How Sam Harris Utilizes Mindfulness to Tackle Anxiety
This technique also helps manage my existential dread.
It’s 3:05 pm and I’m on the phone with a site manager. He mentions that a system has gone down and that the production for the site has come to a complete stop. This is not good for the business. I know what I need to do next, but I’m crippled with several questions and suddenly find myself struggling to navigate my computer. Is this really what I need to do right now? Why do I feel so much pressure? What if I get yelled at for not getting this out in time? Am I working too slow?
These thoughts, among many others, seem to be relentless. It feels like I have no control over them. My heart is beating faster and if I lift my hands, I can see that they are trembling slightly. The impending doom and sense of panic seem to swallow me whole. I can’t focus on anything else.
Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, and author. Being a big proponent of meditation, I recently started reading his book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. Although I don’t mind the more mystical portion of spirituality, I’m not opposed to seeing spirituality through another lens.
Along with some of the books he has published, Harris also has quite a few clips on Youtube of snippets from his podcast and his guest appearances on other shows.
Before I get into the two things that Harris recommends in dealing with anxiety, I want to stress that if your anxiety is really bad, you may want to seek professional help. In combination with this technique, you can possibly utilize medication to help mitigate your symptoms.
Level 1 - Thinking Conceptually About the Problem
In the beginning paragraph, I mentioned how I had anxiety at work when dealing with a technology failure in the business. I was so caught up in the possibilities of the issue that I didn’t even properly address the situation in front of me. I didn’t even consider for a moment that the fix might be easy or that the person on the other line was leaving something important out.
Oftentimes when faced with anxiety-provoking situations, it can be hard for us to properly address the situation. Harris recommends thinking conceptually about the problem in front of you.
Harris brings up an important question that a person has to think about when experiencing anxiety: is this rational?
Was the anxiety that I was experiencing rational? If I really start to dig around, I realized that it wasn’t. The issue at the site was not my fault. No one was mad at me. So, why was I suddenly so nervous? Is it possible that I become nervous because the tone of the other person on the line was uncertain and shaky? That might be a lot closer to the truth.
So then, it’s important to step back for a moment and to ask that question about the rationality of the whole thing instead of getting completely bombarded by your thoughts.
However, I know that for myself, and many others, being able to rationalize a feeling of anxiety does not always help dispel it completely. This is what Harris attempts to address with the second technique.
Level 2 - Become Mindful of the Feeling of Anxiety
Earlier I had also mentioned that I experienced trembling in my hands when dealing with an issue at my workplace. This trembling only exacerbated my anxiety. It made me believe that I was on the verge of completely losing it.
The combination of trembling and having these thoughts of dread around my anxiety made it particularly hard to rationalize the situation. I realize now that I can ask myself another question when this happens: what is causing these feelings? I’ve learned that for the majority of the time, the feelings are directly connected to the thoughts. If that’s the case, how can I make the thoughts go away?
Whenever we experience unpleasant sensations, our first instinct is to get as far away from them as possible. When you’ve had too much to drink, you try as hard as possible not to throw up. However, you also know that you’ll probably feel a lot better if you do. The same situation occurs with anxiety.
There’s this gigantic guard clad in armor wielding a spear in front of a gate. In order to relieve yourself of the anxiety, you have to pass through the gate. This is easier said than done. The metaphorical guard is terrifying.
Becoming mindful of your feelings and the sensations that you’re experiencing allows you to completely eliminate this guard. By becoming mindful of the sensations, you can start to recognize them for what they are. At the core, they’re just harmless sensations.
You can fully feel these sensations by focusing on the rhythm of your breathing. Once you do that, it just comes down to pinpointing the different sensations occurring within your body.
Harris mentions that the sensations experienced when a person is anxious or excited are nearly identical. The thing that distinguishes them is the thoughts being created by the person. By becoming mindful of the raw sensations, it’s become easier for me to let go of the spiraling anxious thoughts that I was having.
Instead of getting stuck in a loop, I was able to observe the fire from the outside. I was able to stand back and allow it to wither out on its own. When I get stuck on the thoughts that I’m having, it’s like I’m just constantly adding branches to the fire.
Understanding That I’m Not My Thoughts
If you get one thing out of this post, let it be this. You are not your thoughts. When the anxiety kicks in and it tells you you’re worthless, incompetent, lazy, or whatever it may be, it is a vicious thought cycle that exists temporarily in your head. As Harris mentions “If you’re willing to let go of the thoughts, the actual anxiety can’t stay around for a long time.”
He’s right. The thought or anxiety is only allowed to exist as long as we allow it. In the grips of a seemingly terrible situation, this can be a lifeline. Although my anxiety is still there during tense situations, I’ve greatly diminished it using the techniques that Harris has shared. By continuing to utilize these techniques, I hope I’ll be able to get rid of it entirely. Until that day, I will continue to be mindful.
