i’ve started trying to one up my anxiety & intrusive thoughts by adding “and then a meteor hits and we all die” to those thoughts and honestly it’s making me feel better lol
“what if a car suddenly appears and crashes into you out of nowehere in this parking lot” is only slightly more likely to happen than “and then the meteor hits and we all die” and it helps me see anxiety for what it is - anxiety, not rational thoughts that warn me of dangers, but a hypersensitive gremlin in my brain dreaming up the worst case scenarios for every life situation there is
Nice one, what you did there was remove the idea of death from a future abstraction that could happen at any second and moved it into the present moment which made you aware of the lack of imminent present danger, calming your anxiety.
It’s kind of a rough and ready but, respectable go at unguided Zen. Mindfulness is just the parts of Zen that are backed by imperial evidence, repackaged for a western audience.
We don’t have the right word for it in English. It’s not a religion and it’s not really a philosophy either, in the way we mean it here. It’s not a modle to understand the world or a moral framework to be put to the test etc. It’s by far the closest word though.
It’s kind of a way of trying to experience the life, be more present and more spontaneous. The Spiritual stuff isn’t meant to be taken even slightly literally but, as representations of things.
I think you might find even more peace adding in some of that.
mindfulness (when i remember about it) helps me a lot so i don’t doubt the grander idea where it came from would help too :) thanks for letting me know about it, i’ll definitely check it out!
This method reminds me of a technique used in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) to deal with pain or fear. Exaggerating a thought or giving it a silly voice or character, while staying neutral toward that part of yourself, can be a solid way to manage anxiety.
It’s called cognitive defusion. You notice when you’re “fused” with a thought or pattern, and by using techniques like the one you mentioned, you create distance between the thought and your sense of self.
i’ve started trying to one up my anxiety & intrusive thoughts by adding “and then a meteor hits and we all die” to those thoughts and honestly it’s making me feel better lol
“what if a car suddenly appears and crashes into you out of nowehere in this parking lot” is only slightly more likely to happen than “and then the meteor hits and we all die” and it helps me see anxiety for what it is - anxiety, not rational thoughts that warn me of dangers, but a hypersensitive gremlin in my brain dreaming up the worst case scenarios for every life situation there is
Adding something like that to your negative self talk is a wonderful way to make you realize you’re doing it. It’s helped me a great deal.
Nice one, what you did there was remove the idea of death from a future abstraction that could happen at any second and moved it into the present moment which made you aware of the lack of imminent present danger, calming your anxiety.
It’s kind of a rough and ready but, respectable go at unguided Zen. Mindfulness is just the parts of Zen that are backed by imperial evidence, repackaged for a western audience.
We don’t have the right word for it in English. It’s not a religion and it’s not really a philosophy either, in the way we mean it here. It’s not a modle to understand the world or a moral framework to be put to the test etc. It’s by far the closest word though.
It’s kind of a way of trying to experience the life, be more present and more spontaneous. The Spiritual stuff isn’t meant to be taken even slightly literally but, as representations of things.
I think you might find even more peace adding in some of that.
mindfulness (when i remember about it) helps me a lot so i don’t doubt the grander idea where it came from would help too :) thanks for letting me know about it, i’ll definitely check it out!
This method reminds me of a technique used in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) to deal with pain or fear. Exaggerating a thought or giving it a silly voice or character, while staying neutral toward that part of yourself, can be a solid way to manage anxiety.
It’s called cognitive defusion. You notice when you’re “fused” with a thought or pattern, and by using techniques like the one you mentioned, you create distance between the thought and your sense of self.