Usually, practicing being mindful just brings about more anxiety than if I were to lose myself into doing something that has the capability of swallowing me whole - such as playing video games, running, driving, having long walks.
That's what being mindful is all about! It teaches you how to be present in the moment and let those negative anxious thoughts pass by rather than consume you.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/25/mental-healt...
There is no letting go unless your meditation practice has first allowed you to fully express that which is holding you back.
Meditation isn’t just getting into the zone.
Have you tried? It's not easy. It's taken months but my anxiety has noticeably decreased, though there's still a long way to go. Several times I've "let my guard down" and relapsed, thinking that I didn't have to try so hard anymore. I've come to admit that it's going to be a daily thing that I have to watch for, though it does get easier.
> There is no letting go unless your meditation practice has first allowed you to fully express that which is holding you back.
Yes, that's exactly what you have to do. You can't let something go if you don't know what it is. Maybe you have an inaccurate idea of what mindfulness is?
Lol, I'd much rather prefer for those negative anxious thoughts to not occur in the first place (and there is a superior method to achieve this), much less having to have to let them pass by or consume me. This is why meditation is not a solution.
I suspect you're doing this without realizing it; you're analyzing your anxieties until you understand them, and then they stop happening over time as you stop giving them so much attention.
Also, while negative thoughts are not pleasant, learning to maintain your sense of self while under duress (whether internally or externally derived) can be very useful.
I'm curious to hear about your solution / "superior" method though, even if I am skeptical for the reasons given above.
See my other comment about the method I practice.
That this can facilitate less "holding on" to thoughts and emotional states is a nice side effect.
For me and the communities I am a part of - I've noticed something that feels "deeper", here, which is that I've learned to not try to avoid things that feel negative - really, to befriend and even welcome every and all emotional state with curiosity and compassion. In this way, I've felt much less reactive, and much more capable of introspecting on what is going on within myself. This, combined with various other practices, support, and therapy, has been uncovering some really big changes in my life, both internally and externally.
This reminds me of a concept that is frequently discussed by a teacher and author I recommend - Tara Brach (she has a great podcast series).
She talks about the twin wings of compassion and awareness that are fundamental to many schools of Buddhism. Awareness === mindfulness, mastery of the mind and thought. Without compassion, i.e., opening of the heart - mindfulness doesn't have the same kind of potency for cultivation. It's hard to fly with only one wing. There's been a very large push for mindfulness but less so for unconditional love. Probably because we are a very cognitively-focused society, with many, many powerful disembodying influences.
To stay connected to ones heart is a somatic experience. In my own experience and, again, hearing from many others, this is much more challenging than practicing different kinds of mindfulness meditation on a regular basis. Certainly not even remotely close to impossible - it's a natural state of our physiology that's often been deconditioned. There are many tools, techniques, and systems to help us re-access this state.
With compassion, unconditional love can be brought to all aspects of yourself, all parts of experience that our egoic states might want to categorize as "bad" (or "good"). And, if we can really give this to ourselves, then we bring it out into the world, to share with as many beings as possible.
Running is somewhat similar in that at first it is uncomfortable but your body learns to lean into it.
That being said, prolonged periods of mindfulness and focus can bring about unparalleled states of bliss, but those are fleeting.
Anxiety went away from the moment that I've read and accepted that there is no right or bad way to being mindful or meditate. Also not being negative against bad feelings that could arise when practicing and just observe was a big step for me and made it easier to make it go away or make it less powerfull.