12 Beliefs - Steps of Anxiety - Anonymous

12 steps/beliefs: additional explanations

1. When a person becomes a Christian, having been baptized and having made a personal confession of faith, their SOUL, their 'human person', their 'I/ME', moves from being united with what scripture calls the 'flesh' (or old man), to being united/one with what scripture calls the 'Spirit' (or new man). They have a brand new identity.

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2. 80% (s0me experts say more) of the random/automatic thoughts that the average person experiences are negative (ex: fear, worry, anxiety, etc.). For Christians, negative thoughts are false/lies. Because, Christians don't worry about their lives, bodies, or tomorrow. Negative thinking does not originate from a Christian, 'new man/Spirit'. It orginates from tje 'old man/flesh'.

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3. We can direct our will to direct our 'observing mind' faculty to see what our mind's 'attention' is placed on. If it's on an anxious mind story, we can direct our will to gently move our attention away from the anxious 'mind story', and towards our present moment/direct experience . . . . what we're actually seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or touching touching. This is the fulfilling of scripture's command to 'be transformed by the renewal of the mind''.

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4. The 'Welcoming Prayer' is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to events and situations in daily life. The three movements of the prayer:

• Focus and Feel: Notice the physical and/or emotional sensations in your body (such as tightness, heat, or churning) without judging, analyzing, or trying to fix them.

• Welcome: Acknowledge and embrace the emotion and/or sensations by saying, "Welcome, [emotion/sensation], such as fear, guilt, anger.

• Let Go: Release your core human attachments, emotional programs for happiness, and desires by reciting surrendering statements such as:

  • "I let go of my desire for power and control."

  • "I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure."

  • "I let go of my desire for survival and security."

  • "I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within."

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5. While we'll never fully understand how, by an act of faith, we can choose to practice believing God's Word that somehow - someway, God is mysteriously causing all things to work together for our good. 

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6. When we experience an anxious, sticky, intrusive, or negative thought and/or feeling, we can:

1) Immediately respond: "Not interested, no thanks", consciously 'losing interest' in the thought content and moving our attention away from the 'mind story' and back to what we're seeing, hearing, etc.

2) Immediately poclaim a Word of Truth: "I don't worry about my life, body or tomorrow", moving our attention away from the story and back to what we're seeing, hearing, etc.

3) Immediately give it/them to God: make an act of giving it/them to God, making an act of faith and belief the God takes it/them, whether it feels like it or not, moving our attention away from the story and back to what we're seeing, hearing, etc.

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* when anxious thoughts occur just before or while in bed, a healthy response is: "Hi mind, you can swirl or ruminate all you want, but, while I'm resting, I'm not interested at all in the content of thoughts or in assessing them for Truth. I'll take it up tomorrow.

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7. As scripture says, God's grace is sufficient for us. His power is made perfect in us when we're weak. Therefore, we practice choosing to boast all the more gladly about our weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on us.

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8. Renewing the mind takes time. Therefore, we choose to practice not believing mind lies such as: "you're not doing it right", "you're taking too long", "if you were just holier you wouldn't experience anxiety", "you'll never be restored", etc.). Anxious mind stories / thoughts will never entirely cease in this life because of original sin/concupiscence. But, by practicing the renewing of our minds, they become less powerful to influence us.

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9. Practicing Christian centering prayer, ideally once in the morning and once in the evening, leads to: a calmer mind, more energy, a calmer nervous system, and a greater sense of God's presence. All key components that help lead a person to the restoration God promised in 1Peter5.

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10. Avoiding screen time whenever possible is key to lowering anxiety levels.  A progressive body relaxation exercise is vital to help lower bodily tension, anxiety, and stress, A-A recommends Dr. Gail Brenner's audio. 

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11. When the body does things we don't want it to do, for the Christian, it's not 'them' who does them, it's the 'sin' or remanats of the old man/flesh self ' living within them that does them. Since we're never condemned by God, we practice being merciful to others. Because, they too may do things they don't want to do, so, it's also not them who does them either.

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12. Christians have been set free and are liberated. Because, per scripture, Christians are not the random, automatic, involuntary thoughts that appear in their minds. Christians are the Spirits or beings who 'see them' and assess them for Truth. This is where the healing begins for most people.​​​​​​​​