In my ongoing study of anxiety through reading, mindfulness training, working with myself and working with my clients I have begun to see that anxiety is an umbrella concept which has become so huge as to be less helpful in understanding what is going on for a person.

There is ambient, habitual anxiety which can be well addressed by mindfulness practices.  The practice itself is a solution because it focuses the mind and trains the person to be in the present.  The endorphins released through vigorous exercise and breathing can be a temporary relief from this sort of ambient anxiety.  There are natural remedies and substances which can help to tweak the system out of a habitual state of anxiety and are best used in conjunction with the more labour intensive and time-consuming mindfulness practices.

There is anxiety which is discomfort, unease, the sometimes painful sense that something needs to change in your life—your work, your relationships, the way you organize your time, the way you think about something (shift in values).  This anxiety should not be understood as something to disregard or train yourself out of.  It is pointing the way to a major life shift and needs to be recognized and validated.  This being said, it is a person who has a good equilibrium (ability to be in their body, in the present) who will be able to effectively act on the call to change something.

Then there is also the anxiety which results from an inability to recognize, name and feel other emotions: fear (which includes jealousy), sadness, anger.  The best therapy for this third kind of anxiety is supportive psychotherapy which educates the person about feelings and helps them to recognize and express and act on what is true for them.  I would say that this kind of anxiety is generalized discomfort which is much like that of a fussy baby who cannot say what she is feeling or what she needs.  With the right kind of support and guidance (from a parent or later on, a therapist) this person can learn to distinguish between the major emotions in them and can learn to speak about them.