How Meditation Reduces Anxiety

If anxiety is something that bothers you enough to do something about, try meditation. Meditation has a lasting impact on calming the mind down. The all consuming “chatter” that anxiety creates will dissipate, allowing you to feel and be more relaxed.

Most of us know this already but our minds want to ask the question “How?” This article will provide an explanation for how meditation reduces anxiety. My intention is that you’ll understand the knowledge of meditation’s positive effects, and you’ll be inspired to start, or deepen, your meditation practice.

Anxiety is not a pleasant experience. When you feel anxious, your mind loses its ability to be settled and calm. It grasps tightly to any issues that are currently creating stress in your life. Worry some thoughts about the future and/or past bombard your mind when you’re anxious.

Meditation trains your mind to become more quiet, calm, and settled. It takes you through a process of releasing physical distress. It benefits your well-being by reducing stress and relaxing the body.

Meditation also teaches you to identify signs of stress. It can be considered a preventative measure to stress and its harmful effects. But if stress is already consuming your life, meditation helps you identify how to respond healthier to complications created by stress.

Meditation changes the way your mind functions. In successful meditation, your mind will fully concentrate on one thing. In most meditations, this is your breath. By simply keeping the meditation focused to one thing (which is different from stress), you end up letting go and releasing stressful thoughts.
For example, assume that your job is draining to the point that you feel soulless. When you are not at work, you are constantly thinking about it. You can’t sleep at night because you end up dreaming about work. All of your thoughts are consumed by your exhausting job.

When you successfully meditate, you let go of these thoughts because you are fully focused on something else. Any thought of the job that comes to your mind is quickly released. You consciously come back to the original focus of your meditation.

Anxiety speeds up the heart rate. Meditation slows down the heart rate. When you meditate, your breath deepens, allowing more oxygen into the brain and blood stream. The deeper breaths help relax your heart, slowing it down to help you feel at ease.

Meditation may affect certain brain regions. Studies have shown a connection between meditation and alpha waves, which are brain waves associated with relaxation. Some meditations even impact people to be more compassionate, kind, and loving. Certainly, these qualities can benefit us tremendously.

The next time you feel anxious, remind yourself to meditate. It doesn’t have to be for a long time and you don’t need to have a guru to follow. Keep it simple by finding a clean space, sitting in a comfortable position, and keeping the internal focus.
You’ll feel so much better!