You commit to doing what you care about with whatever your mind or old history dishes out.

The most critical element that separates normal from problematic anxiety and fear is this: avoidance, avoidance, and more avoidance. It’s the common tie that binds all anxiety disorders together. Avoidance of fear and anxiety feeds anxiety and fear, and it shrinks lives.

One thing we’ve noticed again and again in working with people struggling with anxiety and fear-related problems is this: they constantly beat up on themselves. They feel that they’re not good enough; they’re too weak; they just haven’t got what it takes to lead a more fulfilled life. They’re somehow broken. No book lists this type of

People with GAD often have a pervasive feeling that they can do little to predict and control stressful events in their lives, so they end up worrying about them. There’s now convincing research evidence that people engage in worry as a way to avoid this unpleasant imagery and the physical tension associated with anxiety

I need the capacity to experience worry, anxiety, and fear just like I need air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat.

For instance, you may experience rapid heartbeat; breathlessness; smothering sensations; increased blood pressure; feel hot, sick to your stomach, or dizzy; or break out in a sweat. You may even feel as though you’re about to pass out.

Our goal is to foster your willingness to take your inner emotional discomfort along with you in the service of your life goals and dreams.

It involves active skills that’ll help you to respond differently—with kindness, compassion, gentleness, less engagement—when anxieties, fears, worries, panic, and other sources of emotional and psychological pain show up.

You change your relationship with your anxious discomfort—especially how you act in the presence of it—by no longer fighting