When anxious · 10 minutes
How to practise Dharma when anxious.
Dharma — a practice from India is The right thing to do, in your particular life, right now. Here is how to bring it into your life when the chest tightens and the thoughts will not slow.
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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.
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Step 2
Speak the teaching to yourself once, out loud
Say it quietly: The right thing to do, in your particular life, right now. The tradition is older than your panic. Letting it speak in your own voice gives it a small foothold.
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Step 3
Do one act of the practice in under a minute
One breath cycle. One line of journal. One slow sip. Dharma is not a long ladder right now; it is one rung you reach for to keep from falling.
Most of Dharma 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.
Other contexts for Dharma