Anxiety: It’s Not All in Your Mind at Spirit Rock

April 13, 2018 10 – 4:30
The seeds of anxiety originate from a variety of sources: repeated trauma, illness, chronic pain, hormonal imbalance, a mind caught in fear of the unknown future. How we skillfully work with ourselves when anxiety takes root, including before anxiety emerges, comes in many forms.

Awareness of our internal landscape fosters the sensitivity to know when something is starting, rather than when it has already started. By developing mindfulness, we cultivate internal awareness to address the body before anxiety spreads, give kind attention to our bodies, and learn to recognize the progression of thoughts and emotions that arise prior to anxiety taking hold.

Learning Objectives:

Describe interoception/internal awareness as a practice for working with anxiety;
Define and describe how to cultivate and practice self regulation;
Describe methods for recognizing anxiety as a pattern in the body, in ways useful for alleviating or preventing future occurrences;
Describe mindfulness of the body practices as applicable interventions for anxiety;
Explain how mindfulness of thoughts and emotions practices can be used as interventions for anxiety.