With OCD or an anxiety disorder, we tend to go instantaneously from uncomfortable thoughts or sensations to habitual reactions (e.g., compulsion, avoidance).
Yet, with practice, we can train ourself to manage fear and anxiety mindfully, viewing our unwanted thoughts and feelings in a more peaceful, non-reactive way.
Mindfully Managing OCD & Anxiety: 6 Steps
Though addressing anxiety with mindfulness is a seamless process, breaking the process into steps makes it easier to communicate.
- First, slow down and acknowledge what you are experiencing. Is the feeling sadness, anxiety, humiliation, fear, frustration, or something else, and does it affect your shoulders, stomach, or chest? Maybe your mind is racing, or the whole body feels heavy. Simply notice what is going on.
- Choose to label any distressing feeling as “just a feeling,” not to discount it, but to help you view it objectively. Remind yourself that thoughts are not always accurate or realistic, and feelings - no matter how intense - are not facts.
- Take a non-judgmental attitude toward your feeling and the situation that provoked it. Though you are uncomfortable, even distressed, entertain thoughts such as, “This situation is what it is, and my feelings about it are what they are. Although I hate this, I can choose to accept it.”
- By slowing down and looking objectively, you begin to see how the brain can create events that feel more threatening than they actually are. This puts you in a position to consider non-compulsive or non-avoidant responses.
- Now you are ready to challenge your thoughts and feelings by saying “no” to your compulsive or avoidant habits. Instead of opting to bypass or control the situation for short-term relief, you allow the moment to be as it is. It takes courage to stay with the discomfort of unwanted feelings, thoughts, and sensations, but this is how you begin to free yourself from the behaviors that diminish your well being.
- It is time to move forward without expectations of how things should look, turn out, or feel. You practice breathing into any discomfort that arises, experiencing each pleasure or obstacle along the way without requiring a specific result.
Though a mindful approach to alleviating OCD and anxiety can be distilled into six steps, putting the steps into practice can be daunting. Those with moderate to severe anxiety or OCD symptoms may need the help of a mindfulness expert, or a mental health professional, to make mindfulness an effective symptom management tool.
Source: OCD Center
Photo credit: Rhea Ball
