The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, Ronald D. Siegel, 2010

A Lexington, MA psychologist suggests mindfulness as a therapeutic approach to anxiety, somatic ills, fear of death, etc and defines mindfulness as Awareness of present experience and its acceptance.  He then goes on to recommend approaches to informal and formal practice, suggesting that one spend 20 minutes/day focused on the breath, the body, or sounds in order to achieve concentration of the mind and thus, awareness and acceptance of the present moment.  Acceptance leads to empathy and compassion, changing our relationship to the inevitable pain and failures of life.  Concentrating the mind is like ‘tuning a lute’, interrupting the mental habits that create suffering, and focusing and stabilizing the mind.

“Breathing in, I calm my body.

Breathing out, I smile

Dwelling in the present moment

I know this is a wonderful moment.” 

To deal with anxiety, one needs to ‘step into fear’ or adopt the notion that ‘thoughts are only thoughts’.  The former allows one to let their thoughts live with the fear, confront the anxiety and increase the capacity to bear it. The latter translates the anxiety into images of bubbles in the brook passing down and away.   The goal is to live freely and accept the contents of our minds and the events of our lives.  Let go of attachment to the idea that events must turn out a particular way and experience flow and happiness.