DL Ep.26: Four Science-Backed Skills to Deal with Anxiety

About this episode

This episode discusses four science-backed skills to manage anxiety through the lens of flourishing.

Flourishing is multi-dimensional. In today’s episode of Dharma Lab, we apply the four dimensions of flourishing (awareness, connection, insight, and purpose), to something we all experience: anxiety . When these skills are at our fingertips, we can deploy different ones in different contexts, or bring several to bear at once. Together, they form a rich set of practices to enhance well-being in everyday life. Our discussion explores anxiety as an evolutionary feature of the human brain rather than a personal defect; how it is rooted in the brain’s tendency to predict potential threats; and how it may reflect something fundamentally wholesome: a drive to protect and care. Podcast Chapter List: 00:00 – Short-Circuiting Resistance: A New Way to Relate to Anxiety01:03 – Why Anxiety Is Normal (And Even Necessary)04:29 – The Brain as a Prediction Machine06:16 – Anxiety as an Evolutionary Safety System10:05 – The Four Dimensions of Flourishing12:12 – Skill #1: Awareness and Mindfulness in Moments of Anxiety16:26 – Acceptance and the Reduction of Resistance19:05 – Meta-Awareness and What Happens in the Brain20:31 – Making Friends With Anxiety22:18 – Skill #2: Connection and…

People in this episode

Host: Dharma Lab

Topics covered

• anxiety
• flourishing
• mental health
• well-being
• mindfulness
• evolutionary psychology

Keywords

• anxiety
• flourishing
• mindfulness
• well-being
• evolutionary feature
• mental health
• insight
• connection
• purpose

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