186 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
simultaneously think about multiple concepts, which as you
learned in chapter 2, is important for overcoming avoidance.
To refresh your memory, in this task, participants are asked
to state the color of words with different emotional valences
(negative, positive, and neutral). Often it takes anxious
people longer to state the color of the word if it’s threatening
or dangerous, because they are automatically drawn to the
content of the word. Sometimes they even say the word
instead of stating the color.
The results of this study showed that those undergoing
the mindfulness session were more likely to perform well on
this task, thereby exhibiting greater cognitive f lexibility. As
we mentioned in chapter 5, avoidance is often associated
with rigid emotion regulation strategies such as repetitive
negative thinking. Having more f lexibility in your responses
to emotions is frequently linked to better mental health out-
comes. Instead of reacting negatively to an unwanted
emotion or a concern about an upcoming event, you can
adopt strategies that foster greater acceptance and less avoid-
ance of worry triggers. In the next section, we will show you
how to use the principles of exposure and mindfulness to
your advantage. Hopefully, you will be in a position where
you can avoid less and accept more!
Outsmarting Anxiety Skill #8:
Let go of safety behaviors and
avoidance strategies.As you have learned, letting go of safety behaviors and not
shying away from anxiety- provoking situations will foster a