How Mindfulness Helps Anxiety
Overview: This article covers how mindfulness skills and attitudes help with anxiety
What mindfulness actually is
How it helps with anxiety
Tips and resources for starting a mindfulness practice
What is mindfulness?
The definition of mindfulness is:
“Paying attention on purpose in a particular way to the present moment non-judgmentally”
Mindfulness is both a skill and a way of being. Mindfulness skills involve meditative practices that build the capacities to:
Notice your body
Notice your surroundings
Sense your emotions
Notice your thoughts without judgment
Change your attitude towards suffering
Reduce reactivity to stress
As a way of being, mindful people look at suffering as both inevitable and tolerable. It’s no longer the enemy to be avoided at all costs, it’s welcomed with understanding and compassion. Mindful people also have a balanced perspective of events, often noticing both the good and bad as opposed to most humans who are biased towards the negative. Emotional regulation comes more natural as well because mindful people understand that emotions come and go, vary in intensity, and accept what comes up instead of working against it. They are more adaptable to change and more confident in how they approach the world.
How does mindfulness help anxiety?
Mindfulness starts by cultivating curiosity into your experiences. We often work in autopilot mode, which is when we don’t have to actually break down the steps or pay attention to what we are doing. Our body just knows what to do without thinking about it. This is how our brains work so we can free up space to process other important information. This is why you don’t have to think about how to walk, drive a car, cook meals, etc.
Unfortunately, we also can go into autopilot mode with our dysfunctional habits too.
Humans spend a lot of time lost in thought and if you have an anxiety disorder, often those thoughts are worries about the future, regrets about the past, wishing things were different, or beating yourself up for not being the person you want to be. Anxious people tend to catastrophize — only imagining the worst possible outcome. If you’re an anxious person and in a new or unfamiliar situation, you start imagining all the terrible things that will happen. You overly focus on the potential for risk or danger, completely minimizing your capacity for managing stress.
Mindfulness skills bring more awareness of your anxiety in real time. By becoming more aware of how you’re feeling, you can then take action to support yourself in ways that actually work. Just by being aware and practicing acceptance of your anxiety, you start to become less reactive to it. Mindfulness gives us the path towards stepping out of autopilot and making better choices.
Tips on starting a mindfulness practice
Like any helpful skill, we have to actually take the time to practice it. You can start by bringing your awareness to these experiences that you spend in autopilot mode. Use curious questions and engage your five senses- touch, taste, smell, sounds and sight. What sensations come up when you sit outside? What sounds do you hear? How does the air feel? Do you notice any smells? Open your eyes and start describing what you see. If you need help, you might do better with a guided meditation.
Resources for learning and practicing mindfulness:
Insight timer - free app with guided meditations, yoga, and mindfulness practices
Center for Mindfulness - programs for learning Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
The Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction workbook by Elena Rosenbaum
“Mindfulness is not mysterious. It is practical. It is more than a set of techniques to add to one’s toolbox. It involves personal practice and a willingness to be with our own thoughts and feelings with greater acceptance and less reactivity.” - Elena Rosenbaum, “The Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction”.