Anxiety is quite a widespread problem, and many people told me they suffer from it. Like any other psychological problem, (meaning its source is found in the psyche), the main cause behind anxiety attacks is ignorance of our true nature.
Our true nature, as I have mentioned elsewhere, is consciousness. The fact of being conscious of. This reality of consciousness within us is different and distinct from what we are conscious of. In other words, our true nature, our true self, is not what is contained within consciousness, is not what we are conscious of.
Anxiety is basically a mixture of disturbing emotions and recurring thoughts that are also disturbing and unpleasant. Something triggers a train of thoughts related to emotions such as worry, fear, stress, doubt, etc. In turn, these mixtures of thought-emotions fuel the emergence of other thoughts of the same kind. This continues until the consciousness is somewhat buried by the anarchic, incessant, suffering and suffocating activity of this mixture of emotion-thought forms which, I repeat, are not consciousness itself.
When consciousness has not realized that its fundamental nature is distinct from the emotions and thoughts which constantly pass through it, it is very difficult, or rather impossible, to stop them using only will power. Hence, the key is precisely the ability to make this distinction.
From the spiritual perspective, so-called “negative” thoughts, and emotions are “things”, are energies of a certain kind, with their own laws, their own dynamism, their own characteristics. One of these characteristics is a tendancy to self-preservation and expansion in a way that resembles a kind of crystallization, or fattening within consciousness. It can get to the point where consciousness is being obsessed with, or possessed by certain forms of thoughts-emotions. It can get to the point where consciousness is (almost) no longer able to see anything apart from the effects of these forms, of which it has become a slave.
In all cases, the basic solution remains the same. The energy that we call “consciousness” if it is more present, or more powerful, than that of thought-emotion, it will force them to dissipate or to disappear, according to their nature. Thus, the solution is to be more conscious, that is to say, more attentive. Attention is a synonym for the word consciousness, as are the words “alertness”, “vigilance” or "concentration". When attention is fully present, no thought, no emotion can impose itself on consciousness. Thoughts and emotions emerge unceasingly and anarchically only when consciousness is dissipated, dreamy, distracted or lazy, that is to say, when it lets itself be dragged in all directions by thoughts and emotions, whether they are disturbing or not. Therefore, to overcome anxiety, you have to make an effort to be attentive.
For example:
What's going on in my consciousness right now? Pay attention to the activity of the psyche.
What triggered the emergence of this particular train of thought, this train of feeling? A memory, a situation, a sensation, a perception?
Be attentive - put your attention on what's going on within.
Remain vigilant - realize that you have become distracted - bring your attention back.
Put your attention, your concentration “on” or directly “in” the anxiety.
Face anxiety with attention, but also, with patience. With confidence, let the energies called “awareness”, “alertness” or “attention” have their natural effect on those called “stress”, “fear”, “worry”, “depression”, or “doubt”. Gradually, sooner or later, they will have no choice but to lose their potential and will go towards their inevitable disappearance. These things are not eternal, it is in their nature to emerge, then to disappear. Faced with the more fundamental energy of consciousness, they will have to disappear, because that is the nature of these things.
Focus on - Be alert to - Be aware of ... Please note that the solution is not “think about”, nor “reflect upon”. Adding more thoughts will not help calm the mind and will not help clear consciousness. The goal here is precisely to achieve a clearer realization of what is the nature of consciousness which, I repeat, is not thought (or conceptual mind).
So, to overcome anxiety, the spiritual principles to remember are:
1. First, that the nature of consciousness is distinct from that of thoughts and emotions, which together form the psyche.
2. Next, that the nature of emotions and thoughts is to emerge and eventually disappear.
3. That these things are nevertheless forms of energies, very real and not simply imaginary. It is in their nature to perpetuate their own existence, to ensure that an infinity of other thoughts and emotions of the same kind constantly emerge from the psyche.
4. That this disturbing activity of the psyche is only possible if consciousness is too unconscious, that is to say, distracted, dreamy, dispersed, or lazy.
5. That the solution is always a question of consciousness - meaning that more vigilance, attention, thus, more consciousness will always overcome the anarchic activity of the psyche and impose a vigilant calmness.
Everything about spirituality is ultimately a matter of consciousness, that is to say, a matter of self-knowledge, of the realization that our true self is consciousness itself.