Creating your Authentic Self
Welcome to Anxiety simplified Podcast. I am Joanne Williams, and I am here to share powerful strategies I have used myself and with my clients as a 30 year MH professional to lower anxiety, simply, that you can use too as we Bring this right into your own home or car, we hope this makes your life just a little happier and less stressed. And We really want to thank our Loyal listeners that are making this possible. So enjoy.
I’m offering a gift to celebrate out 1 year anniversary of during podcast every week I am offering a printable print of the 7 Attitudes of Mindfulness you can print off and have in front of you or on your desk to remind of some qualities, I think we all seek but few find in our Harried American lives and coming out of covid I see that we need more peace in our minds than ever to do a reset on what is important in your lives that can be practiced in the moment or as you go through your day.
These 7 attitudes can be life changing and in Podcast # 50, my celebration of one year of doing podcasts I will do an actual explanation behind it and the medical research of how it works and a demonstration of how to put this altogether in practice.
Today I will go over Kabat Zinn ‘s 7 attitudes to use them in a simple task.
The 7 Attitudes of Mindfulness according to Kabat-Zinn support overall wellness. These seven primary attitudes are the foundational fruits of mindfulness practice. By internalizing them, a variety of other attitudes can flow into our lives. Friendliness, gratitude, gentleness, curiosity, non-attachment, non-reactivity, happiness, and creativity as all possible outcomes with practice. Others can include attunement, persistence, confidence, and willingness. Being more in harmony with another human is an especially vital skill for helping your self to feeling less stress and more internal peace, no matter, if the kids are driving you crazy, internally you have a quiet place to be, as chaos is all around you.
Being non-judgmental of one's internal processes is at the heart of mindfulness practice. Non-judging refers to thinking, feeling, or responding without the influence of an internal sensor or critic. Non-judging is an attitude of "just noticing" thoughts, emotions, or whatever may surface as relevant. Non-judgment, however, does not endorse behaviors that put oneself or others in harm's way. For instance, consider a recovering addict who is experiencing an intense craving to use a substance following a stressful day. Non-judgment does not advocate that the person should just go out and use, which would certainly be harmful.
Rather, non-judgment encourages the person to just notice the craving, pay attention to it, SIT WITH IT and be with it in a spirit of non-judgment.
Mindfulness, especially if practiced regularly, helps us to become more patient with ourselves. Patience teaches how to wait with grace. By cultivating this attitude, one can not only learn to defer instant gratification, but also to be gentler with oneself when shame-based responses attempt to sabotage.
Thus, mindfulness practice is a way to RETAIN maladaptive cognitive and emotional responses like anxiety or depression while being gentle with oneself.
The mindfulness attitude that can significantly impact this retraining of the brain is "beginner's mind."
Beginner's mind is approaching each new task with an open mind. Think of the sense of wonder that a child attempting a task for the first time may experience. With this attitude, one can remove an expert's mindset and refrain from living on metaphorical autopilot.
Practicing any activity with a beginner's mind is also a very effective way to practice non-striving: thinking, feeling, or acting with focus on the process, not just the outcome. The name of this skill confuses many people, because Western culture tends to associate non-striving with giving up. Non-striving does not imply laziness or sloth.
Non-striving is an attitude that encourages one, even in work, to refrain from fighting so hard. In non-striving, whatever happens, happens. Consider the saying, "life is about the journey, not the destination," which epitomizes the spirit of non-striving.
The final three attitudes of mindfulness are also ideal for enjoying the journey without letting the stress of reaching the destination trouble us.
First, there is the attitude of trust, or having belief in some unseen entity, such as another person or group or the internal self. One can also practice trust in an outcome that may not be obvious during the journey by believing it is there and it will be reached when it is supposed to be reached.
The next attitude is acceptance, or coming to terms with reality no matter how harsh or unpleasant it may be.
Practicing acceptance can be a pathway to peace, and it does not imply one must "like" the reality in order to discontinue fighting. Acceptance is internalizing the attitude of "it is what it is." Finally, there is the attitude of letting go, or releasing one's "grip" on a situation, emotion, person, thing, or outcome. Letting go generally results in a freeing response (or at least the beginnings of one). This response can clear the path for wellness and growth.
By practicing tuning in to your self first, we all can be more effective a friends or family members nonverbal signals and sense any subtle shifts in energy or relational dynamics.
- Can have Connections with others
- No Shame or fear which disconnection, or no feeling of I am not worthy.
- Being Connected is being vulnerability to another
- There is a Sense of belonging and feeling worthy in that vulnerability that allows connection. Because they believe they are worthy.
- Have the Courage to tell you own story of imperfection.
- Being authentic, to feel your own personal worth when you connect with other whether in business or at home.
- Or Do something with no guarantee to feel authentic in the skin you are in to practice and see your reactions or defenses that pop up that are protecting you from your own inner feelings or fears.
- I will leave you with a way to start this practice today on a walk today.
Think about how "being in the moment" where there is no fear of sadness this can be practiced with each activity. practice mindfulness in activities of daily living?
MINDFUL WALKING
Instructions
- Think about looking toward the horizon during the walk instead of down at your feet.
- Consider the art of breaking this walk down into slow motion, as if you are experiencing it for the first time (i.e., beginner's mind).
- Standing tall, let your heel connect with the earth and allow the front part of your foot to point towards the sky.
- Very slowly step down, shifting the weight from your heel to the ball of the foot.
- Shift the weight from the ball to the toes.
- Deliberately repeat this same motion on the other foot.
- Continue taking this walk in this slow, deliberate fashion, observing each sensation with a new awareness. Let your walk truly be an exercise in mindful meditation.
This is by no means a replacement for therapy of any medical attention if you need it. Always reach out and take care of yourself or if you are feeling like you want to hurt yourself, there is always someone standing by at 1800-273-8255 or call 911. Remember to Share the Love.
