Don't Feed the Monkey Mind Quotes

“Resisting, avoiding, and distracting yourself from your anxiety are behaviors that send the wrong message to your brain. These behaviors fuel a cycle of anxiety that always leads to a bigger dose.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“Are you giving up your long-term interests or compromising your personal values in exchange for short-term anxiety relief? If the answer is yes to these questions, you’ve found a safety strategy.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“Within the cycle of anxiety, the joy of being alive is lost. Our world gets smaller and smaller.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“These are the three false assumptions of the monkey mind-set. As long as I am certain, as long as I am perfect, and as long as others are okay I will be safe, able to relax, and happy. Each of these assumptions overestimates the threat and underestimates our ability to cope. Each of them treats the perception of threat as accurate, a problem to be fixed.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“Intolerance of uncertainty: I must be 100% certain. Perfectionism: I must not make mistakes. Over-responsibility: I am responsible for everyone’s happiness and safety. These assumptions are impossible standards. The more we attempt to live by them, the more anxious we will be, and the less likely we will be to take the risks that are necessary to take in order to live freely and follow our dreams.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“We spend our days—and for some of us, nights—reviewing the past for errors and looking into the future to prevent making more. We debate decisions we’ve already made, recycle old concerns, indulge endless regrets, obsess over things we can’t control. It’s all in response to a constant stream of negative feelings and monkey chatter.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“Intolerance of uncertainty: I must be 100% certain. Perfectionism: I must not make mistakes. Over-responsibility: I am responsible for everyone’s happiness and safety.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“Perhaps your partner has problems that you take on and try to manage, like poor diet, lack of exercise, or substance abuse. Unless he or she is happy and healthy, you can’t be happy and healthy.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“We cannot relax and be at peace unless we feel safe.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“This is my promise to you: Once you learn how to respond to anxiety wisely, rather than reacting to it, not only will you become resilient to anxiety but infinite possibilities will open up for you.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“The monkey mind-set seldom takes us anywhere we want to go. In fact, it almost always holds us back from what we long for in life.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“In cognitive behavioral therapy we call this defusion. Becoming aware of this difference de-fuses—creates a distance between—the part of you that is hyperreactive to threat and the rational part of you that can notice your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations, and learn to override them when necessary.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

“Don’t Panic by Reid Wilson.”
― Jennifer Shannon, Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry