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

you’ll need to learn how to acknowledge anxious thoughts and feelings without “becoming” them, and without acting on them and doing what they say.

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

His greatest fear was of the panic itself.

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.

“I have reclaimed what was always mine: a full life—not without worry—but one where worry and fear occupy a safe place that feels okay.”

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

The antidote to this mind virus is compassion and learning skills that will help you look at and relate to your mind, body, and life in a different way—a way that won’t get you tangled up in what your mind is throwing at you all the time.

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