You probably carry on conversations with yourself, even try to help yourself, by talking back to your worrisome thoughts. Cynthia could have countered her doubting thoughts with reassuring ones: I don’t know if I should take this trip could have been opposed with It’s okay, you’re just having second thoughts. Substituting a more nurturing thought is often very helpful. However, you can’t substitute an encouraging thought if you aren’t aware of what you’re thinking, and sometimes simply witnessing what’s going on is all that’s needed.

Cynthia practiced observing how her mind was functioning. She witnessed the worrisome thought, What if the trip doesn’t go well and this is a big mistake? and noted, These are doubt thoughts; my imagination is scaring me. Becoming aware of the thoughts and yoga for anxiety redirecting awareness back to her breath calmed her and brought her back into the present moment, where she could access intelligence: Here I am, in this moment, thinking these thoughts! Here’s doubt again.

By focusing on breathing, she disengaged from her thoughts and saw that they only served one function, to scare her. Cynthia felt a burst of energy when she saw her doubt for what it was. Her anxiety transformed into excitement.

Like Cynthia, your healing is a journey of understanding what happens inside you that causes your discomfort. Cynthia looked into her doubt and realized it had been with her for as long as she could remember. Once she became aware of its presence and named it "Double Doubter," she was empowered to follow her heart’s desire.

Remember how Mary, who, in spite of being directionally impaired, now travels regularly across the country by herself? For as long as Mary could remember, she had believed the thought, I’m unable to travel alone. Other thoughts, such as I don’t learn things easily and I’m not really intelligent, reinforced her sense of inadequacy. The deeper underlying story of identity was, I’m not competent enough.

For Mary, recognizing the story of identity was liberating. This story hasn’t gone away, because it has deep roots in her psyche. However, the story doesn’t have the emotional power that it once did and that was once the source of so much anxiety. Nor does it limit her. When she sees the story, she whispers, "Old, old story, innocent misunderstanding." She watches the activity of her mind and breathes, and expresses gratitude for the freedom from its bondage.

Anxiety causes a shrinking in consciousness and a reduction in your sense of self. Growing in consciousness expands your sense of self; as you learn more about yourself, you discover that there’s much more to you than you ever dreamed possible.

1. Take time to pause and center your awareness in your body.
2. Become aware of your body. Feel your hip bones on your chair and your feet on the floor. Feel your spine rise up out of your pelvis. Relax your shoulders. Relax your jaws.
3. Become aware of your energy. Notice your breath come in and out of your nostrils. Now notice breath come into and out of your chest. Now notice that breath moves into and out of your belly. Enjoy your breath!
4. Now, inquire into your potentiality by completing the following sentences:
What I truly want for myself is
My deepest yearning is to
What really matters to me is
If I could, I would
5. In a journal write what you truly want and what touches your heart. Tell your innermost desires to someone you trust.

To support your expansion, we turn to an exploration of who you truly are. Anxiety becomes less significant when you become aware of the significance of who you are.

Excerpt from Yoga for Anxiety: Meditations and Practices for Calming the Body and Mind by Mary NurrieStearns, LCSW, RYT , and Rick NurrieStearns.