The words anxiety, compassion, and loving kindness are often tossed around in the arena of Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I thought I truly understood what they meant but I realized this week it was an understanding of the definitions of the words, not what they felt like to really experience. My mind is a Western mind and one that often takes things very literally and experiences very logically. In a meeting with my therapist we discussed the words and what they mean, however this time they meant something more to me. I'm sure many things contributed to this new understanding but what stands out is the simplicity of his definitions. Compassion : not wanting to suffer. Loving Kindness : wishing to be happy. The simple definition of anxiety : our response to something that seems like a threat. Over the last couple of years I've read a few books about ACT and Mindfulness. I started practicing mindfulness on a regular basis last January.
A very personal blog about how I've used mindfulness to treat my OCD.