Techniques For Reducing Eliminating Anxiety?

[Ryan_047]

The title says it all..I apologize if there was such topic created before,I couldn't find another.

I have problems mainly when talking in front of other people..My heart beating increases fast and sometimes I start shaking while waiting the moment I'm gonna talk in front of others..I have this problem at school (I'm 16) and it sucks so bad..In the past I liked to talk openly with teachers or have speeches but now..I just fear that I'll make fool of myself as I did many times..Why the situation changed now?I have suffered from depression (and still suffering but I can see the fucking light at the end of the tunnel..And my symptoms decreased)..And please don't tell me that I should try more to speak in front of others..That won't be any different than what I'm trying to do now..And I would get really frustrated.

[Christian]

I have the same problem with depressive symptoms, not wanting to make a fool out of myself, and I tend to overthink quite often. And I think if you do not want to make a fool out of yourself, the deeper issue is that you care too much about what other people think about you. At least that is the case for me and I still deal with these issues on a daily basis. 

But this is not about me; this is about you here. So what is the solution? Well... If you have these issues, I think you should "accept yourself as you are" and you are good enough. Just kidding, that does not help in the bigger picture when you are coming from the wrong perspective. You will probably end up resenting yourself if you just do that because clearly there is a problem here that also needs to be addressed.  The problem is more foundational. It really is lack of awareness I suppose. You are probably not aware of the mechanisms of your mind and how it functions and why you are acting the way you are acting. You have yet to develop a meta-perspective of your "mechanical nature". You do not really understand yourself and that is the real issue. But what helps develop this understanding? 

- Meditation

- Self inquiry (enlightenment work)

- Journaling

- Questioning and investigating your assumptions/beliefs

- Developing a watcher's-perspective (watching yourself from a 3rd person perspective) 

- Generally, raising awareness

- Living in integrity with your real authentic values

This right here is all you need, BUT the most CENTRAL is ACTION. ACTION, ACTION, ACTION. You need to take action to get any results. Start developing a habit out of these things I've listed. Start meditating daily, start journaling regularly, etc. If you do not take any action, that is the biggest mistake of all really. 

Hope this helped you, I feel like I did my best here at least.

 

 

[faith]

I hope I can shed some light on your situation, my friend

Personally, as I was in your position 10 years ago when I was your age, you have a great opportunity to start meditation. I didn't know about it back then, and as a result I suffered the same fate as you are suffering right now. I tried very hard to solve my problems, and I have read so many books to try to pinpoint the problem. 

After many years of soul searching, I found that meditation is really the only answer to the kind of issues you and I are having. Besides meditation, I honestly don't see anything else that will help you, as I've been through it all, so I am speaking from personal experience, and I just hope that sharing it with you will give you some perspective. 

If you start meditation right now, just think about where you will be when you're my age, or even when you are 18. It's a beautiful thing that teaches you only one thing, in my opinion, and that is how to forgive yourself and others. Of course that's only one of numerous benefits you'll get, but I think that's the most important one.

I wish you all the best my friend!

[Epiphany_Inspired]

I started one about diminishing fear...and I've replied to similar threads....so keep checking, there is more wisdom within the forum for you...try different key words....anyway here are three things that are helping me:

1. Shift the focus to what you DO want, beyond fear (visualize the amazing future outcomes you desire)

2. Trust in the universe, challenges are lessons, the universe is conspiring to help you....believe

3. Actually feel the emotion, truly, not just sort of feeling it while wishing it would go away....actually fully sink into the immersion of it....comfort and support the part of you feeling it....and eventually transcend it.....

[Prabhaker]

On 1/29/2017 at 3:13 AM, Ryan_047 said:

Techniques For Reducing Eliminating Anxiety?

FEELING ANXIOUS? BE ALERT!

When you feel anxious, anxiety-ridden, what is one to do? What do you ordinarily do when anxiety is there? You try to solve it. You try alternatives, and you get more and more into it. You will create a bigger mess because anxiety cannot be solved through thinking. It cannot be dissolved through thinking because thinking itself is a sort of anxiety.

This technique says don’t do anything with anxiety. Just be alert!

I will tell you one old anecdote about Bokuju, another Zen master. He lived alone in a cave, but during the day, or even in the night, he would sometimes say loudly, “Bokuju” – his own name, and then he would say, “Yes, I am here.” And no one else was there. 
Then his disciples used to ask him, “Why are you calling ‘Bokuju’, your own name, and then saying, ‘Yes sir, I am here’?” 
He said, “Whenever I get into thinking, I have to remember to be alert, and so I call my own name, ‘Bokuju.’ The moment I call ‘Bokuju’ and I say, ‘Yes sir, I am here,’ the thinking, the anxiety disappears.”

Then, in his last days, for two or three years, he never called “Bokuju,” his name, and never had to reply, “Yes sir, I am here.” 
The disciples asked, “Master, now you never do this.” 
So he said, “But now Bokuju is always there. He is always there, and there is no need. Before I used to miss him. Sometimes the anxiety would take me, cloud me all over, and Bokuju was not there. So I had to remember ‘Bokuju,’ and the anxiety would disappear....”

Try your name. When you feel deep anxiety, just call your name – not “Bokuju” or any name, but your name – and then reply to it, “Yes sir, I am here,” and feel the difference. Anxiety will not be there. At least for a single moment you will have a glimpse beyond the clouds, and that glimpse can be deepened. Once you know that if you become alert anxiety is not there, it disappears; you have come to a deep knowing of your own self and the mechanism of inner working.