Does Meditation help with anxiety? The answer is Yes! Meditation for anxiety is a very effective practice. Meditation can be used to help people that are suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and the long-term effects of anxiety. Once a Meditation practice is started, most people can start to feel a decrease in their anxiety levels within anywhere from a one to four weeks.
Still, for people that suffer from extreme anxiety and panic attacks, waiting one to several weeks for the beneficial effects of Meditation is not acceptable. Therefore, I will provide Meditation techniques in this blog that can be used by people who are being affected by extreme anxiety, anxiety attacks, and the long-term effects of anxiety.
Stop Panic Attacks and Extreme Anxiety with This Technique
As soon as you feel the onset of a panic attack or when you feel that you are starting to get anxious, start these steps:
- Exhale through your mouth as much air as you can.
- Then start to inhale through your nose as much air as you can until your stomach starts to swell.
- Hold your breath as long as you can. Then completely exhale all your air through your mouth.
- Repeat steps 1-3 for three full cycles.
It is essential that you focus on breathing in as deeply as possible, then holding your breath until you feel that you cannot hold your breath any longer, and then completely exhaling all of your breath.
Following this process for three cycles should alleviate the symptoms of extreme anxiety and stop any panic attack.
To address anxiety on a long term basis, you should learn how to meditate and then start to practice Meditation daily. Follow these steps:
- Create a space in your home where you can sit quietly each day. This space should be free of clutter and contain either a Meditation cushion or chair.
- Choose a time of day that you can dedicate to Meditating each and every day. The preferred time to Meditate is first thing each morning right after you awake.
- Assume a cross legged position on your Meditation mat or sit on your chair with feet firmly planted on the floor.
- Decide whether you wish to keep your eyes closed or partially open. Most people prefer to close their eyes.
- Bring your “motivation” to mind. To initially address your anxiety, your motivation should be to feel calm, peaceful, and quiet. Say to yourself “I’m feeling calm, peaceful and quiet”. Repeat this a few times. Breathe deeply in and out as you say this to yourself.
- As you start to feel relaxed, bring your motivation from your head into your heart. Then, go silent and remain silent.
- During this silence, you will start to visualize some form of light in your mind. Most people will visualize a bright orb like a full moon or sun. Use this to focus on. This will keep your mind quiet.
- The goal is to remain still and quiet for whatever period of time that you can. Initially, Meditating for 5 minutes is very acceptable. Try to increase this amount of time over several days to 10 minutes, then 15 minutes and then 20 minutes or more.
The key to a successful Meditation practice is consistency. The more you Meditate, the greater the benefits will be.
A long-term Meditation practice will not only stop the anxiety that you experience in your life, it will allow you to address any issues you face in your life.
One of the most interesting “side-effects” of a Meditation practice is that it allows you to discover within yourself issues and experiences that may have been buried in your sub-consciousness. Once these issues and experiences come to light, you can then work on addressing these via your Meditation practice.
The Compassion Center teaches people how to Meditate and address anxiety, stress and depression. Visit The Compassion Center and we will help you help you address the issues you face in your life.
