For all of my life, I have had a certain degree of anxiety. For the most part, I have learned to regulate it in a healthy manner. At times, however, it has spun out of control.
The first time this happened was when I first started college. I was depressed, but also intellectually excited and stimulated by the new environment. Unfortunately, I turned too much to my cognitive side and ignored the underlying feelings of alienation, fear, loneliness, and unhappiness. This is, until I began having panic attacks.
I remember once getting into my car to go to the University, but half-way there my chest felt so heavy that I had to pull the car around. As most people who have had panic attacks can tell you, it felt a bit like what I imagine a heart attack to feel like. But I trusted it wasn’t a heart attack because the moment I turned the car toward home, the tightness eased and I could breathe again.
Another time, I was in a grocery store when it felt like the aisles were stretching up above me and threatening to collapse on me. Everything felt unsafe and I knew I had to get out of there. Even at the time, I knew the feelings didn’t represent reality, and I wasn’t hallucinating. Nonetheless, the feelings themselves were very real and impactful.
Living with anxiety can be difficult, and it can be challenging to find ways to cope. At the time, I started therapy, which helped. I also went to a psychiatrist who prescribed some antidepressants, which helped in many ways as well. But one of the best things I did at the time—actually about 2 years later after some ups and downs—was started meditating.
Meditation with Anxiety
Meditation has been proven effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms. It’s not a silver-bullet and doesn’t work for everyone, but research backs up broad claims about the beneficial effects of meditation specifically in areas of depression in anxiety. Meditation practices have evolved over thousands of years and have recently entered the spotlight for a wide range of benefits.
To begin, it is important to understand how meditation works to alleviate anxiety. Anxiety is often caused by overactive thinking and worrying about the future. Meditation is a training on just allowing thoughts to come and go. At first it can be very difficult, as our tendency is to latch on and ruminate—or worse, to spiral down. But with practice, meditation can allow us to quiet the mind and bring us into the present moment.
A common form of meditation is done by focusing on our breath or a specific object, which can help to calm the mind and reduce anxious thoughts over time. I like to imagine my mind as a sky. In meditation I am simply watching the rising and falling of the hills on the distant skyline. Anxious thoughts still arise, but like clouds they simply come and go. I don’t fight the clouds, but I also don’t get caught up in them. I simply return my attention to the beautiful mountains (the rise and fall of my breath). Over time, regular meditation practice will retrain the brain and improve our ability to cope with stress and anxiety. The stress and anxiety never disappear, but it no longer grips or overwhelms us the way it once did.
Benefits of Meditation
One of the main benefits of meditation is that it can help to reduce our overall stress levels. Studies have shown that regular meditation practice can lower cortisol levels, which is a hormone that is produced in response to stress. Cortisol is great when we need to react quickly, like when a bear is charging at us. But even in Montana, that doesn’t happen too often. Unfortunately, when we have anxiety, it can feel like the world itself is charging at us, so we feel that exact sense of panic. By lowering our cortisol levels, meditation can help to reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety such as increased heart rate and sweating.
Meditation can also help to improve our emotional well-being. Regular meditation practice has been linked to increased feelings of happiness and positivity. This is especially true with loving-kindness meditation (see some of my early blogs on that topic). This is because meditation can help us to become more aware of our thoughts and emotions, allowing us to respond to them in a more positive way. It can also help us to cultivate feelings of compassion and kindness towards ourselves and others, which can improve our overall sense of well-being.
Starting a meditation practice
Getting started with meditation can be intimidating, but it is important to remember that meditation is a practice. I often recommend finding a good teacher or a group of meditators to offer guidance along the way. It can also help to start with a partner or friend. With others or on your own, here are a few things that can help get you started:
- Start small: Begin by meditating for just a few minutes each day. It can be helpful to set a timer and gradually increase the amount of time you meditate each day.
- Find a quiet space: It can be helpful to find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. This can be a room in your home or a quiet spot outside.
- Get comfortable: a seated position is most common. You can sit on a cushion or in a chair. It is important to find a position that is both comfortable and brings alertness.
- Focus on your breath: Begin by focusing on the sensations of your breath. Notice the feeling of the breath as it enters and leaves your body. If your mind starts to wander, gently bring it back to your breath.
- Be patient: It is important to be patient with yourself as you start your meditation practice. Remember that meditation is a practice, and it takes time to develop.
In addition to these tips, there are also many resources available for those who are interested in learning more about meditation. There are countless apps, books, and classes available that can help you to develop your practice.
Over the years, I have faded in and out of a regular meditation practice. Nonetheless, the ability to pause and examine thoughts, rather than being consumed by them, has stuck with me. To a certain extent, it’s like riding a bike. It took years to get proficient, and I know I could get better with regular effort, but there is a base level or ability that sticks with me.
As I noted, meditation might not work for you. It helps to learn it with assistance from a therapist or with a qualified meditation teacher who can guide you if and when you go off course or encounter major obstacles. It also isn’t just for people with depression or anxiety. All of us face obstacles in our life that arise largely from our own mental states. With meditation, we can learn to let go of thoughts that do not serve us and open space to those that hopefully lead us to a kinder, wiser, happier life.