Oddly, perhaps, naming something gives us a bit of a feeling of control over something. Things that we cannot name are easier to fear because they are harder to understand. Unnamed things just don’t fit nicely into any world view. This week starts with the same opening rituals: we introduce ourselves (if we feel comfortable introducing ourselves), say why we have come to the group today (what we are working on; what we are hoping for hoping for), we share any specific challenges or successes (that we feel might be helpful to share), and we open with a brief audio meditation (to ground us in the present – this week through a self-directed meditation). Then we get down to the day’s anxiety managing exercise.
Our peer group leaders passed out colored pencils and pens and challenged us to draw a “picture” of what our anxiety feels like to us. This was NO art contest. It was more a matter of naming something with an illustration. After 15 or 20 minutes, we compared some of our images. Illustrations ranged from chaos, to wounded hearts, to words of scripture, to half hidden forms issuing forth bothersome thoughts, and more. Sharing why we felt we might picture our anxiety as we did (or, admittedly, tried to do) helped us find some language to explain how our anxiety felt at some moments. Sharing both similarities and differences gave us a broader view of what challenges anxiety brings to us.
We “de-brief” after the exercise by stepping back and giving our group leader some feedback on the exercise. Some exercises feel richer than others, but having a range of exercises to explore crates the feeling that we are exploring new territory together… and maybe honing some skills too.