Do I Practice with Uncertainty?
The human mind is very good at collecting and analyzing information in order to generate knowledge and understanding. Not only do we have a thirst for knowledge, we also crave certainty. We love certainty so much that we even figured out a way to be certain about how uncertain we are about something — confidenceContinue reading “How Do I Practice with Uncertainty?”
Can I Focus on Something Other Than My Breath?
Mindfulness meditation instructions often include invitations to focus one’s attention on the breath, using breath as the anchor of the practice. But what if the breath just doesn’t work for you as a focal point? Some people can’t really feel their breath, so it can be difficult to focus their attention on something they can’tContinue reading “Can I Focus on Something Other Than My Breath?”
How Can Mindfulness Help When I’m in a Bad Mood?
We all get affected by bad moods from time to time. When we are in a bad mood, mindfulness can help us find some flexibility and choice, so we don’t have to feel completely at the mercy of our bad mood. How do we do it? Mindfulness is just noticing our experience. We can observeContinue reading “How Can Mindfulness Help When I’m in a Bad Mood?”
How Do I Work with Situations I Can’t Control?
There is probably nothing more stressful and scary than the feeling of not having control. Most of us have reacted in some way (anger, sadness, anxiety) when we felt that we did not have control over a situation, others, and/or ourselves. The need for control is so deeply conditioned within us that we may notContinue reading “How Do I Work with Situations I Can’t Control?”
How Can Mindfulness Help with Healing?
Healing happens in this moment. Healing does not happen yesterday, nor does it happen next week. It only happens in this moment. Therefore, if we want to engage in healing and participate in healing, we have to meet it where it lives – in this moment. No matter how chaotic or hopeless our lifeContinue reading “How Can Mindfulness Help with Healing?”
How Do I Work with Fear and Anxiety?
Practicing mindfulness with fear and anxiety is to bring nonjudgmental awareness to our experience in the present moment. That means paying attention to our fear and anxiety in a particular way, consistent with the mindfulness technique. We typically do two things with thoughts and emotions, or anything that arises in our consciousness: Hold on toContinue reading “How Do I Work with Fear and Anxiety?”
Mindfulness FAQ 