Mindfulness in Motion, Moving Beyond Anxiety

Mindfulness in Motion, Moving Beyond Anxiety

“Now days everyone replaces their emotions with Fear” Paulo Coelho

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

How much of our joy, our comfort, our desire do we replace with the sensation of fear and anxiety? We gain the promotion but then immediately start to wonder how will we maintain it; will we have the time required to devote to our new station? We buy the house but before we even close on it we start to panic about lawn care, taxes, the neighbors seemed a bit odd. After 3 years of the single life we meet the perfect partner but obsess nervously about whether they have called or texted back, do they like us, are we saying the right things? If any of this sounds familiar then please read on.

Does Mindfulness Actually Work for Anxiety?

Yes, mindfulness actually works for anxiety. Multiple studies have shown that regular mindfulness practice reduces anxiety symptoms by helping the brain break the cycle of worry and fear that keeps anxious thinking going.

A large meta-analysis published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine reviewed over 18,000 meditation studies and found that mindfulness meditation programs produced moderate improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain. The key finding was that mindfulness was not just a feel-good exercise. It produced measurable changes in how people experienced and responded to stress.

Mindfulness works for anxiety because it trains your brain to observe thoughts without reacting to them. Instead of getting swept into a spiral of “what if” thinking, you learn to notice the anxious thought, acknowledge it, and let it pass without fueling it with more worry. Over time, this weakens the automatic connection between anxious thoughts and the physical stress response.

We see this in our own practice. Clients who commit to a mindfulness-based approach alongside traditional anxiety therapy often report that they feel less controlled by their thoughts and more capable of handling stressful situations without spiraling.

Often our tendency toward fearful or anxious thinking is so ingrained that we often don’t even realize that what we are experiencing is anxiety in action, perhaps we notice only that we feel bad, sad, hopeless, always keyed up and hyper aware. or maybe riddled with physical sickness. Often when we are adrift in the gravity of this emotional process we may simply think that we are mulling about the possibilities or that we are preventing these bad things from happening by considering them beforehand. The concern is that when we think so deeply about all of the possible negative crisis’s and downfalls that could happen in the future we are zapping ourselves of the opportunity to enjoy the peace and pleasantness of our joys now. We become so fixated on how we will acclimate to the managerial position that the joy and triumph of our promotions victory loses the wind from its sails before the ship leaves the port. This is one of the reasons that anxiety and depression are often co-mingled, anxiety is a feeling state which effects our perception, when we ruminate over the unrealized possibilities around each and every corner depression is often a natural out cursor.

Can Meditation Lower Cortisol?

Yes, meditation can lower cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone your body releases when it senses a threat, and for people with anxiety, that threat response stays turned on even when there is no real danger. Meditation helps turn it down.

A study published in the journal Health Psychology found that participants who completed an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program showed significantly lower cortisol levels compared to a control group. Other research from Rutgers University found that just 30 minutes of meditation and 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per week reduced depressive symptoms by 40% in participants.

When cortisol stays elevated for long periods, it disrupts sleep, weakens the immune system, increases irritability, and makes it harder to think clearly. That is why people with chronic anxiety often feel physically exhausted even when they have not done anything physically demanding. Their body has been running on stress chemicals all day.

Meditation interrupts that cycle by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the body’s rest-and-recovery mode. Even short daily sessions can begin to shift the balance. We offer guided meditation sessions that are specifically designed to help people who are new to the practice and may feel unsure about how to begin.

If this is a somewhat familiar song and dance to you, then you may want to try some of these mindful tips to help reduce stress or anxiety.

• Become reflective of your mind’s process, that means mindfully noticing that you’re in an anxious thought cycle as it is happening. Mindfulness is a fantastic tactic in forming awareness of your psychological and emotional process which is the best first step toward change.
• When in an anxious state practice self-soothing, Imagine for a minute all of the situations that you have worried about that have never in fact happened, this is the equivalent of the self-soothing mantra, “everything will be ok.”
• Be patient with yourself. We sometimes get so crafty with our worrying that we then beginning worrying about the fact that we are worrying. No need to add an extra layer of anger, guilt or shame because you are noticing that you are worrying or fearful, remember that these thoughts shall pass as all thoughts and feeling states do. In fact, in a recent study published in psych central, the most helpful statement that one can make to a person experiencing anxiety or panic is that “this will pass, just as all feelings pass.”
• Psychotherapy, there are many forms of therapy which can help, commonly popular Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an excellent intervention to make progress in changing maladaptive thought patterns.

How Do I Start Practicing Mindfulness?

You start practicing mindfulness by setting aside just 5 minutes a day to sit quietly, focus on your breathing, and notice what is happening in your body and mind without trying to change it. That is the entire foundation. Everything else builds from there.

Find a quiet spot where you will not be interrupted. Sit comfortably. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Breathe naturally and pay attention to the sensation of air entering and leaving your body. When your mind wanders, and it will, gently bring your attention back to your breath. That moment of noticing and returning is the practice. It is not a failure. It is the exercise itself.

As you get more comfortable, you can extend the time to 10, 15, or 20 minutes. You can also try body scan exercises, where you slowly move your attention from your toes to the top of your head, noticing any tension or sensation along the way. Walking mindfulness, where you pay close attention to each step and the feeling of the ground beneath your feet, is another accessible option.

The key is consistency, not duration. Five minutes every day produces better results than 30 minutes once a week. Breathwork sessions can also help you develop the breath awareness that makes mindfulness feel more natural and less forced.

How to Rewire Your Brain From Anxiety

You rewire your brain from anxiety by consistently practicing new thought patterns and responses until they become the default. This is possible because of neuroplasticity, your brain’s ability to form new connections and pathways throughout your entire life.

Anxiety creates well-worn neural pathways. The more you worry, the easier it becomes to worry, because your brain gets better at whatever it practices. But the same principle works in reverse. When you practice noticing anxious thoughts without reacting to them, challenge distorted thinking, and respond to stress with calm rather than panic, you are building new pathways that compete with the old ones.

Research has shown that mindfulness meditation physically changes the brain. Studies using MRI imaging found that people who practiced mindfulness for 8 weeks showed decreased gray matter density in the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, and increased gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and emotional regulation.

Mindfulness is one powerful tool for this kind of brain change, but it works even better when combined with structured therapeutic approaches. Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based approaches complement each other well because CBT teaches you what to change, and mindfulness teaches you how to stay present while you change it.

May the best of luck and preparation guide you on your journey!
Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh and Monroeville
Contributed by Stephanie Wijkstrom, MS, LPC, NCC
830 Western Avenue
Pittsburgh Pa 15233
412-322-2129