Not fruit/veggie or tea, but something that’s probably going to sound insane.

You’re feeling strong anxiety. You want to get rid of it. This is called an avoidance goal. Avoidance goals, ironically, make us feel worse. How? Here’s an example:

• These stimuli make me feel anxious!
• I better take my Magic Anti-Anxiety Tea.
• I just drank it and I feel better.
• It’s so good to no longer feel anxiety.
• Oh no. I’m remembering the anxiety.
• I’m starting to feel the anxiety.
• I’m anxious.
• Better move on to other ways to avoid anxiety!

This is one of the mechanisms that lead to generalized anxiety. It happens because our brains have ways of connecting ideas quickly.

So is there no escape? Yes there is.

Instead of trying to get rid of anxiety, we can see it differently. We can change its role in our lives.

And we can do it without avoidance goals. Instead, we can do it with approach goals. We can move toward what matters. We can move to living a valued life. We can get closer to the kind of person that we want to be.

We are not alone in this journey. There’s plenty of wise and rigorous people who have discovered the way out. Some of them have developed mindfulness methods. Others have developed acceptance and commitment therapy. There’s many other approaches that are evidence-based and have helped millions of people around the world.

Let me know if you want resources or have questions. I really hope you get to take steps toward the life that you want to live.