6 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
inappropriate to a situation. Depending on the context,
especially in situations in which you feel anxious or fearful,
it may be advantageous to change what, when, and how you
are feeling by purposefully trying to inf luence your emo-
tional response.
W hat Is Mindfulness?
Have you ever driven to the store and, once you got there,
realized that you could remember very little about your trip?
Or have you ever read a book or watched a television program
only to notice that you couldn’t remember specific details?
Or perhaps you were trying to focus on a work or school
project, but you felt distracted by your worries about an
upcoming experience, such as a dentist appointment! These
are common examples of operating on autopilot, or, more
technically, acting without full present- moment awareness.
The opposite of autopilot is mindfulness. Mindfulness is
defined as “paying attention...on purpose, in the present
moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat- Zinn 1994, 4). In
essence, mindfulness enables you to pay greater attention to
both your inner self— your thoughts, feelings, and bodily
sensations— and your current environment. Mindfulness is
not a way to make yourself feel better, per se, but by cultivat-
ing a mindful approach to your anxiety, you will be better
able to confront and manage your thoughts, emotions, and
physiological symptoms in anxiety- provoking situations.
Hailing from ancient traditions, “mindfulness” refers to
a transformative shift in perspective that facilitates a dis-
tanced, nonjudgmental relationship to your emotions.
Practitioners of mindfulness sometimes call this “bare
attention.” It entails fostering enhanced awareness of your