Bringing Mindfulness to Anxiety or Depression

Thich Nhat Hanh has said that practice is only useful if we can bring it to help us in our most difficult moments. We all experience some level of anxiety or depression at one time or another. And while clinical anxiety and depression may require many modalities such as psychotherapy, medical intervention including acupuncture and herbal medicine as well as pharmaceuticals - mindfulness practice can be a great ally on the healing path.

The first pillar of mindfulness is to pause. When we notice sensations in our bodies, thoughts, and emotions that feel like anxiety or depression has arisen, instead of running away or suppressing this experience, we can stop and allow ourselves to observe and be with what’s happening (1). We can notice feelings and sensations in our body, and where they are located. We can then practice looking deeper, investigating underground thoughts that may have preceded these feelings. Often there are deeply judgmental and unkind voices talking to us in our subconscious minds.

When we are able to identify these underground voices, we can ask ourselves, “am I sure?” It may be hard to believe that these thoughts are not true, given that the narration in our minds has often shaped the reality that we’ve believed in for a very, very long time. But can you dip your toe into the idea that perhaps those voices are not the truth? Tara Brach calls this, “real but not true” - the voices and what they are saying are there/ are real, but what they are saying is not the ultimate truth. Be open to that possibility.

The most important part is bringing kindness and compassion to the feelings that have arisen. It may be easier to think about bringing that kindness to a child - whether yourself as a child, or a child that you care about - going through this experience, including the underground voices and thoughts you have recognized. What does this child feel, and what might this child need? Love? Safety? Acceptance of their worth? Something else?

Shower this child with what it needs - what all children need. You can do this as your meditation, and it can be a deeply healing daily practice to transform old patterns. Tara Brach shares further how we can bring mindfulness practice to help us with anxiety or depression on her podcast, which can be a helpful resource.

(1) It’s important to recognize whether this looking inward is actually re-triggering or re-traumatizing you, and choose a different practice at the time if so, such as walking meditation or other calming practice. Some situations require external support: you don’t need to do it alone! See David Treleaven’s book, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness.