Targeting a specific anxiety with mindfulness -please help

[ezzo]

Hello, I have been an active reader of this forum but this is my first post, i hope you can help

I have been practising mindfulness for about a year and it has had a positive impact on my anxiety levels overall. I do however have a big issue that creates constant anxiety for me day in, day out and I need some guidance on how I can apply mindfull ness to the problem to keep the anxiety at bay. I will do my best to explain so please be patient with me

About 5 years ago, i developed 'eye floaters' For thoses who dont know what they are, they are part of the natural ageing process and are in no way harmfull. What happens is the vitreous gel in the eyebal shrinks and creates debris, This in turn creates floating spots / cobweb shapes in the field of vision that is most noticeable during daylight / looking at the sky etc. These dark spots follow my field of vision and are the same ones that are always there - a bit like a mole on the arm - its always there

When i first got these floaters i panicked and my anxiety went through the roof, i have my eyes fully tested 6 times in 1 month! I scoured forums and spoke to opticians, they all said the same thing - they are a harmless part of the ageing process and not dangeourous - they are merley annoying. I DO accept that they are harmless but every time i see them my anxiety shoots up and irrational thoughts come in (am i going blind, will they get worse etc) As they are always in my line of vision they are impossible to ignore, Its like every time i go out in sunlight, there they are and i suffer from anxiety which is totally irrational!

Im at my wits end, this is a major issue in my life, I try to apply mindfullness to the problem but its not working. How should i approach the problem? The next time i go out, i will have these floaters cross my field of vision which will lead to irrational thoughts about them which in turn crates anxiety

If it was a mole on my back then i could just ignore it but i cant ignore sometjhing thats there in my vision. Please help

Here is a link to explain more about what floaters are
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/floaters/P ... ction.aspx

Thank you everyone for your support on this excellent forum
Ezzo

[piedwagtail91]

hi ezzo
i can fully understand your anxiety.
it's not irrational,it's understandable.
i also have floaters.
i've had them for more years than i can remember - old age!!

they are harmless but can be very annoying as you already know.
bright days and white surfaces are worst for me.

they don't bother me so much now as they did at first, when they do really 'hog my vision' i try to relax rather than get anxious, i sort of try to see beyond them rather than focus on them.

i suppose i see it a bit like thoughts, the more i focussed on them then the worse and more noticeable they were and the more anxious i got, just as with thoughts.

now just as i notice thoughts and let them go i try to 'see beyond' the floaters, they're still there but i suppose it's like looking at a net curtain in a window, if you focus on the curtain then you can't see through it but focussing beyond that lets you see though it.
difficult at first and it does take practice.
i know this sounds complicated but hope it helps in some way.
mick

[ezzo]

Thanks Mick

The actual floaters dont bother me physically, they do not interfere with my vision much at all, it is the anxiety they create that im trying to manage - its irrational anxiety because i am aware that they are not serious

Im confident that mindfullness will find a way but need guidance

Maybe someone knows of a technique that they use to target a specific problem like this?

thank you everyone
ezzo

[Gareth]

I need some guidance on how I can apply mindfull ness to the problem to keep the anxiety at bay.

The thing is, we can't keep the anxiety at bay. It comes of its own accord; just the brain thinking that it is protecting us.

Try and bring a little more acceptance to the anxiety, rather than just wishing it weren't here every time it comes. This can create an internal struggle that makes matters worse. Have a look at this recent blog from one of our contributors. I'm sure it will help:

http://www.everyday-mindfulness.org/mak ... y-anxiety/

[piedwagtail91]

beaten to it by gareth!
the floaters are bothering you physically but not in the sight sense.
anxiety is as much in the body as the mind.
those tensing sensations , that kicked in the stomach feeling, those are the physical sensations of anxiety.
it's those sensations and that situation that 'working with difficulty' is designed to help with. help you to be with them and explore them, break the cycle of thoughts feeding emotions feeding thoughts.
mindfulness can help by taking your awareness to those physical sensations to help break the cycle of thoughts and emotions feeding from each other.

[Steve]

I had floaters appear a few years ago but I've not noticed them for a long time. As you say, if you accept them, your brain sees past them and in effect switches off the awareness of them. Maybe the same could apply to anxiety. If you just accept this as prehistoric parts of your mind seeking to protect you, that anxiety is just a natural reaction to a situation, maybe your brain will learn to see past this, accept that it arises and just let it go (rather than get caught up in it) and allow you to choose how to respond to the situation.

Its like the conundrum, how do you stop yourself thinking about a pink elephant? The harder you try the less success you have, the less you try the easier it is.

Steve

[MelliOBrien]

Hi Ezzo and folks,

Great comment from Gareth above!

Ezzo, maybe it could be interesting and helpful if we do a quick investigation of what anxiety is. A less acute version of anxiety is what we would call 'worry' right.

Worry is not an externally caused condition (In other words it is not caused by eye floaters or bills to pay or the kids or the boss). Its a thought that interprets and reacts to those external things.

Anxiety is simply a particular type of thought pattern, nothing more. A ‘worry’ or ‘anxious’ thought occurs when the mind projects itself into the future and imagines something going wrong. What is the emotion generated by these types of thoughts or mental movies? Fear.

So fear is the natural response of the body to the worrying or anxious thoughts that are arising in the mind.

Though these imagined future events are not happening in reality, you are still going through the events in your mind.

Your mind cannot tell the difference between your imaginings and reality, so the thoughts have almost the same impact on you as the actual event would!

So How Can You Work More Skilfully With Anxiety?
Learn to recognize worry and anxiety thoughts for what they are. Just thought patterns - not reality. By observing them rather than believing them they begin to lose their power to ‘take you over'. Don't believe your thoughts and don't take them all that seriously. They're just thoughts.

This is a practice of mindfulness. Observation of thoughts opens up inner space and gives us a way of stepping back from all conditioned thoughts and behaviours giving us a choice in whether or not to believe them or play them out.

A Way of Dealing With Worry: Label and Let Go
One technique for dealing with worry proposed by Dr. Christopher Walsh is a technique he calls the “just worrying” labeling. It’s a very simple technique: whenever you find yourself worrying about something, note to yourself that you’re “just worrying.”

By doing this you become present as the witness of your thoughts instead of being completely taken over by them. You now have the power to choose to let it go.

After you label it, then turn your focus to your breathing or just simply bring your attention into the present moment and what your doing. Every time you catch yourself worrying—no matter how often—you employ the technique again.

Don’t Fight the Feeling
Whatever You Fight, You Strengthen, and What You Resist, Persists – Eckhart Tolle

When using the “just worrying” technique, like any other mindfulness exercise, it is important not to fight your feelings. Don’t criticize yourself for having the feeling or try to force the thoughts out of your head. In short -don’t struggle with the thoughts (or feelings).

Instead of fighting, observe your worries objectively and calmly. By labelling it “just a worry,” you mentally acknowledge its presence (you become aware of it) without giving it more importance or power than it deserves.

You don’t need to waste energy fighting it, but you also no longer follow it and ‘buy into it’. Acknowledge it, label it, drop it and move on from it.

I also highly recommended practicing mindfulness on a daily basis to strengthen your capacity not to be caught up in anxious thinking.

I hope this strategy helps you to you to cultivate a beautiful, worry free mind and a happy fulfilling life.

Love Melli

[MelliOBrien]

By the way Ezzo, you might find it interesting to read this blog post I recently put on my website about an incident that elicited my anxiety response and what it was like for me to experience applying mindfulness to it in real time http://mrsmindfulness.com/awakening-out-of-anxiety/

[Happyogababe]

Hi Ezzo and folks,

Great comment from Gareth above!

Ezzo, maybe it could be interesting and helpful if we do a quick investigation of what anxiety is. A less acute version of anxiety is what we would call 'worry' right.

Worry is not an externally caused condition (In other words it is not caused by eye floaters or bills to pay or the kids or the boss). Its a thought that interprets and reacts to those external things.

Anxiety is simply a particular type of thought pattern, nothing more. A ‘worry’ or ‘anxious’ thought occurs when the mind projects itself into the future and imagines something going wrong. What is the emotion generated by these types of thoughts or mental movies? Fear.

So fear is the natural response of the body to the worrying or anxious thoughts that are arising in the mind.

Though these imagined future events are not happening in reality, you are still going through the events in your mind.

Your mind cannot tell the difference between your imaginings and reality, so the thoughts have almost the same impact on you as the actual event would!

So How Can You Work More Skilfully With Anxiety?
Learn to recognize worry and anxiety thoughts for what they are. Just thought patterns - not reality. By observing them rather than believing them they begin to lose their power to ‘take you over'. Don't believe your thoughts and don't take them all that seriously. They're just thoughts.

This is a practice of mindfulness. Observation of thoughts opens up inner space and gives us a way of stepping back from all conditioned thoughts and behaviours giving us a choice in whether or not to believe them or play them out.

A Way of Dealing With Worry: Label and Let Go
One technique for dealing with worry proposed by Dr. Christopher Walsh is a technique he calls the “just worrying” labeling. It’s a very simple technique: whenever you find yourself worrying about something, note to yourself that you’re “just worrying.”

By doing this you become present as the witness of your thoughts instead of being completely taken over by them. You now have the power to choose to let it go.

After you label it, then turn your focus to your breathing or just simply bring your attention into the present moment and what your doing. Every time you catch yourself worrying—no matter how often—you employ the technique again.

Don’t Fight the Feeling
Whatever You Fight, You Strengthen, and What You Resist, Persists – Eckhart Tolle

When using the “just worrying” technique, like any other mindfulness exercise, it is important not to fight your feelings. Don’t criticize yourself for having the feeling or try to force the thoughts out of your head. In short -don’t struggle with the thoughts (or feelings).

Instead of fighting, observe your worries objectively and calmly. By labelling it “just a worry,” you mentally acknowledge its presence (you become aware of it) without giving it more importance or power than it deserves.

You don’t need to waste energy fighting it, but you also no longer follow it and ‘buy into it’. Acknowledge it, label it, drop it and move on from it.

I also highly recommended practicing mindfulness on a daily basis to strengthen your capacity not to be caught up in anxious thinking.

I hope this strategy helps you to you to cultivate a beautiful, worry free mind and a happy fulfilling life.

Love Melli

Hi Melli,

That is an excellent resource, very helpful and easy to understand.

[Mischa]

Thanks Melli, very helpfull.

I do 'suffer' from anxiety attacks now and then and though it is getting better, I still need to update my knowledge now and then to be able to deal with it when it occurs.
I am often on the verge of 'getting totally panicked' and 'accepting the anxiety and moving on'.
It's bloody hard at times, that's for sure.