Learn how to meditate for anxiety

Everyone experiences anxiety. 

And while it’s natural to want to control or avoid your anxiety, those aren’t effective ways to manage it. A healthier approach is through meditation. It not only helps to calm your mind, but it can also help you acknowledge your anxious thoughts with kindness, and then get curious about what they might be trying to tell you.

So if you’d like to learn more about the benefits of meditation for anxiety, various meditation techniques specifically geared toward anxiety and how to incorporate a daily meditation routine into your life, keep reading. 

Understanding anxiety

First things first: Anxiety is normal. 

More specifically, anxiety is a natural response to stress or perceived threats. It can show up in various ways, such as excessive worry, restlessness, and irritability. When you’re feeling anxious, you might also experience physical symptoms too. Some of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety include the following:

• Rapid heartbeat or palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Feeling lightheaded or dizzy
• Gastrointestinal discomfort

There are various factors that can contribute to anxiety:

• Work-related stress: High-pressure environments, tight deadlines, and demanding job expectations can lead to increased anxiety levels.
• Relationship issues: Conflicts and misunderstandings in personal relationships may cause feelings of unease and anxiety.
• Financial concerns: Money-related worries, such as mounting debts or job loss, can trigger anxiety as people grapple with financial security.
• Health problems: Chronic or acute health issues can lead to anxiety about one's well-being and overall quality of life.

Understanding the various symptoms and triggers of anxiety can help you identify when it's happening, as well as why it might be happening. Once you can understand the root causes of your feelings, you can begin to work towards developing effective coping strategies, like meditation, for managing and reducing anxiety in your daily life.

Using meditation for anxiety

Meditation for anxiety is a practice that can help you both work through your anxiety triggers and manage your anxiety symptoms.

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It's important to understand that meditation is a personal practice, and it may take some time to find which techniques work best for you. Be patient, and with consistent effort, you will experience the benefits of meditation for anxiety.

But to get you started, here are a few specific meditation techniques designed to support anxiety management:

• Mindfulness meditation: Mindfulness meditation involves staying present and fully engaged with your current experience without judgment. By focusing on your breath or other bodily sensations, you’ll learn to observe your thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them, and you'll reduce your anxiety in the process.
• Loving-Kindness meditation: This type of meditation involves cultivating feelings of love and compassion toward yourself and others. It can help improve relationships and increase feelings of optimism and well-being, which can reduce anxiety.
• Body Scan meditation: A body scan is a form of meditation that involves mentally scanning your body from head to toe, paying special attention to any sensations or areas of tension. This can increase your awareness of your physical symptoms of anxiety, so you can learn to identify them sooner.

In a moment, we'll provide step-by-step instructions for how to do each of these techniques. But first, let's discuss the benefits.

4 benefits of meditation for anxiety

Meditation for anxiety has numerous research-backed benefits. Here are a few: 

1. Reduced anxiety symptoms: Regular meditation practice has been found to decrease anxiety levels and improve overall mental health.
2. Improved emotional regulation: Meditation helps increase self-awareness and emotional resilience, making it easier to manage difficult emotions like anxiety.
3. Enhanced focus and concentration: By training the mind to focus on a single point, meditation can improve attention and reduce distractions, which can also decrease feelings of overwhelm and reduce anxiety.
4. Better sleep: Meditation can help relax the body and mind, leading to improved sleep quality and reduced insomnia. And when you're more well-rested, you're more resilient to feelings of anxiety.

How to meditate for anxiety: 3 techniques to try

If you're new to meditation, getting started can seem intimidating. But it’s easier than you might think. 

Whether you’re a meditation beginner or a seasoned pro, we recommend the following meditation techniques for anxiety. These were introduced earlier. And now, you'll learn how to actually do each one:

1. Mindfulness meditation: Find a quiet space and sit comfortably with your back straight. Close your eyes and direct your attention to your breath, noticing how it feels as you inhale and exhale as a way to bring your attention to the present moment. If your thoughts drift away, just acknowledge that hit happened without judgment before gently returning your focus to your breath. 
2. Loving-Kindness meditation: Assume a comfortable position and close your eyes. Silently recite positive phrases, such as "May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be safe." Or just generally send a nice thought to yourself. Then, shift your focus to someone you care about, extending the same well-wishes to them. Gradually expand your good vibes to include acquaintances and even those who challenge you emotionally. Over time, this practice can foster empathy and reduce anxiety.
3. Body scan meditation: Settle into a relaxed position and close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Then gradually direct your focus toward different parts of your body, beginning at the top of your head and working your way down to your toes. As you concentrate on each area, notice any sensations you feel, and release any tension you're holding onto without judgment.

Eager to try it out on your own? Check out this 10-minute guided meditation for anxiety to help you quickly find some calm and stability:

How to incorporate meditation into your daily routine

To experience the full benefits of meditation for anxiety, it's essential to make it a part of your daily routine. So here are some tips for creating a daily meditation routine:

1. Set aside a specific time each day for meditation, such as first thing in the morning or right before bed.
2. Create a designated meditation space in your home that is free from distractions, if possible.
3. Start with short sessions of 5-10 minutes and gradually increase the duration to 20 minutes or so as you become more comfortable with the practice. (And if you want to!)
4. Use guided meditation apps, like the award-winning Balance app, to help you learn new skills and stay focused during your practice.

How the Balance app can help with managing anxiety

Using a guided meditation app like the Balance app for anxiety is an excellent way to support and enhance your practice. Balance makes learning and experimenting with different meditation exercises easy since it includes a variety of features, audio, and breathing exercises all tailored to you and your exact needs. 

More specifically, Balance offers a guided Anxiety meditation, which is personalized based on what you're feeling anxious about—like a past event, a future event, or just general anxiety. It's a quick and healthy way to move your attention away from any anxious thoughts swirling through your head and find much-needed calm and stability. 

Mediation for anxiety success stories

The anxiety-specific offerings in the Balance app are grounded in research-backed meditation techniques, and they produce real benefits. Check out a few success stories from individuals who have used the Balance app to manage their anxiety:

• “I suffer from anxiety, and I can tell when I have missed days. This is a fantastic app. I definitely recommend it.”
• “Suffering through a bad breakup with a lot of anxiety and self-loathing, this feels like a raft in an otherwise vast and murky ocean.”
• “I wake up with anxiety most mornings. Making Balance a priority, as part of my morning routine, calms and centers me. I am so grateful to be learning how to self-soothe with breathwork and meditation.”

Start improving your anxiety with meditation today

Meditation for anxiety is a powerful tool that can help you manage your anxiety symptoms and improve your overall quality of life. 

We don’t know about you, but the sound of that makes us feel more at ease already.