How I got out of Anxiety

I had severe anxiety for 30 years and now it has gone. Completely.

How did this happen?

One: I got treatment for my trauma using EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). I know this sounds like a mouthful but it works. I found a therapist who used this method and worked with him for some time. It is very simple and allows you to reprocess trauma which may be recent or from way back in your past. I believe that untreated trauma is a core ingredient in anxiety and , believe me, everybody has some trauma. You don't have to go to war to get it. Any strong or overwhelming experience that your brain is not able to process can result in trauma. The experience does not even have to be that big, it is how it effects you that matters.

Two: I did a lot of meditation. particularly loving kindness meditation or shamatha (calming the mind) meditation. When I say I did a lot I don't mean I meditated for hours on end, I mean I meditated for 20 mins every day (and sometimes I forgot). You won't feel any effects for probably a month but it will work. There are plenty of places online where you can get free lessons on how to meditate. A note about meditation, it is not about emptying the mind or even to feel peaceful and happy, it is about just being with yourself as you are and observing whatever arises non judgmentally and with loving kindness. You don't try to 'fix' yourself or 'change' yourself or become a better or happier person, or 'do' anything . You just allow yourself to be with how you are, whether that feels positive, negative or indifferent. This takes practice. You are learning a skill that will eventually calm your mind and bring you peace.

When your mind is more peaceful and your trauma is more processed, in my experience, the fear, dread, terror and anxiety will all go away.

I wish you all the best in your path to freedom xxx

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