Overcome Social Anxiety - Alan Watts πŸ’‰

in philosophy β€’Β  7 years agoΒ 

Is there a better way to combat anxiety rather than repressing our emotions?

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Watts Wednesday

Time for another Watts Wednesday. If you didn't know or you are new to my content, I've started making posts every Wednesday regarding speeches and quotes of different philosophers to commemorate their great work as well as give my view on the message that they are trying to convey.

If you enjoy this let me know since it is always a pleasure for me to do some research, assimilate and reflect on a piece of work and give you my view on the work of these great philosophers and carry on their legacy.

As the title suggests I'll be looking at another Alan Watts speech. Despite all the hardships and inner turmoil I have had, Watts reroutes me to the path of happiness and endearment

Alan Watts - Overcome Social Anxiety

My Thoughts

Whenever we go into meditation and enlightenment, all distractions subside and we are left to the mercy of our uncontrollable thoughts and feelings.

From this eerie silence does unwanted feeling create unwanted thoughts or is it the other way round? Either way, a seemingly unsolvable problem consumes our attention which as we learn about it and conquer it may lead us towards enlightenment but also it can inhibit our journey if a random thought pops up.

All this diverging attention usually can't be consciously directed like we so desire, not for long anyway. Of course, there is no such thing as an unsolvable problem. Life can't give you more than you can handle. Thing is, how badly do we want to change? Do we really want to? Sometimes we stay dormant and without pursuing change you will never be able to move on in life.

If we look deeper the problem is simple and so is the solution but by simple I don't mean easy nor difficult. Let me explain what I mean.

Our problem being, of course, our wild untamable minds and emotions as we grasp towards desires with passion and zeal. So is there a way of learning to control ourselves so we can have a stronger grip over our experience and more pleasant lives? If there is, is that the answer?

I think to solve this problem we need to start by cleansing ourselves and changing our characteristic and traits to become more meek and self-sacrificing. Sometimes we create problems that don't need untangling in the first place but in the end that leads to a snowball of anxiety.

Anxiety is anxiety, no matter what type. It could be existential and social, whatever but they're all some form of resistance and resistance can only be combated one way and that is letting go.

Thank You for Reading!

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Sort Order: Β 
Β  Β· Β 7 years agoΒ 

Thughtness is not any state, people often misunderstood it. It is just the careful watching of whatever is happening inside our brains, when we start to watch ourselves our thoughts vanishes automatically and we see lesser amount of thoughts.

well the thing is that our brains are porgrammed to get things (thoughts) done. If it can't the it starts overthinking and we cannot really rest :/

Β  Β· Β 7 years agoΒ 

Overthinking some may think is a good thing but in the end it is a trap that many of us fall in to

Well put. It can almost seem counterproductive trying to meditate sometimes when it just stirs up anxiety.

I heard a good tool I like to focus on. I can count it as a win, if I'm trying to meditate and my mind is all over the place for most of the time and I come back just at the end to meditate with a clear mind. It isn't measured by how long I'm able to meditate correctly, it is the coming back that is the training. As long as I make my mind come back to the meditation at some point, I try to be less anxious about the wandering I've done.

Nice and interesting post, very well thought out, actually anxiety is precursor to depression and so many other diseases and the same can be simply controlled by meditation and Yoga, but one should know, how to do it, since it needs your 100% focus/attention, else one would not get the desired results and wandering continues...!

Amazing stuff there Jake. Really well thought out!

Well thought out post. Liked the read. Upvoted!

Β  Β· Β 7 years agoΒ 

I'm glad you liked the post

Β  Β· Β 7 years agoΒ (edited)

I love your idea of Watts Wednesday!! right on. ;) Alan was a great thinker and teacher his words so true.

Β  Β· Β 7 years agoΒ 

Thank you so much @rebeccabe

meep

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