Begin a meditation practice, using resources like the 10% Happier app, to sit with and get to know difficult emotions rather than distracting from them, which can be particularly helpful during challenging times.
Join the free 10-day ‘Taming Anxiety’ meditation challenge on the 10% Happier app (or 10percent.com) to learn tools for dealing with anxious thoughts and emotions through daily videos and guided meditations.
Start or continue talk therapy as a self-care routine, as the act of articulating one’s internal state can be a light bulb moment and helpful for healing, even with a less-than-ideal therapist.
Express your internal state without apology, whether through journaling, conversation, or therapy, as articulating what’s happening can be a crucial step towards healing and self-understanding.
View your own ‘stuff,’ including unskillful moments or perceived ‘ugliness,’ with a sense of humor and warmth, practicing self-compassion instead of self-punishment, and committing to doing better next time.
Relabel yourself as ‘good-ish’ rather than strictly ‘good’ to create elasticity and flexibility in your self-identity, allowing you to acknowledge unskillful or negative behaviors without threatening your core sense of self.
Practice extending the same forgiveness and generosity you offer to loved ones to yourself, treating yourself as your own friend to foster self-acceptance and progress.
Carve out a specific, intentional space for your meditation practice, even if it’s a small corner, and make it the first thing you do every morning to help set the day and maintain consistency.
Don’t limit meditation to a single session; use it as a tool to return to throughout the day, whether guided or unguided, when you feel ‘jagged’ or overwhelmed, to touch a space of calm more often.
Engage with the simplicity of the breath through meditation to become more in touch with what is out of your control, which can be helpful for those who tend to be control freaks, allowing you to let go.
Recognize that anxiety can often be attached to unexpressed desires, wishes, or resentments, and work on communicating these feelings to address the root cause of your anxiety.
Recognize that anger is often a secondary emotion, frequently covering up deeper feelings like fear, and explore what lies beneath your anger to move beyond being stuck in its ‘whirlpool’ towards a more powerful place to work from.
When someone you care about is in pain, allow them the dignity of their own discomfort rather than immediately trying to fix their problem, as sometimes the most helpful action is simply to be present and allow them to experience their pain.
Make space for creativity, as turning down habitual rumination through practices like meditation can allow for a flood of new ideas and clearer inner workings, even if the outcome is unpredictable.
As an artist, keep your creative channel open and avoid judging what comes through, continuing to pursue the ‘blessed unrest’ towards the next idea.
Approach creative work with an open mindset, recognizing that artists often channel something larger than themselves, and avoid becoming overly proprietary about your creations, as they are part of a greater network.
Participate in activism on issues you care about, but ensure your engagement is meaningful and authentic rather than feeling pressured to post or speak out constantly, as this can be a mitigating factor for anxiety.
Be open and available to learning, even if it means making mistakes, rather than being crippled by the fear of offending someone or saying the wrong thing, as learning often involves missteps.
Be open and honest about your interior life, including struggles with anxiety, depression, or other vulnerabilities, to help others realize they are not alone and to foster a sense of shared humanity.
Resist the urge to express anger reactively on social media, even if it garners positive reinforcement, as such ‘outpourings of ugliness’ can be regretted later and do not ‘feed the right wolf’.
When feeling low, gravitate towards social media accounts that share lighthearted animal videos (like Tony Baker’s) or focus on good news (like ’the good news movement’) to boost your mood and see the best of humanity.
Encourage young women to ’turn up the volume of their voice,’ take up space, and express their needs, wishes, and desires without apology, challenging the socialization that teaches them to be people-pleasers.