We say about anxiety that it tends to hang out either in our past or in our future.  Anxiety is rarely right here, right now.  

We get anxious when we ruminate about things in our past.  We might worry about something we said, we might feel disappointed in something we did or didn't do, or we might replay something someone else did or said over and over. These habits are a sure-fire way to create and perpetuate anxiety.  Though we might understand logically that we cannot change the past, we are typically not thinking with our logical mind when we worry or ruminate about the past.  We may be unaware that we are ruminating, or we may tell ourselves that we are doing something productive when we think about the past. We aren't.  Unless we're thinking about positive memories, or thinking/learning/planning about what we will do in our future based upon what we learned in our past, hanging out in yesterday is generally not good for us.  

Similarly, anxious people tend to worry about their future. A lot.  This creates anxiety because, just like the past, we rarely have control over the future other than how we choose to behave. We cannot control the weather, the reactions of others, the traffic, or whether or not someone likes us.  We do have tremendous influence over our own thoughts and behaviors, however.  So, if we are thinking about the future and not either making plans for our own thoughts or behavior or preparing ourselves in some way, hanging out in the future leads to anxiety.  

If we can work to be more mindful, and practice staying in the current moment, we can significantly reduce our anxiety.  When we let the past or the future hijack our thoughts, we end up with anxiety, and we miss out on a lot of life.  Beautiful, amazing things are always happening right in front of us, so don't let anxiety steal them.  Be here, now, and feel a lot better.

Take back your life from anxiety's grip by doing something positive in this moment- join our next Conquering Anxiety group, 6/15/11-8/3/11.  Register here.