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“Worry does not eliminate tomorrow’s problems, but takes away today’s peace,” says Buddhist wisdom. We all understand this, but sometimes it is so difficult to cope with obsessive fears and disturbing thoughts. A special technique of meditation and the practice of an observer will help curb them, psychologist and body therapist Dmitry Berger is sure.
Anxiety does not appear out of nowhere: we create this uncomfortable state ourselves. We suffer from a continuous stream of thoughts, unable to stop it, and it completely fills us.
We catch a disturbing thought, repeat it like a mantra: “what if it happens …”, we scroll in our head the disturbing scenes of our personal apocalypse. At the same time, it does not matter for the body whether the threat is real or invented. When we imagine a negative scenario, the hormonal background changes. And with the constant “scrolling” of plans for battles or retreats, we fall into a hormonal trap, the farther the more difficult it is to break out of it.
The ability to predict problems and find ways to solve them is a sign of maturity. However, if you catch yourself repeating the same thing over and over in your head and feeling stressed, it means that your mind has trapped you and you are destroying yourself. This condition is familiar to most, and, unfortunately, many consider it the norm. But you can and should work with him. Meditation and the practice of the observer can help.
Using meditation and observer practice, you can quickly develop a new skill.
You need to understand: there will be no instant result. The effect is the top of the pyramid that we build with these practices. This is not a pill, but rather a muscle that needs to be trained.
Just as regular trips to the gym bring the expected results, constant adherence to the practice will make you more secure and mentally stable.
In addition, we are used to certain behaviors and thinking. So, it will take effort and will to change perception. And yet, using meditation and the practice of an observer, you can develop a new skill quite quickly: if you do the exercises regularly, the first stable results are noticeable after 2-3 weeks.
Meditation for Anxiety
During meditation, it is important to relax as much as possible. Pay special attention to relaxing the jaws and tongue, which is involved in «mental chatter». Be sure to follow your breath throughout the practice.
1. During the day
One minute basic Anapana meditation (breath awareness) can be combined with the usual rhythm of life. This practice must be performed with open eyes while walking or in transport 5-6 times a day. Just watch the air move in and out of the nose. If thoughts are distracting, gently return to watching the passage of air. Inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale.
2. Before bed or during moments of stress
Retreat and fully surrender to the process. Breathe in for four bars or seconds (whichever is more comfortable for you), then pause for seven bars or seconds. Then exhale for eight bars or seconds. And further in a circle. It is necessary to perform at least 10 cycles, optimally within 10 minutes.
Observer practice
To quickly get out of an anxious state and to interrupt the train of thoughts, use the practice of the observer. Its main idea is to get out of the flow and look at the situation from the outside.
To enter the state of the observer, you need to take a comfortable position, calm down, take a few deep breaths and exhale into the lower abdomen, directing your attention there. Next, turn your attention to how thoughts come and go. Don’t interfere, just let it happen. At some point you will feel like a spectator, an observer.
The observer is present within each of us. This part of consciousness notices everything that happens to us. She does not interfere in anything, does not react in any way, does not evaluate, but only dispassionately observes the events taking place, the emotions and thoughts that arise, as if from the outside, without participating in them.
The state of the observer allows you to painlessly experience stressful situations
The state of the observer is the study of one’s own state, the separation of oneself from emotions. When you separate the observer (yourself) and the observed: emotions and states, they lose their power over you.
What gives the state of the observer? First, you can explore the situation without becoming emotionally involved. This allows you to painlessly experience stressful situations. Secondly, you learn to make decisions soberly, without unnecessary emotions.
And finally, you begin to notice details and new colors, the world begins to come to life, stereotypes and patterns melt away, revealing the beauty of real life.