Three Ways to Manage Dread

Beth Kurland was on a flight when the pilot instructed people to fasten their seatbelts due to severe weather ahead. Beth describes how she was anxious for the rest of the flight imagining the worst. “There was no actual turbulence, just anticipation that created my suffering.” It turned out to be a smooth, uneventful flight. As she analyzed her dread, she developed three suggestions for being mindful when dealing with anxiety. Notice: “In what way is my mind creating a story about something that is not actually happening right now, or only happening in my mind?” Be with: Being with "what is" takes “the resistance and emotional struggle out of fighting something we can’t change.” Conjuring difficulty: What is actually present? “There is anxiety in my body—yes. And then there is the narrative my mind is constructing.” Following these suggestions “can often bring some ease to even the most challenging moments.”

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