Don’t Worry, Be Mindful.

Since our beginnings as a species, human beings have searched high and low for an explanation as to why we are set apart from the animal kingdom. From our upright posture to the paralyzing way we experience emotion, there isn’t a quick and easy way to answer this question.

A common ground we have reached, though, is that we are undeniably different from the other species on the food chain. Dig even deeper and you will find this confusing thing called consciousness being explored in our religious traditions as well.

We are God’s chosen people to some, and simply the universe experiencing itself through us to others.

Either way, the same consciousness that allows us to ask these questions is also the same one that allows us to misuse and abuse it.

For better or for worse, we have the distinct ability to not only grasp what it means to be alive, but to look ahead as well. Unlike any other species on this planet, we can see into the future.

…or at least we think we can.

It is here we encounter yet another special gift from under Mother Nature’s Christmas tree; anxiety.

As someone who has lived with anxiety issues throughout the entirety of their life, the effort it takes to pick apart a disease as unrelenting as anxiety can consume you.

With the severity of this condition ebbing and flowing over the years, I along with many others have exhausted our options in coping with this malady.

Modern therapy practices like CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) have stressed the effectiveness of practicing mindfulness to fight back against mental illness.

The term itself is often thrown around in regard to eating better. For example, “I have to be mindful of what I put into my body.”

At its core though, mindfulness is all about living in each moment as if it were all you ever knew. Anxiety stems from the previously mentioned ability of foresight, so the culprit of your most recent ill-mood or anxiety attack was worry.

When stripped to its core, anxiety is worry on steroids.

When was the last time you were ever worried about now? How often do you lose sleep over the happenings of this very moment? So, we see the source of the problem. When used irresponsibly, foresight is no more useful than a light bulb without electricity.

If thinking too much about the future is what is causing excessive worry, then living in the here and now is a powerful way to combat the misery brought on by anxiety. The problem with the future, after all, is that it hasn’t happened yet.

By focusing our energy, time, and attention to the present that we are playing in, we adjust our perspective.

If we have such a laughably small amount of say in what our future holds, what is the point in worrying about it?

A tried and true method of easing our minds that has been apart of human culture for thousands of years is meditation. Aside from the historical and biological components of this practice, there are few methods that exercise our mental muscles as well as meditation does. As we focus on our breath, and our breath alone, we shut out all outside distractions around us.

Much more aware of our bodies we become, from our grumbling stomachs to our aching bones. When used as a means of building a deeper, more profound awareness of our fleshly confines, we can train our minds to stop overindulging themselves.

Furthermore, practicing mindfulness improves our focus. When overcome by an intense season of anxiety, it is common to feel as if we are caught up in a mental fog.

As the days come and go, our minds check out and allow life to pass us by without reservation.

It is in this vulnerable state that ailments like depression slip through the cracks and make our already miserable lives even worse.

Remember, there is no time like the present.

It is all we know and moment by moment, it passes us by. Merely by being aware of our breath and equally melodious beating heart do we ease our overworked nerves. When your amygdala decides to take an overtime shift, allow the breath that gives you life to still the seas of your overactive imagination.

Our minds make the rest of our functions possible. They are complex and often turbulent, but are a gift nonetheless. The best way to acknowledge such a gift, is to be present in the present.