When fear and anxiety feel woven into the fabric of everyday life — from global crises to personal health worries — it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, helpless, or stuck in a loop of dread.
So this week I explored how to meet anxiety with mindfulness and compassion, find real refuges that steady the heart, take meaningful action without burning out, and hold life with a wider wisdom perspective.
When we relinquish what no longer serves — harsh self-judgment, false hopes, and unnecessary worry — we can live well, meanwhile, even in a world that can feel profoundly uncertain.
Click here to join the free Wednesday Meditations – which are open to everyone!
Talk: Five Ways to Feel Less Anxious
Timecodes & main topics:
- 00:00 — Finding refuge in meditation during a busy, anxious week
- 01:27 — Bringing fear into awareness: physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts
- 05:07 — The “miracle of mindfulness”: naming fear to create space and compassion
- 09:19 — First foundation: mindfulness and compassion as ways to meet anxiety
- 12:08 — Second foundation: finding true refuges inside yourself and in the world
- 19:09 — Third foundation: taking action to restore agency and counter helplessness
- 26:40 — Wisdom perspective: first dart vs. second dart suffering and interdependence
- 32:29 — Fifth foundation: relinquishing, self-kindness, and “living well, meanwhile”
A Meditation: In the Quiet That Opens into Everything
A gentle meditation to soften the edges of the self and rest in a sense of shared being. You’re invited to let go of differences, feel yourself being breathed by life, and settle into a quiet, spacious belonging.