By far the most common disorder we treat in the Glendale Community, which is much more prevalent than heart disease are Anxiety and Fear. We see this in all ages, cultures, and genders. Modern medicine has very limited treatment options, and antidepressants have only a small benefit and no benefit in many patients. Anxiety medications, alcohol, smoking, drugs cause short term relief, but long term dependence and suffering, and are not the way. Anxiety and Fear are self-inflicted, and driven by our own negative thinking. The Great Mahatma Gandhi says, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” He is an individual who can be wrongfully punished for doing the right thing, but be free of suffering, fear, and anxiety? How? Because he is free of negative thinking. He can also turn negativity into its polar opposite, positivity, with the powers of humility and loving-kindness.

To stop negative thinking, one has to practice letting go, especially letting go of our own constructed attachments and ego. The ego always craves for more and more, can never have enough possessions or praise, is afraid of change, is burdened by attachment to bias, judgement, is extremely selfish, and driven by qualities that are built into us from birth: greed, anger, and ignorance.

There is a powerful tool to letting go that is available to every one of us, free of charge, and comes from ancient eastern philosophies, and practiced in all high levels of spiritual being: mindfulness. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is non-judgemental awareness, especially awareness of the present moment, which we often lose track of due to noise of negative thinking.

Unlike the burdensomeness of ego based pensive thinking, mindfulness is caries a cool, lite, refreshing thinking and makes our mind happy.

The great Chinese Philosopher, Lau Tzu, said: “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

Practicing and cultivating present moment awareness is the key to finding the peace and happiness that is already present inside each and every one of us. Everything we need for permanent peace and happiness is already present inside of us.

And the qualities that bring inner peace and happiness, like no other, are loving-kindness, generousness, and the wisdom of finding and practicing mindfulness.

With enough practice, mindfulness leads to an extremely peaceful state, known as equanimity, where very little, including physical pain, may cause harm.

The perfectly happy person is one who wants and needs nothing, and is perfectly happy with what he or she has.

Practicing 15 minutes of mindful meditation daily, especially before bed, and doing so consistently has many benefits for one’s mental and physical health. There is increasing medical literature to support this.

Below are reading recommendations to help.