The moment I realized that anxiety was embedded in my very chemistry, I was able to step outside of it and study its nature. What I found was both simple and profound. Anxiety is natural—it is a survival mechanism, a fundamental part of our evolution. But beyond that, I recently uncovered something deeper: intelligent creatures like us, who are aware of the ever-present danger of being alive, exist under a unique burden. This heightened awareness, if left unchecked, traps us in a constant state of anxiety that shapes our character over time.
When anxiety becomes our baseline, we evolve into highly defensive, reactive beings—always strategizing, always calculating. We become paranoid, easily triggered, and disconnected from the ability to trust. If we fail to recognize this pattern, it takes over, pushing us toward madness, closing us off from love, from the world, from enlightenment itself. It is a thief of presence, a barrier between us and the deep trust in ourselves that allows us to fully exist.
One of the simplest and yet most powerful antidotes is breath. Breath is only a fragment of meditation, but it is the most accessible place to begin. A beginner needs nothing more than to focus on the breath—no complex philosophy, no layers of abstraction—just the raw simplicity of inhaling and exhaling.
We are teaching our daughter this lesson from her earliest years, showing her how to breathe the right way. She, like so many children, is naturally anxious and highly reactive—a sign of her intelligence. That energy, if properly guided, can be transformed into creation rather than destruction. This is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give: the understanding that within us exists the power to create rather than merely react, to shape our experience rather than be shaped by fear.
All of our children deserve this knowledge. It is one of the most vital teachings of all.