attention to.
Acknowledge and allow your feelings. You may say: I feel scared and panicky. I feel terrified and full of dread. I feel stressed about every little thing in my life. Again, imagine each of your feelings as a leaf on a windy day. Some leaves, like feelings, will cling tightly to the branch, and others will spin and flutter about. Allow each feeling to move freely and dance around. You might say to yourself: Oh look, there’s terror, gripping the highest branch overhead. And oh look, there’s manic distress, swirling wildly around and around the base of the tree. Simply observe each feeling, one at a time.
Now take this pause to investigate your feelings in your mind and body and see what’s really going on. What are you experiencing directly? What are the facts here in your situation?
Remember to be aware of your breathing from time to time, paying mindful attention to the flow of air into and out of your body.
The final step is non-identification, or not taking your feelings personally. Your feelings of terror and immense fear are just feelings. These feelings cannot define who you are or your purpose in life. You are not the feelings that come and go, just as you are not the leaves on the tree that come and go and change with the seasons.
Check in again with your breathing and your awareness of being present. How are you feeling now? Do you notice a shift in your mind and body?
When you mindfully observe your feelings, you can loosen the grip that panic and terror have on your life. Mindfulness is a powerful tool for reviving your sense of ease and deepening your self-compassion for a more restful night ahead.
Here We Are
In this chapter you have been introduced to mindful inquiry meditation and the R.A.I.N. mindful practice as a way to deal with panic in your emotions and feelings. You also explored and practiced some ways that you can bring mindfulness into different parts of your life. We recommend that you informally practice mindfulness every day, bringing mindfulness into your daily life as suggested, and also continue to practice S.T.O.P. from the previous chapter. In the next chapter you’ll investigate how mindfulness works to help you deal with the rush of panic in your thoughts.
chapter 3
Calming the Rush of Panic in Your Thoughts
I n the Foundation chapter you learned about mindfulness in both its formal and informal practices. In chapter 1, you worked with feelings of panic in the body and learned the foundational MBSR meditations of mindful breathing and the body scan, as well as the S.T.O.P. practice. In chapter 2, you explored dealing with panic-filled emotions and feelings using mindful inquiry meditation and the R.A.I.N. practice. In this chapter we will introduce you to sitting meditation and the “Pause, Observe/Experience, and Allow” practice for working with thoughts related to panic.
When your mind is occupied with panicky thoughts, you may feel as if they’ll never stop. You may feel like you’re losing control, you’re going crazy, or you’re going to die. This type of thinking is called “catastrophic thinking,” and it can spin you down a spiral of despair to a place where you feel overwhelmed and paralyzed. Through sitting meditation you will gradually deepen your understanding of the nature of change in your breath, senses, and states of mind and learn how to deal better with panic, distress, and the other “ten thousand” sufferings of life. Your perspective will widen. This understanding will help you loosen the grip of panic, because you will see panic-stricken thoughts to be just as transient as bodily sensations or feelings and emotions. Sitting meditation will help further your understanding of non-identification, which we introduced in the R.A.I.N. practice in chapter 2. Both of these mindful practices will help you keep your thoughts—rumination, anticipation of future panic attacks, “what if” thinking, and habitual thought patterns—from fueling
Acknowledge and allow your feelings. You may say: I feel scared and panicky. I feel terrified and full of dread. I feel stressed about every little thing in my life. Again, imagine each of your feelings as a leaf on a windy day. Some leaves, like feelings, will cling tightly to the branch, and others will spin and flutter about. Allow each feeling to move freely and dance around. You might say to yourself: Oh look, there’s terror, gripping the highest branch overhead. And oh look, there’s manic distress, swirling wildly around and around the base of the tree. Simply observe each feeling, one at a time.
Now take this pause to investigate your feelings in your mind and body and see what’s really going on. What are you experiencing directly? What are the facts here in your situation?
Remember to be aware of your breathing from time to time, paying mindful attention to the flow of air into and out of your body.
The final step is non-identification, or not taking your feelings personally. Your feelings of terror and immense fear are just feelings. These feelings cannot define who you are or your purpose in life. You are not the feelings that come and go, just as you are not the leaves on the tree that come and go and change with the seasons.
Check in again with your breathing and your awareness of being present. How are you feeling now? Do you notice a shift in your mind and body?
When you mindfully observe your feelings, you can loosen the grip that panic and terror have on your life. Mindfulness is a powerful tool for reviving your sense of ease and deepening your self-compassion for a more restful night ahead.
Here We Are
In this chapter you have been introduced to mindful inquiry meditation and the R.A.I.N. mindful practice as a way to deal with panic in your emotions and feelings. You also explored and practiced some ways that you can bring mindfulness into different parts of your life. We recommend that you informally practice mindfulness every day, bringing mindfulness into your daily life as suggested, and also continue to practice S.T.O.P. from the previous chapter. In the next chapter you’ll investigate how mindfulness works to help you deal with the rush of panic in your thoughts.
chapter 3
Calming the Rush of Panic in Your Thoughts
I n the Foundation chapter you learned about mindfulness in both its formal and informal practices. In chapter 1, you worked with feelings of panic in the body and learned the foundational MBSR meditations of mindful breathing and the body scan, as well as the S.T.O.P. practice. In chapter 2, you explored dealing with panic-filled emotions and feelings using mindful inquiry meditation and the R.A.I.N. practice. In this chapter we will introduce you to sitting meditation and the “Pause, Observe/Experience, and Allow” practice for working with thoughts related to panic.
When your mind is occupied with panicky thoughts, you may feel as if they’ll never stop. You may feel like you’re losing control, you’re going crazy, or you’re going to die. This type of thinking is called “catastrophic thinking,” and it can spin you down a spiral of despair to a place where you feel overwhelmed and paralyzed. Through sitting meditation you will gradually deepen your understanding of the nature of change in your breath, senses, and states of mind and learn how to deal better with panic, distress, and the other “ten thousand” sufferings of life. Your perspective will widen. This understanding will help you loosen the grip of panic, because you will see panic-stricken thoughts to be just as transient as bodily sensations or feelings and emotions. Sitting meditation will help further your understanding of non-identification, which we introduced in the R.A.I.N. practice in chapter 2. Both of these mindful practices will help you keep your thoughts—rumination, anticipation of future panic attacks, “what if” thinking, and habitual thought patterns—from fueling
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