Chris,
I don't want the cure to include anything other than my own mental fortitude. I currently lift weights and get a sufficient amount of sleep, but I want to reach the state where even if I could no longer exercise nor experience deep sleep that I wouldn't be compromised by anxiety.
Changing diets and using relaxation techniques are dicey propositions. I recognize they worked for you, but I want to be able to ingest as many stimulants, carbs, etc. as I desire and put myself in continuously high stress environments without succumbing to anxiety.
You think if I eat a slice of pizza now I will freak out and start having anxiety? Haha, of course not. It doesn't work like that.I can go into high stress environments, public speeches, dates, job interviews, etc and not feel anxiety because my body no longer produces the stress response to anywhere near the level it once did.
The reason you feel anxiety is because your body and brain are out of working order. Your amygdala is overactive, you produce too many stress hormones and your body is in a mild state of flight or fight response nearly all the time. I'm sure you know this.
Imagine being obese and trying to lose weight. You should do everything you can to lose weight. Diet, exercise, sleep, everything. And once you lose weight and get in shape, you can eat slice of pizza here and there and you are not suddenly become fat overnight. You can miss a week of working out and you aren't suddenly going to lose all that muscle you built instantly. Your body is now in good working order, you are in good shape and it is not going to suddenly fall to pieces just because you missed a couple of workouts or ate some cake.
And once you do everything you can to quell your body's stress response you are not suddenly going to freak out if you miss working out for a week or drink a cup of coffee. Why? Because your body and brain are in good working order, in good enough shape to withstand high pressure situations, stimulants, etc.. and not go haywire.
It is not like I still spend 30 minutes a day doing relaxation exercises. I don't need to do them anymore. I still eat very healthy, workout a few times a week, etc. But I do that not because I need to because of anxiety, but because I like it, it makes me feel good, I am in fantastic shape, I am incredibly healthy and I want to live to 120.
I am of the mind that if one can in principle be cured of anxiety afflictions through meditation alone then I'll either do it or will die trying. Anxiety and anxiety alone is the sole focus of my life. I use to read a wide variety of literature and have indulge in many interests. Now, I spend nearly every waking hour thinking about anxiety and how I can cure myself of it and it's been that way for over a year. So now I'm finally going to put my obsessive thoughts and my attention to detail to good use.
The prognosis for people with anxiety is good. It is one of the most treatable mental afflictions out there. Millions of people have suffered from anxiety and millions of people have got ridden of it. There is formula for how to do it. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. There are millions of people who have done it and we know how to do it. Just do what they did. That's what I did and it worked.
The main book I read that really saved me was
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook. I bought that book. Followed the directions to a T, and Voila! Anxiety went away.
Meditation is included in the program by the way,
I have given that book to a half dozen people who suffered from anxiety and all of them were helped tremendously by the book to the point where they no longer get anxiety at any rate different than normal people.
The only people who don't get they anxiety handled are the people who don't follow the prescription. The people who think "Oh that may have worked for you, but it won't work for me! I'm special, I am somehow different than every other human out there. My body is an anomaly". Those are the people who never get fixed.
I am of the mind that if one can in principle be cured of anxiety afflictions through meditation alone then I'll either do it or will die trying.
This is like saying "If in principle I can build a car using only a screwdriver and a screwdriver alone than I'll either do it or will die trying." Why limit yourself to only one tool in the toolbox?
Not even the Buddha would say you should only use meditation to cure anxiety and nothing else. Have you heard about the whole Noble eightfold path? There is a whole lot of stuff in there besides meditation. The majority of it, actually. Most of it to do with how you live your normal every day life in a way that won't produce stress.
The trick is going to be remaining focused and motivated when I'm let's say 80% improved. Thankfully I'm an extreme perfectionist and harsh critic. It'll be tempting to forget about the remaining 20%, but I definitely have concrete goals as a way to measure how far along I am. If any goal remains unchecked then I know that I can't rest just yet
Ironically, the key to success in meditation, and what meditation primarily is, is just learning how to REST. It is focused relaxation, at least the shamatha path.
Another thing working for me is that my meditation will revolve around anxiety and nothing else. If any component of my meditative exercises addresses something other than anxiety then I will either alter it or throw it away.
If I succeed and totally conquer anxiety, I'll be sure to let everyone here know and exactly how I did it.
You don't see it now, but this kind of attitude is the product of anxiety. Just relax. You think anxiety is this huge unstoppable demon that you need to figure out a new way of beating and if you do you will tell the world!
But it's not. Anxiety is easy to beat. Although trust me, I understand from your perspective how crazy that sounds..I was once there. But really it is. All you have to do is follow the directions. Get the anxiety and phobia workbook, and follow the directions.
1. Eat healthy..Paleo..recommended
2. Exercise
3. Sleep
4. Practice cognitive-behavioral-therapy... a fancy term for replacing negative thought patterns with more positive, rational ones
5.Do 30 minutes of relaxation exercises a day. I recommend muscle relaxation.
6. Meditate.
It won't happen overnight. It takes time. Just like a fat person won't become skinny overnight. It takes time. Your brain needs to re-wire itself.
Good luck man.
Feel free to hit me up with any questions.