Mindfulness practices can help reduce anxiety by focusing on the present moment and observing thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment. The 3-3-3 Rule for Anxiety helps tune into your senses and bring attention to the present moment. Mindful walking combines the benefits of mindfulness with exercise, and it’s a win-win for both.
Mental health is another benefit of mindfulness, as it encourages acceptance and teaching a new way of relating with negative feelings through different processes and strategies. Mindfulness can ease anxiety by helping individuals turn inward, become quiet and still, and focus on what is happening in the present moment rather than past regrets or future fears.
Mindfulness meditation is the process of purposefully and nonjudgmentally observing thoughts, feelings, and sensations to provide distance from negative or overpowering feelings of anxiety. Researchers reviewed over 200 studies of mindfulness among healthy people and found that mindfulness-based therapy was especially effective for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.
Mental health professionals have found that mindfulness meditation can help ease psychological stresses like anxiety, depression, and pain. By setting an intention, individuals can safely explore the underlying causes of their stress and worry, creating space for less reactiveness to the content of their thoughts.
Mental health interventions (MBIs) have demonstrated efficacy in reducing anxiety and depression symptom severity in a broad range of treatment-seeking individuals. Mindfulness meditation soothes the nervous system and promotes a sense of calm, which reduces anxiety. Being attentive to the present moment can also positively change our brain and biology, improving mental and physical health.
📹 Mindful Breathing for Anxiety
Regular practice of mindfulness meditations has been widely researched and has been shown to reduce symptoms like anxiety, …
📹 What is Mindfulness? And How Does it Help Decrease Anxiety?
What is Mindfulness? Is it all about doing mindfulness meditations and mindfulness exercises? Or is it a way of being. A general …
I found it made me more ill talking about my past fears of what I used to get panic attacks over .and talking on groups so I’ve left them because I was constantly reading others fears or putting down my own . I actually don’t think it’s helpful.i do dwell on past as a mum I feel so much guilt . I fear certain things in future I no it’s all stupid really
I’m so glad your were here…. You made it so clear to understand, straight forward, anyone can do this as long as we understand what is mindfulness. Thank you soooo much. I need to slow down and stop rushing, I thought planning ahead was the way forward and I am doing this aallll the time never enjoying the Moment! Thank you 🌺
I work at FSH as a therapist and found your web site while searching the net. Very insightful. I am looking forward to listening to it again and sharing it with my patients. I have been sharing with them the mind needs to be exercised like a muscle and you validated that with your explanation of neurological connections.
Hi Julia, thank you for another great article. I had what was described to me as a panic attack on an airplane about 4 years ago. over time my life has been turned upside down with anxiety to panic and agoraphobia. I was never this person. I am studying and working now with cbt, exposure therapy and meditation. do you have any recommended resources for mindfulness for panic and agoraphobia? its hard to sift through the good vs bad information out there. it seems difficult to try meditation or mindfullness during a panic atttack at this point for me currently – would you recommend i keep trying to be aware (mindful) while in a panic attack? advice? input?
I am so grateful for your articles. It came in a time in my life where I felt myself spiraling down after having achieved so much in my life to be better. I love the topics you cover and the way the articles are produced. No distraction with color. How ingenious! Just an extremely compassionate person sitting across from me expressing her concern and providing some information that might help me.
Your comment about “monkeys in the brain” SOOO relate!!!! Thank You Julie!!! Looking forward to learning more & understanding that the brain I have CAN be my best friend rather than my worst enemy. “Happy Mind Happy Life” & not about being “happy all the time but okay with where your mind/emotions are now. Our brains are engineering brilliance! But its also quite okay to feel hurt. Afterall we are human & being & feeling our pain makes us more compassionate & mindful of others. Your a Jewel Julie💎
Hi Julia, I found your articles, while scrolling through youtube. I’ve watched how not to give up, and keep going, and what mindfulness is. I must say, I feel like your articles are the answer to my prayers. I struggle with depression, anxiety, and not loving myself. My mind is like what you describe. I want to learn how to slow my thoughts down. I pray to be able to afford a really GREAT Therapist like yourself, because I don’t know what to do with myself mist of the time. I feel that I am suffering from an emotionally abusive relationship, because I am out of my mind. Thank you for sharing!!!
Thankyou I appreciate yr articles so much . Just wondering sometimes the sensations of anxiety come on and my brain trys finding reason why .if I use mindfulness or distraction .are my fears ever Guna go away or am I just prolonging them . Actually I take things very litlary.and I just seen another article title saying somethink along lines of what u practice comes to life Blar. Again this gives me negitive thoughts because I never ever want my anxietys or OCD intrusive thoughts to come true never . So how can I stop being so susceptible to tube or films or Frases that bring about issiues of anxiety to me like triggers how can I stop getting effected by cerian subjects I don’t fully understand but wish u did .
I feel that mindfulness is closely related to listening to our surroundings and our emotional intelligence. I feel that it’s an important topic in today’s times because technology (I.e cellphones, games) seems to get in the way or have replaced our ability to listen truly to others and their body language, and even our own emotions. Without effective listening, our interactions with others won’t be therapeutic. So, just out of a suggestion, would you like to do a talk on what it means to listen effectively and empathically to someone?
Thanks for taking the time to walk through and explain this, Julia. Not sure if others have this dilemma, but I find I’m not very good at doing “mindfulness” exercises. However, I do get to the same place you describe by praying. That helps me be more present and less attached to the outcome of a situation. I also find a brief outdoor walk can keep me grounded. Big believer in being present in the moment, as I have found that, by itself, solves many issues. I just need to use different methods to get there. Hey, we’re all unique, right?
Thanks very much. I have been struggling to understand Mindfulness for 3 years since my brain injury and your descriptions and explanations are the ones that have made the clearest sense to me. Having ‘things’ to read quickly on the screen makes things much harder for me as my speech and language aren’t as good as they used to be but simply listening to your voice gets the ideas over much, much easier for me. I will watch/listen to these presentations some more times and hopefully it will ‘sink in’ finally
I have heard a lot of mindfulness in JK’s other talks- it’s nice to hear it referred to directly. As a primarily DBT influenced practitioner I thought she did a really good job of breaking it down to its essence and even throwing in some brain science! Cheers and as we say in mindfulness circles: Meditation- it’s not what you think.
you do alot of dancing around the topic and a great job of not clearly describing Mindfulness at all. You dazzled me with your pretty face but bored me to tears with you long circling statements taking way to long to get to a clear description. If you put as much time into Mindfulness techniques “By the numbers” as much as you do into putting on globs of makeup, that would much better appeal to your viewers.
Awsome . Again Don’t Feed The Monkey Mind, I like when you say living in the present moment and being mindful in and around us and I like the Happening inside of us . To me when you say inside of us it makes me think of the three demensions of life 1 spiritual – what’s inside of us our hearts 2 the mind which can get messed up by addiction and trauma – closed loop thinking – those neurons you talked about 3 our physical world thy neighbors and others . I don’t know if I got this right or not but if we can work on and try to get all three of these dimensions in order we can work our way towards the all important 4th demension The kingdom of Heaven . And being mindful can surely not hurt me from practicing towards that all important 4th dimension . Thank you Kristina . I guess I’m just seeing if I learnt something in treatment or not but a lot of your talks seem to be things I have learnt and keep learning in AA and my readings . Finding the light – Mindfullness in recovery is a good book I have read and go back to it from time to time . Thank you Kristina !
What a wonderful voice you have ! Thank you for this Julia, great presentation…………………… I have been practising Mindfulness for 2 weeks or so, and within the first 2 days I saw a BIG drop in anxiety levels. Old habits die hard tho, and too easily suckered back into “the drama” LOL, but definitely feel a lot more in control, and even noticing small positive mental habits forming. Thank you.
Hello, TY for your article. It was helpful. My question is how is mindfulness related to the martial art precept of Balance? Doesn’t Tai Chi (for instance) teach a form of mindfulness? Does running? What is the relationship between exercise and energy release and mental health? An example is an anxious dog goes on a walk and is less anxious. I would assume this applies to humans as well(in a pavlov’s dog way)?
You know living in the present has its good attributes. But I dislike existentialism. While it talks about “being” and that has some good virtues, it also teaches life is meaningless, that there is no God and you just do what you want. It robs one from knowing the only true God and finding our purpose and identity in Him. But there is value in living in the now and not worrying about the future.
I’ve studied DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) so am familiar with mindfulness, but resisted practicing It regularly because I believe in Jesus, NOT Buddha (Marsha Linehan, the creator of DBT, became a Buddhist Master), and didn’t want to veer away from Christianity to participate in some Buddhist practice. But as you clearly and concisely described mindfulness, I began seeing parallels between it and the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, past and present (I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so believe there are modern prophets and apostles). We are counseled to not judge. We are challenged to love. We are urged to observe the care God gives to all creation and to accept that we have great worth, too, without ibeing wrapped up in how well or badly we have behaved or thought in the past or might in the future. We are told that we may be one with God through being one with Jesus, who achieved that oneness by turning His life and will over to our Heavenly Father instead of complicating His life with His own impulses and desires. Jesus was mindful in thought, word, and deed. He didn’t allow non-essentials to distract Him from being Himself. So, thank you for helping me to open my heart to mindfulness, so I may better both stand in holy places and make holy the places where I stand.
Haven’t watched the article but here’s my 2 cents. It allows you to detach yourself from your emotions and look at them from a birds eye perspective, and that’s how I look at my thoughts now, like random clouds (thoughts) in a big blue sky (your mind). It has really helped me with anxiety more than anything else has. But you need to try it a few times like four 10-min sessions. Try it.
I already have anxiety, depression not to mention introversion, social anxiety which made worse by my “reserve-type” of personality. So whenever i go out,i feel like i am not part of this world. Whenever i tried to be social,but it doesnt work. And i sense people dont feel like to be near me because they feel awkward and so i feel awkward in return. I often time see this MINDFULNESS topic around here but thought that i didnt need it because im already very aware of my issues and my personality. I thought being sensitive to other people is what mindfulness is. And i didnt like that at all. Whenever something negative happens to me? I got consumed by it. I cant stop thinking about until the pain and hurt goes away. Now i know that mindfulness is the exact opposite of what ive been doing. I really want to change that because i dont think i can survive with my work of i have this problem
Thank you Julia, this is the best explanation of mindfulness I think I’ve ever heard. I thought it more focusing on things to distract. I understand you to say, feel but ask the why of what you feel. Meaning examine what is thought going on in our minds with what took place that created the feeling, then question why it caused the feeling/thoughts. This tells me I need to learn to question the reasons for thoughts and feelings instead of reacting to those thoughts and feelings until I understand them. If I’m wrong please some one explain how I’m still not understanding mindfulness. Thank you again!
Hi Julia Kristina I just watched this & wanted to say your articles are so amazing and I really enjoyed this one, as I am one that just is go, go, go never slowing down and being present until recently just because I would rather respond than react because it is such a better feeling & mood when I respond rather than react so perusal you & listening to you is so helpful and I need to learn more on mindfulness so I am going to find ways for being more mindful and your Good for me group I just recently joined & love that as well but I will start making sure that on Fridays I tune in for your live q & a ❤️ please Julia help teach me some more about mindfulness? I really need & want it? 😊 Thank you again for this article I love it & will be listening to it again ❤️
Thank you very much for this article and explanation of Mindfulness Julia. Excellent! I’ve just started DBT to help me deal with my BPD and the first topic of the group sessions is Mindfuless (and is a topic which is returned to several times throughout the therapy). I knew absolutely nothing about Mindfulness when I started and I was lost from the start. I was getting the very basics of it, but I wasn’t fully understanding what it is, the point of it or the benefits of it. Now I do. And so now I’ll be able to do the homework – practising Mindfulness – with actual meaning. Again, thank you very much.
What about my handicapped daughter that has been experiencing clonic tonic seizures and panic attacks? Her medicine keeps the full blown seizures down but she gets “auras” that terrify her. It feels like the symptoms of the beginning of a seizure but then it goes away. Is this a different situation?
Hi there I found your article very interesting I used to be a really calm person once upon a time but with stress etc I have become short tempered will this help me to become more calm? I have noisy neighbours who are making my life hell my doctor said I should try mindfulness but in such circumstances how can mindfulness help as its the neighbours behavior causing the stress? Thank you 😊
Thank you for explaining this is a way all ages can completely understand. My BFF candidly shared (with detailed examples) her observation of my anger issues and how I express it towards those around me. We pinpointed the source of anger comes from Narcissist Personality Disorder abuse brought on by my spouse. Praying mindfulness (and a divorce) will help. Again, thank you.
Hi Julia, thank you for clarifying mindfulness. I do have questions…Lets say for example, at the moment someone says or does something hurtful (feelings) and you observe feelings of hurt using mindfulness, is it best to just observe the moment without responding to the situation? Would responding to the person or situation disrupt the mindfulness observation excerise? What is the best practice in this example?
Hi. I believe I have been suffering with anxiety and it has gotten the better of me. It has also affected the relationships around me. I have treated my treatment with a therapist so I am looking forward to the work. But thank you so much for your articles because everything I have been feeling and thinking you have shown through your articles. Your doing amazing things so THANK YOU! This article resonates with me the most. Bless you🌸
Awesome! I appreciate you! The way you explain is extremely helpful. It wasn’t done in this article but I especially like how you warn us how something truthful is about to sting and you’ve been absolutely correct about it but every time it has helped to improve my life. Thank you. God bless you for living your faith!
You are very generous for sharing all the information that you do on your websites I am truly grateful I have asked myself every one of those questions why me wider than this happen try to put the blame on other people at all it doesIs make me feel miserable thank you again and keep up the good work very helpful
Thank you. Excellent vedio. Im putting this new practice into my daily life immediately! I do find that when ever i get upset with others over something said in conversation or maybe someones actions 99% of the time ive been hurt by what was said or done. It usually never is resentment or anger. I do however go through my anger period only to really figure out I’ve gottem my feelings hurt!! Im hyper sensitive!! Thanks again Stay blessed