From personal experience – I’ve had some moments of true despair, panic attacks, depression, self-doubt and experiencing emotions I just never thought I would in my lifetime.

During this time I had problems sleeping, eating and also even thinking and functioning. Mornings were the worst. I hated my bed but also struggled to get out of it and face the world. I’d get really anxious performing simple tasks and couldn’t do normal things I should be able to do easily. I’d get triggered seeing certain things on TV and break down crying.

Stress is a real bitch. Anxiety is very debilitating – and I never knew just how much that can be the case, permeating into every corner of your life, into every activity – until I did know because that was my reality.

Mindfulness is perfect for this type of situation.

Why?

Because there is no stress in the current moment.

It’s that simple.

I have written and said many times that most people are in their own heads too much and create unnecessary drama in life. The neurotic ego: Judgement, Expectation, Comparison, Assumptions… all that stuff and that little voice in your head telling you that your thoughts are reality and that your worries and fears are the way the world is. The monkey mind. The mental chatter.

When we are in our heads in this way we are usually either dwelling on the past or projecting into the future.

Despite my beliefs about this, I was in my own head and I couldn’t get out. Mostly thinking ‘What if’ or ‘But what about’? I had an internal dialogue when I wake up every morning tormenting me and trying to make sense of the situation I was in and of the stresses I had in my life. More ongoing stress and anxiety came from a constant companion – the voice in my head.

Why Does The Current Moment Have No Stress?

Stress is largely a mental construct.

Imagine being faced with immmediate danger. You would actually deal with that danger in the most effective way available to you by way of a fight or flight response which would come naturally. This is not the kind of stress we mull over in our minds which drives anxiety and depression, it is fleeting and can even be exciting to deal with (eustress) or at worst something that we experience, is harrowing but we tend to be able to move on from.

Mindfulness isn’t as easy as it sounds but it does work. The struggle is in not finding it easy to stay in the moment. The stress and anxiety comes from the mind being elsewhere.

I needed to remind myself that there is no stress in the moment and to wrench myself back there and try to calm the anxiety that was getting in the way – and it really does get in the way! It’s awful, really really awful.

I do believe though, if I (or you, or anyone) can be fully and truly in the present and only in the present, mind, body and soul, then there should be no stress and no anxiety there at all.

Getting there isn’t always easy but is definitely worth pursuing.