110 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
Outsmarting Anxiety Skill #3:
Avoid common think ing traps.Suggested Practices
Before you begin to implement these practices, review the
guidelines we provided in chapter 2. It’s important that you
be consistent and patient. Practice daily, and be forgiving of
yourself if you make a mistake— for example, if you become
distracted by an occasional worry or accidentally think of
something judgmentally.
Some mindfulness and meditation techniques empha-
size concentrating on the present moment without focusing
on any particular object. W hen dealing with repetitive nega-
tive thinking, however, attempts to move your focus away
from negative thoughts often can be met with more intru-
sive worries. The negative thoughts can feel omnipresent
and consuming. In this case, it might be helpful to focus on
something that will facilitate nonjudgmental mindfulness,
yet something it’s impossible to leave home without so that
you can use it any where and anytime. Can you think of
something that’s always with you, no matter what? Your
breath!
The use of breathing techniques as a means of medita-
tion has a long history in the practice of mindfulness.
Because breathing is something you do so often it has
become second nature, it’s unlikely that you have spent
much time thinking about what it feels like; thus, mindful-
ness of your breath also provides you with a good opportu-
nity to get yourself out of automatic pilot mode and achieve
present- moment awareness.