module 3
using mindfulness
to step back from worry
(and other unhelpful thoughts)
Well we’ve already learnt that thoughts are just that: thoughts, nothing more.
And the good news is we get to CHOOSE what we do with them.
Now some of your thoughts that create distress might actually be facts. So what do we do then? Well, again we get to choose what to do with them: Do we want to listen to them? Dwell on them? Follow them until we turn into an anxious mess? Usually this is not helpful and only increases the intensity of our emotion. So, we can make the choice to do something else, to focus our attention somewhere else. This doesn’t mean avoiding our thoughts and emotions. It’s actually about how we notice them. First of all, that we do notice them, and then what we do next.
Mindfulness can really help us here!
Mindfulness is all about paying attention in a specific way. As Jon Kabat-Zinn (who was responsible for bringing mindfulness to the west) puts it:
““Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally.””
Let’s break that down.
Mindfulness is:
Paying attention in a particular way:
On purpose
In the present moment
Non-judgementally
So mindfulness is all about paying attention with awareness to the present moment. Being awake to the present moment and experiencing life as it is right now. Rather than adding layers of judgement (think ‘shoulds’) on top. So…