Anxiety is the most common mental health condition. Beyond being an unpleasant experience in itself, it can contribute to sleep problems, work impairment, and even physical health issues. Rates of reported anxiety have been steadily rising over the past two decades, especially among young adults and teens.
To understand anxiety, we first need to explore its core element — worry. Worry is something almost everyone experiences; in fact, studies show that more than 90% of people experience worry daily. Surveys also reveal that one in four adults says they worry “most of the day” at least once a week. When the habit of worrying becomes persistent, excessive, chronic, and difficult to control, it turns into anxiety. Therefore, while all anxiety involves worry, not all worry amounts to anxiety.
Considering the rapidly rising global problem of worry and anxiety, it is important to learn how to handle them properly in order to reduce these challenging experiences.
To solve any problem, we must first understand it. The same applies here: to address worry and anxiety, we need to know what they are, how they form, and then find practical ways to work with them.
The first and most important step is to turn our attention inward and observe what happens within us that leads to the experience of worry. If we look closely, we can notice that a thought appears in the mind saying, “What if … happens in the future?” — and we may fill in the blank with any undesirable outcome. This thought about an imagined future event is powerful enough to draw our attention into itself. Once our attention becomes absorbed in that thought, it proliferates into more of the same, fueled by imagination and memory.
Because the body and mind are deeply interconnected, the body reacts to these thoughts with physical sensations. Common sensations accompanying worry and anxiety include a faster heartbeat, changes in breathing rhythm, sweating, dry mouth, cold hands and feet, tightness in the chest and neck, fidgeting, nausea, bloating, or a “funny” feeling in the stomach. However, not everyone experiences all of these sensations; they vary from person to person.
If we observe carefully, we see that the combination of the initial thought, fueled by attention, and the resulting body sensations together creates the experience we call worry or, in more severe cases, anxiety. This process unfolds automatically and habitually, without our conscious choice — as if the initial thought takes over both mind and body, compelling us to experience worry.
Although this realization may seem unpleasant, it provides valuable insight. It shows us that worry and anxiety are habitual, conditioned mental and physical processes, which means we can consciously work with them and gradually reduce their intensity and frequency.
Before we begin, however, there is a subtle inner obstacle we must take into consideration: the deeply rooted belief that “I worry because I care.” This belief validates worry and unconsciously helps it persist. To question it, we can ask ourselves: Does worrying actually help me handle the situation I’m concerned about? Or would having a clear and calm mind help me more to find a better way to face or prevent that situation?
It’s important to reflect on these questions genuinely. If we continue to believe that worrying equals caring, we may feel guilty or irresponsible for letting go of worry — which prevents real progress.
Once we recognize that worry does not truly serve us, we are ready to work on it. As we observed, worry — the core of anxiety — begins with a thought about an undesirable event in the future. That thought habitually captures our attention and triggers the whole chain reaction that leads to worry. If we can catch our attention as it starts to slip toward the thought, and gently disengage from it, the rest of the process will not unfold. In other words, we won’t experience the full intensity of worry; instead, we’ll retain a clear mind, capable of practical thinking.
It’s important not to judge ourselves when we notice worry arising. Recognize that this is simply the mind’s habitual pattern of functioning on autopilot. Most of the time, we don’t consciously choose which thoughts to attend to and which to let go of — it happens automatically.
So, the next time we catch ourselves worrying, we can take a deep breath, look inward, and identify the initial worrying thought. Then we gently withdraw our attention from the spiral of thoughts and anchor it to the breath or another steady focus. The moment we take our attention out of the mental entanglement, the whole process of worry begins to subside.
However, this long-standing mental habit will not disappear immediately. The mind may try again and again to pull our attention back to the worrying thought. When this happens, we simply notice it, remember the process, and redirect attention to our chosen anchor. Over time, this conscious redirection builds a new habit — the ability to manage our attention deliberately. Reversing the mind’s habit requires patience, determination, and resilience, but it is well worth the effort.
Doing this does not mean we are dismissing or resisting the initial thought or emotion. We acknowledge them fully, but instead of being unconsciously caught in them, we consciously choose to think practical, helpful thoughts from a place of clarity.
By cultivating the habit of being attentively aware of our thoughts and emotions, we free ourselves from the habitual, conditioned patterns of thinking, feeling, and reacting unconsciously. This awareness gives us the freedom to live, act, and relate more consciously — and more peacefully.