Buddhism through anxiety

[jon mike]

Just wondering how many people in here have used Buddhism or have even started to practice the ways of Buddhism since they have had problems with or even controlled their anxiety?

[jessed03]

I did, massively. I think it has helped me a great deal. I've found some anxiety responds better, some doesn't. If it's in the body, Bhuddism can at least reduce the trauma, if it's in the mind, it can help a great deal. I think mindfulness was the basis for our modern CBT therapy, and the ideas of a multi-segment mind preceded Freud by a vast amount of time.

The area's it helped me in were identity, ego, control and an addiction to pain. I had an image in my head of how life had to be for me. I wouldn't rest until that was the case. I destroyed myself and others in the meantime. I was in here and the world out there was against me. My struggle became my identity, and I couldn't change things, as they had become a part of me. Learning to be nicer, to flow with life, and avoid judgement have helped me massively. I could never admit weakness, never be honest with myself, and could never get better.

I think we have addictions to pain too. Why is the news full of trauma, why are murder mystries, shoot em up's, crime drama's and action thrillers so popular? Why do people gossip, and why are celebrity divorce's and scandals always front page news. Why does the world tune in to watch the elaborate, gradiose displays of self importance demonstrated by the Kardashian wedding in 2011.

I think it's good to get centred when dealing with anxiety. Then you can see what your real problems are, and not your surface issues. For example I suffered bad OCD. Medicine treated OCD as the problem, and yeah, it was useful, but it didn't eliminate the roots. The real problem was I still subconsciously desired control, that I'd do anything to get it, even let this hurtful habit linger. Life feels more like letting the tide carry me, instead of swimming against the wave. Even in very bad times, I still feel pretty peaceful, I guess thats he best we can hope for if life deals us bad cards. I found Bhuddism helps treat the body as the friend, and not as an enemy like modern medicine often does. It brought me so much more into the present moment too. I literally lived my life inside my head, never really experiencing anything. I was just one of those people it really agreed with. But like everything, it was a part, not the whole of a cure :)

Two of my favourite zen quotes are:

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"

[jon mike]

Awesome :-)