PREVIOUS PAGE: STIGUR KARLSSON/GETTY IMAGES; THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF WHITNEY FISCH
Throughout the day, Whitney Fisch takes moments
to talk to herself. While washing the dishes or taking
a shower, she practices mindfulness, describing
how the soap smells and feels, and what the
splashing water sounds like. In the grocery store,
she talks about the foods she sees and sniffs.
“Sometimes, people look at you
like you’re a crazy person when
you’re like, ‘I’m feeeeeeling
this pepper. It’s red. It’s waxy,’”
laughed the 33-year-old school
counselor, who lives in Miami with her husband and their
1-year-old daughter.
But the exercises, which Fisch’s
therapist recommended, are beginning to provide relief from the
anxiety she has battled for the better part of a decade — staying up
nights, fretting: How am I going to
Whitney
Fisch says
mindfulness
helped her
deal with her
anxiety and
connect with
her daughter.