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.

    你是否会不时感到焦虑？我是会这样的。我们不得不面对这样的现实：我们的周围充斥着各种各样的焦虑：失业、人际关系危机、疾病流行、暴力……不胜枚举。

    事实上，焦虑是一种天然的预警系统，它帮助我们趋利避害；但它也可能成为一种慢性情绪问题，焦虑情绪的出现可能会让我们丧失感知愉悦的能力，并扼杀我们的创造力。

    如何对付焦虑问题

    在我的生活中，诸如流感或经济危机等大事件并不会使我特别焦虑。事实上，我的焦虑情绪更多地来源于对自我的苛求；这样做的结果就是我距离自己制定的目标总是差那么一点。是否有人与我有相同的感觉？

    要处理这种情绪上的负担，有一种办法就是像利欧·巴布塔在他的博客美文《如何在纷繁世界中泰然生活》中所说的，适当放低对自己的要求。而另一种方式，就是改变我们根深蒂固的思维和情绪模式。

    幸运的是，有许多很棒的技巧可以帮助我们，学习如何在各种情境--包括在压力下--也保持心态放松、精力集中、状态稳定并且精力充沛。归根结底，焦虑并非来自外界，而是我们对于压力的内在反映。我们可以训练我们的头脑，使之能够更有技巧地应对外来事件。

    我希望与你分享我是如何在生活中保持头脑清醒，心平气和以及创造力旺盛的。在此之前，让我们先来更进一步了解一下焦虑。

    焦虑三部曲：抗拒-抗拒-停滞

    焦虑是一种较低程度的恐惧。恐惧一般都有很明确的指向性，而焦虑则略有不同，它是一种情绪状态，很难确切地指出究竟是什么具体原因导致了焦虑。

    通常，我们会以以下三种方式来面对威胁：抗拒，抗拒，或停滞。

    想象一下，你正在国家公园中徒步旅行，突然，你发现了一只熊。面对突如其来的危险，你很有可能会本能地采取以下三种方法应对：也许，你会试图通过虚张声势的动作或叫声来吓退熊（'抗拒'反应）;也许，你会马上转身逃跑到安全的地方（'抗拒'反应）;也有可能你会站在原地不动，希望熊没有发现你。（'停滞'反应）.

    现在，让我们来看看我们是如何把这些反应运用到日常生活中的：

    1. 抗拒： 当我们焦虑时，我们会比较容易发怒。这就是'抗拒'反应。因为焦虑是一种没有明确指向的情绪状态，因此我们很可能会选择对我们周围的人或事发怒。

    2. 抗拒：有时我们会竭力逃避那些使我们焦虑的事物。有些承受巨大焦虑的人甚至会闭门不出以逃避痛苦。

    3. 停滞：停滞反应导致拖延和舞台恐惧症。我很了解这两种感觉，你是否也一样呢？

    请注意，我所谈的是通常意义上的焦虑，而非焦虑症患者。如果你正在遭受应激惊恐反应或恐惧症的折磨，请参考这篇文章，或寻求专业人士的帮助。

    焦虑是一种将我们的所思所想与未来相联结的情绪。毕竟，没有人会为过去而焦虑，不是吗？人们经常会像放映"头脑电影"一样，想象一些关于自己的故事情节；而与焦虑相关的"头脑电影"经常会有一个"如果……会怎么样？"的剧本。

    因此，让我们陷入焦虑状态的正是这些特定的思维模式和思维情节。让我们看看以下这张清单，是否有些似曾相识：

    1. 自我怀疑：你是否会怀疑自己的能力？你是否认为你并没有充分发挥你的能力以获取成功？

    2. 企图控制未来：你是否企图全面掌控未来将要发生的事情？事实上，即便你制定了最完备的计划，意料之外的事件依然有可能发生。只有生命的进程是可预见的：我们会慢慢变老并最终死去。

    3. 高自我预期值：有时我们会成为自己的奴隶主。我必须承认，这也是我的弱点之一。有时，退一步海阔天空；这让我们有机会检查我们的自我预期是否符合现实或是否过于苛求。

    4. 恐惧失败：你是否害怕失败？事实上，所有的学习过程都伴随着失败。正如积极心理学运动倡导者之一的泰尔·本-沙哈教授所说："要么学习如何失败，要么学无所成。"

    5. 拒绝活在当下：这是造成焦虑的主要原因。当我们的思绪总是沉浸在将来，那么我们将不会真正的活在当下，而这时我们通常会变得焦虑。

    像你可以从清单中看到的那样，以上这些引起焦虑的内因都源于我们自身的心理习惯，我们可以通过改变它们来缓解或转变焦虑的心态。而最后一项--活在当下--是解决问题的关键所在。

    灵性安住于当下

    这里有一段关于一位名叫戴维·斯坦得-瑞斯特的基督教僧侣的很棒的视频。他儿时曾经在二战后期的德国居住过几年。他讲述了那时的艰难：永远不知道下一顿饭在哪里，为了一小罐水不得不排上几个小时的队，并且不时还会有炸弹落在他的周围。

    你在这样的情境下是否会焦虑？

    令人惊讶的是，戴维那时并没有感到焦虑--他所感受到的是完全相反经验：那是他这一生最快乐的时光！为什么会这样呢？他的解释非常简单。因为在那时没有生存的可能和对未来的希望，他所能做的只有安在当下。而这恰恰创造了一种很深刻的幸福体验--即使身处艰苦环境亦是如此。

    灵性时刻--如同我们观看戴维的视频时所感受到的--提醒着我们生命的目的。我们感觉到振奋、激动，并仍感觉脚踏实地。灵性时刻为何能令我们如此触动？我认为，这是由于它令我们回想起内心深处最深切的渴望。

    有时，我们会混淆内在渴望与个人目标，但事实上它们是全然不同的。内在渴望关注于"我想奉献给这个世界些什么？";而个人目标则恰恰相反，它所关注的是"我希望这个世界能给我些什么？".

    四法则助你变焦虑为灵性

    你可以通过以下四种方式开始你的改变之旅：

    1. 让生活更加简单：到目前为止我所见过的最好的指南，就是利欧·巴布塔最新所着的电子书《简朴生活指南》。他将告诉你实现简单生活的必要步骤。虽然改变不会在一夜之间实现，但持续坚持下去的话，一定会逐渐减少焦虑。

    2. "好记性不如烂笔头":同时思考很多问题和计划会引起焦虑。一个很简单的纾解方式就是记录下你的想法、重要日期和行事日程，这样就可以让你的短时记忆得到放松。购买一个可以随身携带的笔记本或一台智能手机，这样就可以随时记录下约会信息和实时产生的想法。

    3. 学会放松：焦虑的身体通常是紧张的，它需要休息和放松。乔·罗兹制作了一段很好的有利于放松与睡眠的催眠音频。并且它是免费的，你可以在这里找到它。

    4. 练习冥想：如果你真的想要改变你的思维习惯，就要避免自己陷入焦虑的陷阱。你会发现在这方面，冥想真的能够起到很大的帮助作用。

    我了解，学习冥想可能是令人却步的，并且公务繁忙的人有时也会发现他们很难空出时间练习冥想。我提出过一种可以迅速进入冥想状态的简单方法。我叫它三段呼吸冥想法，你可以在一分钟内做到。有一个更自然的方式可以进入冥想状态，那就是不要要求你自己去学习复杂的冥想技巧。我制作了一段视频，来告诉大家如何做到这一点。你可以在这里观看。

    三段呼吸冥想法让我们每天花几分钟的时间，通过三次流入流出体内的呼吸，给我们的身体带来舒适的感觉。为取得最佳效果，冥想时最好保持直立姿势，这样你的身体和思想都可以保持平衡。思想来了又去，温柔的观察它们，并将你的注意力重新柔和地集中在你的呼吸上。我提议每天花几分钟的时间进行这种简单的微型冥想。你会发现它能够将你带回当下。

    当然，我们谈了很多关于将焦虑转化为灵性的话题--这也是我为什么要建立以如何实现这一目标为工作重心的虚拟禅宗修习的原因。但是我也希望你可以通过这篇文章了解到如何开始去除焦虑，并走上灵性之路。

    我们应学习如何指引我们的思想，远离焦虑、恐惧或愤怒等不良情绪，将之转为善意和愉快。这是一种提高生活质量并带来幸福的很有效的方法。

    如果你只能从这篇文章中获得一项收获，我希望你可以了解到，自在与灵性源于体验当下。

    例如，现在。