When anxious · 10 minutes

How to practise The 48 Laws of Power when anxious.

The 48 Laws of Power — a practice from Modern is A literacy of power, read it to recognise the game whether you want to play it or not. Here is how to bring it into your life when the chest tightens and the thoughts will not slow.

  1. Step 1

    Move the body half a metre

    Stand up if you were sitting; sit down if you were standing. Anxiety often holds its grip through posture. Break the posture first; the thought softens after.

  2. Step 2

    Speak the teaching to yourself once, out loud

    Say it quietly: A literacy of power, read it to recognise the game whether you want to play it or not. The tradition is older than your panic. Letting it speak in your own voice gives it a small foothold.

  3. Step 3

    Do one act of the practice in under a minute

    One breath cycle. One line of journal. One slow sip. The 48 Laws of Power is not a long ladder right now; it is one rung you reach for to keep from falling.

Most of The 48 Laws of Power is not about banishing what you feel. It is about staying in the room with it long enough that it changes shape on its own.

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