Sam Harris ideally talks that ” All of our root causes of suffering are emerging from the thought and inner battles”. He insists that Human misery and suffering, including Anxiety, comes from inner chattering about the worries about the future, Past Regrets, and also the sense of self & Ego is largely an Illusion.
The “SEPERATE SELF” is just the “Root Cause of Suffering of Anxiety”. He Emphasizes that “Breath focusing Meditation” and “By Observing thoughts and Emotions” can help to Detach ourselves from the Anxiety to achieve a calm and peaceful mind.
A Deep Insight into Anxiety and its Causes:
Harris definition of Anxiety is often caused by the “Extensive focus on thoughts and fail to remain in the present moment”. The state of not being aware that one is already lost in the thoughts and thinking without an awareness, is just a common factor that end up causing the same experience and feeling, which leads to ultimately repeating the Cycle.
He Even states that the Distinction between the “Anxiety” and “Excitement” often depends on the internal belief and story we are telling ourselves. It is fundamentally our psychology that Actually Triggers the Emotions like “Adrenaline Rush”, Anger, Frustration, Misery, which are mostly negative emotions can vary differently based on the context and Mental Narrative.
Repeated Cycle of Sensation
Emotions like Anxiety, Sadness, Grief are constantly triggered or emerge from our minds, where we train our system (Body, Brain, Mind) to a point that without Attention to a certain topic the thoughts and Emotions Grab our attention that leads back to same path of misery. This Endless cycle keeps on repeating as long as one comes to the present by actively doing practices like Meditation and Mindfulness to escape the Loop.
This cycle includes finding the emotions like anxiety, “intolerable” and engaging in “resistance to feel this feeling,” which only results in intensifying the struggle
The Physical Manifestation of the Anxiety:
The Emotion of Anxiety caused in the mind leads to the manifestation of feelings in the body like stress, worried, pressure and tightness can be felt all over the body. But by accepting the Emotions and this Sensation that happens in the body by having Compassion, Acceptance and facing the situation regardless of the senses, the body will adapt and it will give courage to face the senses.
The Role of Meditation and Mindfulness towards Anxiety:
Meditation:
Meditation is a practice to train your mind to focus and keep the attention in the present moment. It goes through practices like meditation, breathing practice, body scanning and awareness.
The ultimate goal of meditation is to be more intense understanding of consciousness and the illusion of the self.
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness is described as the practice of being fully present, witnessing your thoughts & feelings, and surroundings in the current moment without interpretation or judgment of outside influence.
The Few Steps to Reduce the Anxiety:
- Focus on the Present
- Non-Judgmental Observation
- Breaking link btw Thought-Emotion
- Real-time Coping
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