Managing Anxiety Through Meditation
We’ve all experienced stress and anxiety at some point in our lives — whether it’s the feeling of unease before a big test, meeting your significant other’s family for the first time, the feeling of trepidation while watching the news, none of us are strangers to the emotion.
Anxiety is our body’s way of saying, “Hey, I’m experiencing too much stress all at once.” This happens to the best of us. But, when that feeling of being “always on alert” becomes background noise that doesn’t go away, it’s time to take action.
Welcome to Meditation Mondays: Managing Anxiety!
Anxiety is the mind and body’s reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It’s the sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event. A certain level of anxiety helps us stay alert and aware, but for those suffering from an anxiety disorder, it feels far from normal — it can be completely debilitating.
Anxiety is a whole body condition
According to anxiety.org, chronic feelings of stress and anxiety can lead to chronic physical illnesses, such as high blood pressure, headaches, heart disease, diabetes, muscle aches, digestive and cardiovascular issues.
Why is my physical body affected by an emotion?
Stress hormones suppress the immune system so processes such as healing and repair can wait until after the threat subsides. However, in someone with an anxiety disorder, where there is constant activation of these responses to everyday stressors, the stress hormone system loses its ability to control immune function, thus contributing to heightened systemic inflammation that increases the risk for cardiovascular and even autoimmune disorders.
Why does meditation help with anxiety?
The general purpose of meditation is to become fully present in the moment — reduced anxiety is just a side effect!
How many times have you caught yourself stressed out about something in the past, thinking “I can’t believe that happened,” worried endlessly about the future, thinking “What’s going to happen”? When we do that, we miss out on the here and now, and stay anxious and stressed.
Meditation can help with anxiety because it quiets an overactive brain. “For someone with anxiety, it sometimes feels like their mind is like a hamster on a wheel — constantly running, but not really getting anywhere,” according to Tom Corboy, founder and executive director of the OCD Center of Los Angeles.
Below, enjoy a 10 minute guided meditation, especially created to help with symptoms of anxiety.
