166 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
Outsmarting Anxiety Skill #6:
Accept your emotions.Suggested Practices
Mindfulness is useful for counteracting the adverse effects
of anxiety resulting from both external and internal stimuli.
Specifically, it facilitates an opportunity to expose yourself
to internal experiences without judgment or reactivity. By
increasing attention to your thoughts, emotions, and bodily
sensations without trying to change, dismiss, or suppress
them, you will reduce your reactivity to and increase your
acceptance of your emotions. Do the mindfulness practices
that follow at least once a week, if not once a day. It’s not
realistic to expect changes after one or two practices.
Remember, acceptance is an incremental striving; it may be
easier on some days compared with others or even for some
emotions compared with others.
The following practices build on one another, and it’s
best to do them in order. Once you feel comfortable with
each practice, move on to the next one without abandoning
the previous one. It’s preferable to do these practices while in
a calm and safe state of mind rather than during times of
extreme stress, emotional or otherwise. Always prioritize
your own psychological safety and health. You may want to
record yourself reading each of these practices aloud. This
will enable you to experience a relatively distraction- free
mindfulness practice. This also has the added benefit of
being usable on a portable device, such as your smartphone.
Finally, allow yourself room to grow with each practice, and
remember that perfection isn’t the goal.