It can take a while to find a therapist who’s a good fit and start to make progress toward managing your anxiety. You’ll need some healthy coping skills to help you out in your everyday life. Meditation is an accessible and beginner-friendly way to calm your worries and feel more grounded. It’s something you can start doing today that doesn’t cost you anything and doesn’t come with any negative side effects.

Studies show that meditation works better for anxiety than doing nothing or just talking it out. However, meditation isn’t quite as effective as more active forms of psychotherapy. It’s more like alternative treatments such as music therapy and relaxation exercises. Most people will need to pair meditation with psychotherapy, medication or both.

In this article, we’ll share five meditation techniques you can try today to help with anxiety.

5 simple meditation techniques for anxiety relief you can start today

Anxiety and stress look almost identical. Not treating anxiety can have effects that are similar to chronic stress — for example, high blood pressure and heart disease. Meditation can help you feel more calm during your most anxious moments. If you do it every day, you’ll start to feel the benefits build up over time. Bringing your anxiety down a bit throughout the day can help you keep it from getting out of control. Even five to 10 minutes can make a difference.

Here are some anxiety symptoms that may be improved with mindfulness practices:

• Constant worry or worrying about different things
• Feeling that something bad is going to happen
• Difficulty concentrating
• Irritability or mood swings
• Feeling on edge or tense
• Feeling overwhelmed or out of control
• Panic
• Headaches
• Digestive issues
• Fatigue
• Insomnia

Try using the following meditation techniques to alleviate your anxiety:

• Mindfulness meditation for stress and anxiety — The most basic type of meditation is choosing one specific thing to pay attention to. It could be your breath, something you can see or a physical feeling. As other thoughts come up, notice them and acknowledge them. Then refocus. Getting distracted doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. Coming back to the present moment is the whole point.
• Breath awareness meditation — Breath awareness is a popular form of meditation because your breath is always with you. When you’re anxious, your breathing and heart rate speed up. You can calm them down by focusing on your breath. In traditional breath awareness, you don’t try to change your breathing pattern consciously. However, it might slow down and become more even when you’re paying attention. Other types of mindful breathing meditation may involve lengthening your exhale or counting as you breathe in and out.
• Body scan meditation for sleep and anxiety — Body scan meditation is about tuning into tension, pain and other sensations in your body to feel more connected and relaxed. Focus on one part at a time, going from your toes up to your head. As you come across sensations, pause and hold them in your mind with nonjudgment. Send acceptance and compassion to that part of your body. Then try to release any tension as you exhale. This one can be helpful for getting to sleep when you’re anxious, too.
• Guided meditation for anxiety — Guided meditations are basically prompts for visualization. A guided meditation for anxiety relief might ask you to picture your anxious thoughts as passing clouds. Or you might imagine that you’re in a relaxing place, like on a beach. Check out recordings on YouTube or music streaming platforms. Try searching for some guided meditations for anxiety relief and make yourself a playlist.
• Loving-kindness meditation — Loving-kindness meditations can help you build up your self-compassion and let go of your worries for a few moments. It can also help you release built-up tension. You might imagine a warm, white light enveloping you or a big, soft pink blanket covering you. Choose imagery that’s comforting and allows you to radiate loving-kindness toward yourself, whatever that means to you. You can also include your friends and loved ones in your thoughts to share the love with others.

Making meditation part of your daily life

Meditation for anxiety isn’t about emptying your mind. It’s about changing your relationship with your thoughts to find grounding and self-compassion. You could make this a regular practice by adding a meditation to your morning or evening routine. Or you might think back on times when you’ve felt most anxious. For you, it could be when you start your shift at work or during social situations. Do a quick meditation before these stressful times. Or remember to step away for a few minutes and meditate.

Mindfulness is only one of the coping skills people learn at Lightfully. Our Precision Care Model (PCM) ensures that treatment is personalized for each person’s unique anxiety symptoms. We’ll help you come up with your own ways to handle your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and relationships. You’ll get tons of chances to try different things and see what works best for you.

Are you ready to try something different for your anxiety? We can help. Contact us with any questions or reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team today.