Mindfulness 101: Mindful Worrying

This is the time for the kick-start to charge into the summer, fueled by caffeine and adrenaline.  Deadlines and pressure to meet them seem to come at us from every side, leaving us stressed out, irritable and utterly sleep deprived.  

While a triple shot of espresso might be a short term solution to increasing mental stamina, researchers Marsha Linehan and Jon Kabat-Zinn offer a modern twist to focus the mind and body, yielding constructive, balanced reactions to the stress of school, through mindfulness.  

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally,” wrote Kabat-Zinn in his 1994 book Wherever You Go, There You Are. Practically, mindfulness is a mechanism “to be more in touch with the fullness of your being through a systematic process of self-observation, self-inquiry, and mindful action,” wrote Kabat-Zinn.   

Another way to think about it is “putting your mind where your feet are” (Hall, 2009), meaning your mind is focused only on the information directly in front of you- not the outcomes.   Thoughts of impending doom of taking the exam and your expectations of the grade you receive get in the way of your attention and focus on the reading assignment or problem set.

Mindful worrying can be a great way to begin a study session or group work.  It may seem counterintuitive to write a list of the issues you’re worried about concerning your work, but in doing so you identify and label your fears to develop a way to approach them.  The exercise is to select one of the fears or worries and think, talk, or scream about it for a specific period of time, typically 3 to 5 minutes. 

If the fear comes back as you work, acknowledge that it exists, and then consciously say to yourself, “Yes, it scares me that I don’t know the difference between a beta-blocker and a meta-analysis, but I’m going to keep working and I am not going to give any more attention to my fear.”   

You’ve acknowledged that the fear exists, validated your emotional experience, and given yourself the steps you need to succeed. 

Validation has several levels, and they are better discussed by Karyn Hall and Melissa Cook, The Power of Validation: Arming Your Child Against Bullying, Peer Pressure, Addiction, Self-Harm, and Out-of-Control Emotions.  Click here to learn more about The Power of Validation" by Karyn Hall and Melissa Cook.



One last thought about mindfulness and the nature of worry when troubles and stress surround us.  This is an example of a DBT skill called Vacation.  It is a part of IMPROVE the Moment.