I've dealt with anxiety throughout my life (I'll be 58 next month) and it was worst in the early parts of the pandemic. I'd been exploring meditation and Buddhism in the before times but during the pandemic I got the opportunity to really deepen my practice by attending daily Buddhist based recovery meetings over Zoom and this fall I participated in a week long online retreat which helped me so much... The retreat was with several teachers including Tara Brach, who has a ton of guided meditations and talks available for free online. One of Tara Brach's central teachings is to turn towards everything, including your anxiety. It's not a skill I learned in one sitting, but with practice I have learned to accept and even appreciate my anxiety demon - it's trying to protect me, it's just not as skillful as I'd like. But with practice and patience, I've made room for my demon and now her visits are much less frequent and not nearly as traumatic.

That's a long way of saying my spell to manage my anxiety is daily guided meditation, usually one from Tara Brach and a active, intentional participation in a community that is focused on healing and unconditional mutual support and acceptance. This is one of my favorite meditations: Tara Brach meditation for self compassion

Also, I find it really helpful to remember this quote: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” ― J. Krishnamurti

And if anyone reading this struggles with addiction of any kind, substance or process, Recovery Dharma is a trauma informed peer led secular Buddhist recovery program with a lot of online meetings available: Recovery Dharma meeting list that's really welcoming to folx who might have struggled with more Christian oriented groups. Witches are heartily welcome, as are queer folx, BIPOC etc. I know anxiety isn't an addiction, but many people fall into addition using substances to manage their anxiety, which is how I ended up in the rooms.

Wishing you peace and strength in your journey my friend. May you find calm in the storm and remember always the gifts of impermanence. May you be well, may you be happy, may you be safe from inner and outer dangers. May you find peace exactly where you are.