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The word mindfulness seems like its everywhere. But what is mindfulness? A good working definition for this article is that mindfulness is being present, on purpose and non-judgmentally, in the current moment. Mindfulness is a broad concept but it includes awareness of thoughts, urges, sensations, feelings, and behaviors. We build mindfulness with intention and by returning to the present moment again and again. Furthermore, mindfulness is practiced with an attitude that is nonjudgmental, curious, and kind.
So what can mindfulness do for your anxiety? Well research has shown that mindfulness is beneficial for a wide variety of mental health issues including anxiety. In fact, mindfulness is beneficial to so many types of mental health issues that more modern forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy like Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, called Third Wave CBTs, often include mindfulness as an additional component.
Mindfulness can be beneficial to us in a number of different ways including:
- encouraging us to open up and accept our emotions
- processing and communicating emotions more effectively
- seeing things from a different perspective
- giving us space to step out of our initial or habitual responses
- reducing reactivity which allows us to see situations more clearly
- helping us to get less caught up in our thoughts, emotions, and urges
This list is not exhaustive but can begin to give you an idea of how powerful mindfulness can be. In fact a quick google search might astound you at the many benefits of mindfulness like lowering blood pressure, improving mood and energy, treating heart disease, reducing chronic pain, and alleviating digestive issues.
So, you might be asking, if mindfulness is so good for me, how do I start building it? This can be a daunting task. Most of us don’t learn mindfulness growing up and almost all of us live in a very mindless culture. The good news is there are specific steps and skills that you can take.
As mentioned, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or DBT, a type of third wave CBT (or cognitive behavioral therapy - essentially changing the way you think helps change the way you feel and act), lays out some great steps on mindfulness.
Step 1: Wise Mind
The first concept you learn when building DBT mindfulness skills is Wise Mind. All human beings have both an emotional mind and a logical mind. We naturally tend to one side or another and our life experiences can reinforce that tendency setting us up for a dualistic understanding of how the mind works.
Wise Mind teaches us to value the balance of both emotional and logical mind. We can see the value that both offer us and learn to use the wisdom from both to make the most effective decisions. (I like conceptualizing decisions as effective versus ineffective instead of good or bad. Less judgement and more discernment.)
Wise Mind is less a mindfulness skill per se and more of a framework that we use to build mindfulness skills. Let’s take a look at those skills now which DBT splits into two types: What and How skills.
Step 2: WHAT skills show us what to do to be mindful and they include…
1. Observe:
This skill teaches us to slip into the role of observer where we witness what is occurring but do not judge or react. When we’re using our observe skill, we rely on our senses for information and pay attention, on purpose, in the present moment.
We control our attention but not what we observe - we cling to nothing and we push away nothing. It can also be helpful to practice wordless watching, where you observe and allow the words that form to describe your experience to naturally ebb and flow. We observe both inside and outside of ourselves.
Practice Idea: Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and listen to some music. Don’t react - just observe. What do you hear? What do you see? What do you feel? Try not to judge. Just notice.
2. Describe:
This skill teaches us to put words to what we’ve observed. When a thought, feeling, or sensation arises, we acknowledge it and name it. We learn to stick to the facts and focus on the who, what, when, and where. This allows us to unglue our opinions or interpretations from the actual facts of the situation and allows us to see more clearly.
Just remember, if you can’t observe it with your senses, then you can’t describe it.
Practice Idea: Go somewhere to people watch. Observe what’s going on around you. Use your senses and begin to put words to your observations. Try to stick to the facts. Write things down.
3. Participate:
This skill encourages us to throw ourselves completely into whatever it is we’re doing. You are going with the flow, acting from your Wise Mind, and reacting spontaneously - which teaches us how to hear and trust our natural intuition. You’re also letting go of the thoughts and beliefs that hold us back from experience, usually related to insecurity or fear.
Practice Idea: Go do something, anything. But do it 100%. Dive into it. Notice what comes up that might hinder this - fear? insecurity?
Step 3: How skills show us how to practice the What skills in order to keep the spirit of mindfulness and they include…
1. Non-judgment
This skill teaches us to let go of the judgements that have become habitual for most of us along the way. We’re accepting experiences as they unfold and trying not to judge it as good or bad. We learn to acknowledge the difference between safe or dangerous, effective or non-effective but can let go of good and bad.
The most important aspect of this skill is that you will end up judging again and you want to just acknowledge it and try not to judge your judging. :)
2. One-mindfully
This skill reminds us to do things with singleminded purpose. Be here, right now. Whatever you are doing, do just that. Notice the desire to be half-present and return to the present moment. You will concentrate your mind and practice letting go of distractions, again and again and again.
3. Effectively
The last skill we’ll discuss teaches us to focus on effectiveness. What is the goal in any given situation and how do you meet it? Focus on what works and practice not allowing your emotional mind to get in the way of being effective.
Part of being effective is playing by the rules, acting as skillfully as you can, and letting go of willfulness. We often want situations to be different than they are but if we can accept the reality of what is, we can focus on staying effective where we are right now.
Learning and practicing these skills will go a long way to helping you build mindfulness. I also recommend putting a mindfulness-building activity into your daily routine. Meditation is one way to do that and arguably the fastest way to supercharge your mindfulness skills. Meditation actually helps to build brain matter in a way that supports improved executive functioning all around, of which mindfulness is one aspect. You can also try things like yoga, mindful walking, mindful eating, or doing anything you’re doing with a mindful spirit.
So how can you apply this concept to anxiety? I have a few ideas:
1. Increasing awareness of your patterns.
This is often an early step in my therapy process. Usually we’re so full with reactions and judgements about ourselves and our symptoms that we can’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak. Mindfulness can help us to see more clearly the patterns of our mind and emotions. This information then feeds the rest of the work we need to do and allows us to be more effective. I also suggest writing the insights you gain down as that is a more effective way for assessing behavior over time and noticing recurring themes.
2. Stopping worry cycles
One thing we should start to build awareness of is what’s called a worry cycle. Worry cycles are often triggered by something (a thought, a stressor, etc.) and then our mind begins to worry. Usually we do this for a while, steadily feeling worse and worse, and then try to regulate ourselves at the end. But by that point our emotions are so far gone that it’s a lot harder. However, learning to spot and stop a worry cycle before it starts can go a long way to preventing this type of issue and helping our overall mental wellness.
3. Observing versus reacting
The Observe skill really comes into play here as we learn to observe our anxiety including our worries, thoughts, and physical sensations. Part of observing them is learning to tolerate them and not to immediately react to them. This knee jerk reaction can often prohibit our ability to be as effective as we need to be and can make things a lot worse.
4. Using the breath
Learning to identify anxiety patterns and symptoms can help us to know when we need to intervene. Mindfulness work often uses the breath as an anchor and a way to move energy throughout the body. Pranayama work in yoga does the same.
I love using the breath to manage anxiety symptoms because its super effective and the breath is always with me. Learning to take some slow, deep breaths when feeling anxious can help to manage your symptoms and to anchor your mind on your mindfulness skills instead of the thoughts racing through your head.
There are literally hundreds of breathing exercises and types of breaths out there. I encourage you to research them and try out as many as you can. I’m often surprised at how different types of breathing exercises can be effective for different situations or symptoms.
All-in-all mindfulness has a lot of application to anxiety and other mental health issues. This article is in no way exhaustive of that application but, hopefully, is something to pique your interest and start you on your own journey of learning about and practicing mindfulness. That’s the key to learning mindfulness - you have to practice it and not just read about.
Maybe you’ll do some more of your own research online,, read some of the hundreds of books about mindfulness, or download a meditation app so you can start to put some practice into your daily routine. The goal is to let this article inspire you on your own journey of developing this valuable skill.
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