We live amongst our stressors and our struggles. Anxiety manifests as feelings, physical symptoms, and in how we connect or disconnect with the people around us. We so often think “I’ll be more relaxed when-” but there is always the journey of getting to “when.” Mindfulness is the practice of finding peace wherever we are, no matter what may be going on inside or around us.
When facing any health issue, we first want to understand it and its treatment. Explore the science of psychotherapy and the application of mindfulness with Ronald D. Siegel, Psy. D. in The Science of Mindfulness: A Research-Based Path to Well-Being, a Great Courses series available streaming from Kanopy. Each of the 24 videos in the series relates the mental exercise of mindfulness to approaching a common concern, such as connecting with others, self-compassion, loneliness, and creating healthy habits. Mental and emotional resiliency can be a great help during times of change and developing a new normal.
In quarantine, it can be hard to distract yourself from anxious thoughts. There is a gift, however, in turning some thoughts over and asking them questions. In Urban Mindfulness by Johnathan S. Kaplan, PH.D., readers find suggestions for considering their own thoughts from a different angle. By changing the conversation that we have with our observations, readers create opportunities to feel grateful and accomplished even under stressful circumstances. This is rarely the composed, Instagram-worthy meditation we are used to seeing. Urban mindfulness exists wherever we practice it, and that is the key to its versatility.
Being armed with knowledge and practicing small, sane kindnesses to ourselves is not always enough though. Sometimes, it is cathartic to stare down the truly bad circumstances that we cannot change. Don’t bright-side yourself. Give yourself permission to say it like it is, and then begin to let go instead of holding on to that toxic terribleness. Tim Desmond, LMFT, student of the renowned Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, sees you where you are. He’s been there too. His book, How to Stay Human in a F*cked-Up World is a raw, visceral twist on meeting the ugly parts of life with compassion. You can do it without losing your honest experience of the pursuit of calm, and you can feel however you need to until you get there. Go ahead, it’s okay.
If you need some ambient sounds or relaxing music while you read or try out meditation, Freegal has unlimited streaming with your library card. These mixes were created to help listeners process and create inner calm out of chaos.
~posted by Hannah V.
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