Amanda Sweener
Many of us struggle with anxiety of some sort, right? Many probably have been prescribed an anti-depressant of some kind to help relieve the anxiety or some may just deal with it to the best of their ability on a daily basis without anything to help ease their anxiety. I am one of those people who just deal with it because I personally do not like taking medication especially if there may be more natural ways to cope with things such as anxiety. So, my topic of interest is, “Can mindfulness meditation reduce anxiety?”. What is mindfulness meditation you ask? It is a practice that allows you to focus on breathing and allows you to relax the mind and body while making yourself aware of how you feel physically and mentally. It is a practice that allows you to be present and to let go of any negative thoughts or feelings. I feel as this is a topic that is worth exploring for those who prefer a more natural approach to handling anxiety. “Many persons with clinical anxiety or depression turn to nonpharmacologic and non-conventional interventions, including exercise, meditation, tai chi, qigong, and yoga. There is increasing scientific interest in the potential effectiveness of these interventions for the treatment of anxiety and depression, especially for mild to moderate levels of disorder severity” (Saeed, Antonacci, & Bloch, 2010).
“People with anxiety have a problem dealing with distracting thoughts that have too much power. They can’t distinguish between a problem-solving thought and a nagging worry that has no benefit” (Saeed, Antonacci, & Bloch, 2010). Anxiety is constantly being anxious, full of negative thoughts and worries about things, feeling overwhelmed all the time, etc. With practicing mindful meditation, it allows us to slow down, to be present, taking time to just breathe, cleanse our minds of anything that is making us anxious, staying focused and to be aware of how we are feeling mentally and physically. Some studies may fail at proving that mindful mediation may be successful with reducing anxiety but that is often due to not having a good control treatment or researches tend to focus on people who are not ideal subjects and may not show much of an effect when in the study. A university in Baltimore, MD had gone through thousands of meditation studies until they finally found forty-seven trials that were ideal for a well designed study of mindful meditation and how it reduces anxiety, which their study did prove to simmer psychological stresses such as anxiety (Corliss, 2014).
“Research has shown that mindfulness helps us reduce anxiety and depression. Mindfulness teaches us how to respond to stress with awareness of what is happening in the present moment, rather than simply acting instinctively, unaware of what emotions or motives may be driving that decision”(Kind & Hofmann, 2016). Being mindful in difficult situations can help us respond to them in a more positive way. A lot of situations that can be even the slightest bit stressful can really kick anxiety into full gear. If we practice mindful mediation on a daily basis, it may over time reshape our brains into being more mindful throughout the day rather than just when meditating. “When most people go about their daily lives, their minds wander from the actual activity they are participating in, to other thoughts or sensations. When you’re mindful, you are actively involved in the activity with all of your senses instead of allowing your mind to wander”(Eisler, Eisler, Melissa, & Icf, 2019). Our minds are a powerful things and mindful meditation is a perfect way to check in with ourselves and to practice how to be more in control of our thoughts and how we feel. I have been practicing mindful meditation daily now and am looking to do so for thirty days, as I have heard it takes thirty days for you to learn a new habit and/or to reshape your mind. So far, I have already noticed a little change in my thought process and over all perspective, which is helping me take control of my anxiety. “The results of this exploratory mixed methods study suggest that mindfulness based cognitive therapy may have a role to play in treating active depression and anxiety in primary care” (Finucane and Mercer, 2006).
Citations
BMC Psychiatry BioMed. (2006). Retrieved from https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1471-244X-6-14
American Family Physician, AAFP (2010), Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/afp/2010/0415/p981.html?source=post_page—————————
PubMed (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20387774
The Chopra Center (2018), Retrieved from https://chopra.com/articles/whats-the-difference-between-meditation-and-mindfulness
Anxiety (n.d) https://www.anxiety.org/can-mindfulness-help-reduce-anxiety
Harvard Health Publishing Harvard Medical School; Trusted Advise For A Healthier Life (2014) Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-may-ease-anxiety-mental-stress-201401086967
