Happiness, joy, contentedness – bring them on! Anxiety, sadness, shame – they can stay as our enemies, am I right? Just like we pull our hand away from a hot burner, we pull away from negative-feeling emotions. Makes perfect sense.

Sloooow down. What if I told you that it is the pulling away that causes the real suffering, not the negative-feeling emotions?

…what are you missing in life while you’re working so hard to control your anxiety? What does trying to stop your anxiety cost you in terms of…your health?...your finances?...your relationships?...your time spent alive?...your work?...opportunities?

Vanessa restricts to avoid feeling out of control, Jennifer uses sugar to cope with tension, and Ishani overeats to numb the feelings of anxiety.

What’s going on here? Why do Vanessa, Jennifer, and Ishani using food to cope with emotion, and others don’t?

We want to avoid emotional pain. It generally feels awful. The physical sensations are sometimes unbearable. Suffering sucks. Ugh. Of course we want to get rid of these feelings!!

Want to know the secret to having zero anxiety?

Avoidance! Works like a charm. Parties give you anxiety? Don’t go! Anxiety rises when you have to make a phone call? Send an email instead. Afraid of driving on the 401? Wait for a friend to drive you.

Emotions are responses to what is going on in our internal or external worlds. Just like a rumbling tummy tells you to go eat, emotions tell you to go do something.