Mindfulness meditation is a purposeful, judgment-free observation of thoughts, emotions, and sensations. This practice allows distancing oneself from anxiety or overpowering negative emotions and promotes calmness. It helps manage stress and anxiety by focusing on the present moment and understanding feelings and sensations non-judgmentally. This article discusses what mindfulness meditation is, how to use it, and its scientific support.
Stress often triggers anxiety, which may lead to fear, discomfort, and unease. While anxiety can sometimes motivate people to avoid dangers or confront issues, continuous anxiety can develop into a disorder. Almost one-fifth of the adult US population, over 40 million people, experience various kinds of anxiety disorders. These disorders can cause both mental and physical symptoms like intrusive, uncontrollable negative thoughts, increased heart rate, dizziness, pain, and difficulty in breathing.
Anxiety often results in negative and racing thoughts. Mindfulness is an approach to stabilize such thoughts and pacify the body by focusing on attention and acceptance. Attention involves being aware of the ongoing emotional and physical sensations. Acceptance, on the other hand, is about understanding these sensations without judging them. Mindfulness meditation decreases the body’s intense response to stress, making experiences more manageable and comfortable.
Practicing mindfulness creates an emotional boundary, protecting against anxiety’s chaos, enabling a better examination of anxiety’s root cause. It is a relatively simple technique that one can use whenever anxiety strikes. A study conducted by the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, in 2017 established that ten minutes of daily mindful meditation enhances concentration and reduces repetitive anxious thoughts.
Research also shows that mindfulness meditation positively influences stress-related health conditions, brain’s stress processing, and pain management in chronic pain cases. Moreover, it has no side effects, unlike some other treatments, and can be performed anywhere without attracting any stigma.
There is no single way to manage anxiety, so people use various methods. Exposure therapy might be beneficial for situations causing regular anxiety. It involves slowly getting accustomed to the anxiety-triggering situation, ideally under a therapist’s guidance. For chronic or incapacitating anxiety, seeking professional help from a doctor or licensed therapist is recommended.
In conclusion, mindfulness meditation helps in understanding the body and mind’s reactions to stress, by perceiving those reactions non-judgmentally. Regular practice of mindfulness meditation ensures a better perspective on one’s emotions and allows critical evaluation of the causes of stress and anxiety. Even in isolated instances, practicing mindfulness meditation can be helpful.