Are you anxious at times? I am. Let's face it, there's plenty of anxiety to go around: lay-offs, relationship crises, pandemics, violence – and that's just for starters.

    Actually, anxiety is a natural alarm system that keeps us safe and productive. But it can become a chronic mindset. When that happens, it can deaden joy and stifle creativity.

    How to tackle anxiety

    In my life it's not so much the big-ticket items like the current influenza or the economic meltdown that make me anxious, it's the fact that I tend to over-commit myself. The result is that I'm always a bit behind schedule. Anyone else feel like that?

    One way to deal with overload is to pare down commitments, as Leo Babauta describes in his beautiful post, How to be less busy in a busy, busy world. Another way is to change our ingrained thought patterns and emotional responses.

    Luckily there are some wonderful techniques that can help us to stay relaxed, focused, grounded, and cheerful – even under pressure. After all, anxiety is not produced by something external. It's an internal response to stress. We can train the mind to respond in a more skillful way.

    I want to share with you how I stay reasonably sane, grounded, and creative in the midst of a full life. But first let's take a closer look at anxiety.

    Fight-flight-freeze: three responses to anxiety

    Anxiety is a low-grade fear. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of one's anxiety. That's because anxiety is pervasive, whereas fear has a clear target.

    We are hardwired to respond in three different ways when faced with danger: fight, flight, or freeze.

    Imagine that you are hiking in a National Park. Suddenly you spot a bear. Faced with immediate danger, you instinctively choose one of three options: you either try to scare off the bear by making yourself look big, or by shouting （that's the 'fight' response）. Or you immediately turn and run to safety （that's the flight response）. Or you stand very still in the hope that the bear won't notice you （that's the 'freeze' response）.

    Let's look at how these responses play out in everyday life:

    1. Fight: When we're anxious, we tend to be irritable. This is the 'fight' response. Because anxiety is pervasive and doesn't have a clear target, we tend to snap at those around us.

    2. Flight: Sometimes we try to avoid what makes us anxious. People who suffer from severe anxiety even avoid stepping outside their home.

    3. Freeze: The freeze response produces procrastination and stage fright. I certainly know about these two. You too?

    Note that I'm talking about ordinary anxiety, and not about anxiety disorders. If you suffer from panic attacks or phobias, read this useful article, or get professional help.

    Anxiety is an emotion that sends our mind into the future. After all, nobody is anxious about the past, right? As human beings we tend to think in stories that are like mind-movies. Anxious mind-movies usually have a 'what if?' scenario.

    So what winds us up into anxiety are particular thought patterns and stories. Take a look at the following list and see if any points seem familiar:

    1. Self-doubts: Do you doubt your ability? Do you think you haven't got what it takes, in order to succeed?

    2. Wanting Control of the future: Do you want to want to control what happens in future? The truth is that even if we lay great plans, the unexpected can happen. And life has inescapable tides: we age and finally die.

    3. High self-expectations: Sometimes we become our own slave-driver. I must admit, that's definitely a weakness of mine. It's good to step back at times and check out whether our expectations are realistic – and kindly.

    4. Fear of failure: Are you afraid to fail? The truth is that all learning entails failure. Prof. Tal Ben-Shahar, an exponent of the Positive Psychology movement says, "Learn to fail, or fail to learn."

    5. Not being present: This is a key factor of anxiety. When our thoughts dwell on the future, and we stop being truly present, that's when we can become anxious.

    As you can see in the list above, all these internal factors are mental habits that we can change in order to alleviate and transform anxiety. And it's the last one – being present – that's the key to inspiration.

    Inspiration lives in the present

    There is an amazing short video with Brother David Steindle-Rast – a Christian monk. As a boy, he experienced the last years of World War II in Germany. He tells of great hardships: never knowing where the next meal would come from, having to queue for hours for a small pitcher of water, and seeing bombs fall all around him.

    Would you be anxious in a situation like this?

    Surprisingly, Brother David wasn't anxious – his experience was completely the opposite: it was one of the happiest times in his life! How could that be? His explanation is quite simple. Because there seemed no possibility of survival and no hope for the future, all he could do was to be in the present moment. This created a deep sense of happiness – in the midst of all that suffering.

    Moments of inspiration – like watching the video of Brother David – remind us of our life purpose. We feel uplifted, excited, and yet grounded. I think the reason why moments of inspiration touch us so keenly, is because they remind us of our deepest aspirations.

    Sometimes we confuse aspirations with personal goals, but they are completely different. Aspirations are the answer to the question: "What do I want to give the world?" Whereas personal goals are the answer to the question, "What do I want the world to give me?"

    Four ways to transform anxiety into inspiration

    Here are four ways you can start to transform anxiety into inspiration:

    1. Simplify your life: The best guide I have seen so far, is Leo Babauta's lovely new ebook The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life. He takes you right through the necessary steps to simplify your life. It doesn't happen overnight, but can definitely decrease anxiety in the long run.

    2. Write everything down: Holding too many ideas and plans in one's head can cause anxiety. A very simple remedy is to record all your ideas, dates, and schedules so that you free up your memory. Buy a simple notebook that you carry with you, or invest in a smart phone that can store appointments and idea.

    3. Learn to relax: The anxious body is tense and needs rest and relaxation. There is a good relaxation and sleep hypnosis recording, created by Jon Rhodes. It's free and you can find it here

    4. Practice meditation: If you really want to change the mental habits that keep you ensnared in anxiety, you'll find meditation a real help.

    I know it can be daunting to learn to meditate. And busy people sometimes find it difficult to set time aside to practice meditation. I've come up with an easy way to get into meditation. I call it the Three-Breaths meditation. You can do it in one minute or less. It's a natural way to meditate and doesn't require you to learn complicated techniques. I've created a short video on how to do it. You can watch it here.

    The Three-Breaths Meditation entails taking a few moments each day in order to pay tender regard to three breaths as they flow in and out of your body. For best results, keep upright posture so that your body and mind are well balanced. A thoughts come and go, observe them with soft attention and bring your focus gently back to your breath. I suggest practicing this easy micro-meditation a few times during the day. You'll notice that it brings you right back home to the present moment.

    Of course there's a lot to be said about turning anxiety into inspiration – that's why I run a Virtual Zen Retreat focused on how to do it. But I hope that you can find something in this post that helps you to start moving away anxiety and towards inspiration.

    Learning to guide our mind away from unskillful emotions, like anxiety, fear or anger, and towards kindness and cheerfulness, is a wonderful way to enhance our life and bring about happiness.

    If there's one thing you take away from this post, I hope it's that ease and inspiration come from experiencing the present moment.

    Like. Now.

    你是否會不時感到焦慮？我是會這樣的。我們不得不面對這樣的現實：我們的周圍充斥著各種各樣的焦慮：失業、人際關系危機、疾病流行、暴力……不勝枚舉。

    事實上，焦慮是一種天然的預警系統，它幫助我們趨利避害；但它也可能成為一種慢性情緒問題，焦慮情緒的出現可能會讓我們喪失感知愉悅的能力，并扼殺我們的創造力。

    如何對付焦慮問題

    在我的生活中，諸如流感或經濟危機等大事件并不會使我特別焦慮。事實上，我的焦慮情緒更多地來源于對自我的苛求；這樣做的結果就是我距離自己制定的目標總是差那么一點。是否有人與我有相同的感覺？

    要處理這種情緒上的負擔，有一種辦法就是像利歐·巴布塔在他的博客美文《如何在紛繁世界中泰然生活》中所說的，適當放低對自己的要求。而另一種方式，就是改變我們根深蒂固的思維和情緒模式。

    幸運的是，有許多很棒的技巧可以幫助我們，學習如何在各種情境--包括在壓力下--也保持心態放松、精力集中、狀態穩定并且精力充沛。歸根結底，焦慮并非來自外界，而是我們對于壓力的內在反映。我們可以訓練我們的頭腦，使之能夠更有技巧地應對外來事件。

    我希望與你分享我是如何在生活中保持頭腦清醒，心平氣和以及創造力旺盛的。在此之前，讓我們先來更進一步了解一下焦慮。

    焦慮三部曲：抗拒-抗拒-停滯

    焦慮是一種較低程度的恐懼。恐懼一般都有很明確的指向性，而焦慮則略有不同，它是一種情緒狀態，很難確切地指出究竟是什么具體原因導致了焦慮。

    通常，我們會以以下三種方式來面對威脅：抗拒，抗拒，或停滯。

    想象一下，你正在國家公園中徒步旅行，突然，你發現了一只熊。面對突如其來的危險，你很有可能會本能地采取以下三種方法應對：也許，你會試圖通過虛張聲勢的動作或叫聲來嚇退熊（'抗拒'反應）;也許，你會馬上轉身逃跑到安全的地方（'抗拒'反應）;也有可能你會站在原地不動，希望熊沒有發現你。（'停滯'反應）.

    現在，讓我們來看看我們是如何把這些反應運用到日常生活中的：

    1. 抗拒： 當我們焦慮時，我們會比較容易發怒。這就是'抗拒'反應。因為焦慮是一種沒有明確指向的情緒狀態，因此我們很可能會選擇對我們周圍的人或事發怒。

    2. 抗拒：有時我們會竭力逃避那些使我們焦慮的事物。有些承受巨大焦慮的人甚至會閉門不出以逃避痛苦。

    3. 停滯：停滯反應導致拖延和舞臺恐懼癥。我很了解這兩種感覺，你是否也一樣呢？

    請注意，我所談的是通常意義上的焦慮，而非焦慮癥患者。如果你正在遭受應激驚恐反應或恐懼癥的折磨，請參考這篇文章，或尋求專業人士的幫助。

    焦慮是一種將我們的所思所想與未來相聯結的情緒。畢竟，沒有人會為過去而焦慮，不是嗎？人們經常會像放映"頭腦電影"一樣，想象一些關于自己的故事情節；而與焦慮相關的"頭腦電影"經常會有一個"如果……會怎么樣？"的劇本。

    因此，讓我們陷入焦慮狀態的正是這些特定的思維模式和思維情節。讓我們看看以下這張清單，是否有些似曾相識：

    1. 自我懷疑：你是否會懷疑自己的能力？你是否認為你并沒有充分發揮你的能力以獲取成功？

    2. 企圖控制未來：你是否企圖全面掌控未來將要發生的事情？事實上，即便你制定了最完備的計劃，意料之外的事件依然有可能發生。只有生命的進程是可預見的：我們會慢慢變老并最終死去。

    3. 高自我預期值：有時我們會成為自己的奴隸主。我必須承認，這也是我的弱點之一。有時，退一步海闊天空；這讓我們有機會檢查我們的自我預期是否符合現實或是否過于苛求。

    4. 恐懼失敗：你是否害怕失敗？事實上，所有的學習過程都伴隨著失敗。正如積極心理學運動倡導者之一的泰爾·本-沙哈教授所說："要么學習如何失敗，要么學無所成。"

    5. 拒絕活在當下：這是造成焦慮的主要原因。當我們的思緒總是沉浸在將來，那么我們將不會真正的活在當下，而這時我們通常會變得焦慮。

    像你可以從清單中看到的那樣，以上這些引起焦慮的內因都源于我們自身的心理習慣，我們可以通過改變它們來緩解或轉變焦慮的心態。而最后一項--活在當下--是解決問題的關鍵所在。

    靈性安住于當下

    這里有一段關于一位名叫戴維·斯坦得-瑞斯特的基督教僧侶的很棒的視頻。他兒時曾經在二戰后期的德國居住過幾年。他講述了那時的艱難：永遠不知道下一頓飯在哪里，為了一小罐水不得不排上幾個小時的隊，并且不時還會有炸彈落在他的周圍。

    你在這樣的情境下是否會焦慮？

    令人驚訝的是，戴維那時并沒有感到焦慮--他所感受到的是完全相反經驗：那是他這一生最快樂的時光！為什么會這樣呢？他的解釋非常簡單。因為在那時沒有生存的可能和對未來的希望，他所能做的只有安在當下。而這恰恰創造了一種很深刻的幸福體驗--即使身處艱苦環境亦是如此。

    靈性時刻--如同我們觀看戴維的視頻時所感受到的--提醒著我們生命的目的。我們感覺到振奮、激動，并仍感覺腳踏實地。靈性時刻為何能令我們如此觸動？我認為，這是由于它令我們回想起內心深處最深切的渴望。

    有時，我們會混淆內在渴望與個人目標，但事實上它們是全然不同的。內在渴望關注于"我想奉獻給這個世界些什么？";而個人目標則恰恰相反，它所關注的是"我希望這個世界能給我些什么？".

    四法則助你變焦慮為靈性

    你可以通過以下四種方式開始你的改變之旅：

    1. 讓生活更加簡單：到目前為止我所見過的最好的指南，就是利歐·巴布塔最新所著的電子書《簡樸生活指南》。他將告訴你實現簡單生活的必要步驟。雖然改變不會在一夜之間實現，但持續堅持下去的話，一定會逐漸減少焦慮。

    2. "好記性不如爛筆頭":同時思考很多問題和計劃會引起焦慮。一個很簡單的紓解方式就是記錄下你的想法、重要日期和行事日程，這樣就可以讓你的短時記憶得到放松。購買一個可以隨身攜帶的筆記本或一臺智能手機，這樣就可以隨時記錄下約會信息和實時產生的想法。

    3. 學會放松：焦慮的身體通常是緊張的，它需要休息和放松。喬·羅茲制作了一段很好的有利于放松與睡眠的催眠音頻。并且它是免費的，你可以在這里找到它。

    4. 練習冥想：如果你真的想要改變你的思維習慣，就要避免自己陷入焦慮的陷阱。你會發現在這方面，冥想真的能夠起到很大的幫助作用。

    我了解，學習冥想可能是令人卻步的，并且公務繁忙的人有時也會發現他們很難空出時間練習冥想。我提出過一種可以迅速進入冥想狀態的簡單方法。我叫它三段呼吸冥想法，你可以在一分鐘內做到。有一個更自然的方式可以進入冥想狀態，那就是不要要求你自己去學習復雜的冥想技巧。我制作了一段視頻，來告訴大家如何做到這一點。你可以在這里觀看。

    三段呼吸冥想法讓我們每天花幾分鐘的時間，通過三次流入流出體內的呼吸，給我們的身體帶來舒適的感覺。為取得最佳效果，冥想時最好保持直立姿勢，這樣你的身體和思想都可以保持平衡。思想來了又去，溫柔的觀察它們，并將你的注意力重新柔和地集中在你的呼吸上。我提議每天花幾分鐘的時間進行這種簡單的微型冥想。你會發現它能夠將你帶回當下。

    當然，我們談了很多關于將焦慮轉化為靈性的話題--這也是我為什么要建立以如何實現這一目標為工作重心的虛擬禪宗修習的原因。但是我也希望你可以通過這篇文章了解到如何開始去除焦慮，并走上靈性之路。

    我們應學習如何指引我們的思想，遠離焦慮、恐懼或憤怒等不良情緒，將之轉為善意和愉快。這是一種提高生活質量并帶來幸福的很有效的方法。

    如果你只能從這篇文章中獲得一項收獲，我希望你可以了解到，自在與靈性源于體驗當下。

    例如，現在。