In part four of caring for anxiety, Robert Strock guides you on a journey to embrace and care for your anxiety. By focusing on self-awareness and self-compassion, Robert encourages you to develop a deeper connection with your emotions. This episode offers practical steps to recognize and welcome anxiety, transforming it into a source of strength and growth. Tune in to learn how to cultivate a caring relationship with your anxiety and enhance your emotional well-being. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast, and explore our Introspective Guides available on our website.
Resources related to this episode
• Robert Strock Website
• Podcast Episode Video (YouTube)
• Robert’s Book, “Awareness that Heals”
• The Introspective Guides (Free Download)
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Transcript
(00:04):
A very warm welcome to season three of Awareness That Heals where we have progressed to be able to focus on one challenging emotion at a time. This will allow you to choose a specific emotion that you’ve had challenges with and each one will have a progressive series of guided meditations that will allow you to go deeper and deeper into self-compassion. For me, it’s truly inspiring because each emotion has unique nuances for both self-care and responding to your environment at the same time, this is subtle and a rare skill as all too often we don’t stay aware of how we can care for ourselves as we are. I hope that you’ll not only find it helpful, but also give you deep resources that you can internalize when the emotion is most emerging. Continuing from the other meditations, you’re bringing your awareness to your anxiety right now and recognizing that as you develop this ability that you will start to identify more with the awareness more so than the caring. You might ask yourself, how are you doing with yourself? Which means that you have the capacity to be the awareness and the anxiety, and when you’re aware of the anxiety, then you’re doing well with yourself and especially as you add the caring
(01:55)
And just notice are you able to, at least in thoughts, if you can’t access feelings, be aware of your anxiety and have caring thoughts at the same time right now and see if you’re developing a greater tolerance and acceptance of your anxiety because of course, this acceptance and tolerance is going to aid you in not just being captured by the anxiety and perhaps you’re even able to bring a welcoming to the anxiety like it’s a friend or like it’s a part of you that you deeply want to care for and bring that caring, whether it’s alone or you with a friend or you with a difficult situation, you want to bring the awareness, ah, anxiety, I see you and of course I want to care for you and that will allow me to be my best self. That will allow you to be your best self while the anxiety is happening. And now ask yourself what question or two would be most helpful for you to accept the anxiety and learn more how you can grow? It may be something like what communication with a significant other or others do I need to have? That includes your anxiety perhaps, or while your anxiety is there, be able to still have a deep conversation with someone that matters to you.
(03:57)
What tone am I using as I’m expressing myself in a communication while the anxiety is there? Can I bring some of my caring tone while I’m communicating? You may want to acknowledge the anxiety. If you’re with somebody that is mature enough, that is compassionate enough to know they want to care for your anxiety too, they’re safe, they’re not going to judge you. As a matter of fact, they’re going to admire you for having the courage to be open about your anxiety with them. You’re modeling for them a level of emotional maturity. You want to watch out for the possibility of not seeing the anxiety. And maybe this is something in the past where you’ve acted out, you’ve gotten uptight, you’ve gotten angry, you’ve gotten intolerant, and if that’s happening now go back to anxiety. I see you. I’m going to tolerate you. I’m going to accept you. I may even be able to welcome you and wherever you are, you recognize you’re on a continuum. Continuing to develop and ask yourself what words or sentence or two would be most helpful for you. Now, how can I support you? That is such a great question. While you’re anxious,
(05:38)
I am here forever as an observer and a responder to you while you’re anxious and to the world while you’re anxious and I want to support you. Can you see me? As you are the observer of your anxiety and the responder anxiety, I am inviting you to be out in the open, at least with myself or yourself. Now an ongoing with people that are developed enough where they can be supportive of you like you’re being with yourself. It’s an ongoing communication with your anxiety and your awareness and your caring and your wish to care. Just feel into this statement right now where you are. I want to see tolerate and care for you. Now, anxiety, can you hear me? Anxiety, you aren’t nearly all of me. Can you feel that statement? Because sometimes anxiety appears like it’s God, like it’s all of you. No, the witness, the observer, the awareness is also there. The responder is also there and see if you can identify with that. The awareness is saying, I can see you and respond really well to you and the world anxiety, you are not a problem. That’s going to bring me down.
(07:40)
I know I can’t reliably control feelings, but I can control these thoughts that are supportive of me and I know you’re not anxious on purpose. Recognize your own innocence. See if you can let that in. Can you appreciate developing a caring relationship with your anxiety? Perhaps a lot. Can you see the benefit of increasing your caring relationship with your present anxiety? And lastly, see if you can appreciate your own growing sensitivity, honesty, and awareness that is all there to care for you while you are anxious. And may this be so now as much as possible.
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