Anxiety problems are becoming more frequent and we have come to the conclusion that we have to learn to live with them. But living with anxiety is not the same as surrendering to it, but getting to know it thoroughly and stop being afraid of it. After all, anxiety is an adaptive mechanism that we need in our lives, what we don’t need is for it to overflow. Mindfulness to treat anxiety is presented as a more realistic technique precisely to be more aware of what problems anxiety is causing us and thus discover how we can solve it. we want to propose 3 meditation exercises that are very relieving. Do you dare with them?
Mindfulness to treat anxiety, is it effective?
Thoughts that we cannot control, overflowing emotions that take us to the limit of our resistance, somatization of emotional discomfort and that feeling of permanent and constant danger. Among other things, that is anxiety and as you can see it is a kind of disconnect between what we think, what we feel and what we experience.
Mindfulness is one of the best tools we have to deal with anxiety. We remember before that anxiety must not be avoided or controlled, but rather learn and that is why we are getting closer and closer to mindfulness, a technique that allows us to be present even in our anxiety.
What anyone who suffers from anxiety wants is to avoid at all costs the enormous discomfort that it causes them. He tries it with different avoidance strategies ranging from addictions to social isolation. And none of them work, because trying to avoid anxiety is the best recipe for it to impact you even more.
Taking into account that anxiety in its proper measure is something we need and that excessive anxiety has not killed anyone (even though you think you are going to die when you are suffering from a panic attack) it does not seem a bad idea to learn to live with that anxiety reducing the negative impact it causes in our lives. And this is only achieved if we manage to live our experience with anxiety consciously. This comes into play, which is the technique or art of living the present moment objectively, without judgments or values.
Easy and effective meditation techniques to calm anxiety
There are some specific meditation exercises for anxiety that are simple and easy to do and are also very effective in curing the distressing sensations that cause fear and worry. But let us remind you that to see the beneficial results of mindfulness you have to practice it regularly and constantly.
15-4-3-2-1 mindfulness exercise to reconnect with the present
This exercise that looks like a countdown is actually a method to be more present and to be fully aware of what is happening in your life at this precise moment. Work with your five senses, there is nothing closer to full consciousness.
Sit in a comfortable position and look around you. Do you see? Mentally count 5 things you are seeing right now. Go on to listen to sounds, what 4 different sounds can you perceive in your environment? It can be from the noise of the cars in the street to the sound of the refrigerator.
You already have two fully active senses, so we move on to touch. What 3 things can you feel, touch? The with your skin, your sole of the foot on the ground or even the ring that you wear on your finger. You are becoming more and more aware of your senses, but we still have a couple of them left.
What does it smell like? You have to identify 2 smells around you: your perfume, the stew that is being made in the kitchen or the air freshener at home. And last but not least, you have 1 flavor left, the taste of your saliva, for example, or the taste of the tea you just drank.
This simple exercise serves to focus your attention on the senses, situates you in the present and, therefore, interrupts those catastrophic and fearful thoughts
2 Meditation exercise for fear
We go one step further because it is time to practice meditation against those fears and don’t let you be happy. Do you know what to do with fear? Accept it. As you read.
Sitting in a straight back position, close your eyes and take following the rhythm of your breathing. Do this about five times and move on to mentally doing a body scan. Consciously go from your feet to your head and do the reverse. Stop in the place where you visualize fear or where fear has put all its negative energy.
Don’t be scared when you find fear, it will surely cause you discomfort, but don’t analyze it, don’t judge it, don’t try to avoid it. Just watch the fear and see how it moves, it will get bigger; it will try to annoy you more, snap at you with anguish. Do not resist or think anything negative about fear, it will be there for a reason even if you do not understand it.
Stay watching your fear for as long as it takes because in a few minutes you will notice that there is something you can do with that fear and it is not precisely to avoid it. It’s letting it be, it’s accepting. And when you do, you will be able to see how the energy of that fear becomes smaller and bothers you less.
3 Very useful meditation exercise to remove worries
Many times worries crowd our heads, especially when. They become a skein full of knots and we are not able to pull any of the threads to gradually solve them. They are the consequences of anxiety and you have to go step by step.
Concerns (even if they are many) must be dealt with separately, one by one. Some of them are the product of the distorted thoughts that anxiety creates, so looking at them from an objective perspective will make them go away. Others are real concerns that require a solution, but in that state of confusion and anxiety it is impossible to solve them.
So, it is time to untangle the skein. Lie in bed with your eyes closed and go through all your concerns one by one while taking a deep breath. At first all the worries will pass to you together, but try to stay with one, whatever it is. Take it and recreate yourself in it, leave all the others. Focus your attention on that concern and do not stop breathing deeply. What are you thinking, is it causing you discomfort? Is there any way to fix it? Or is it a concern about something that has happened or that may?
Don’t be afraid to dwell on your worries. Although many people tell you that you think too much, you have to think and a lot to feel good. What happens is that you have to think by focusing your attention on one goal at a time. So try it with a concern each night before bed. You will see how some of your fears are unfounded and are relegated to oblivion and you will also see how you find a solution for other concerns.
There are many mindfulness techniques that you can use to learn to manage your anxiety, fears, and worries. And if you practice some of them continuously, you will see the results in the form of physical and emotional well-being, greater mental clarity, a certain inner calm and more ability to concentrate.
