Managing Anxiety and Depression with Mindfulness and Meditation

In today’s world, we’re seeing more mental health challenges than in times past. At the same time, we’re also seeing more people practice mindfulness and meditation as a way to manage things like anxiety and depression. In the past few years, we’ve all been through a lot and our mental health has taken a hit. Fortunately, we have tools to help us manage our health, both physically and mentally. Here are a few things to help you see how mindfulness could benefit you:

The mental health challenges of anxiety and depression have been around for many years, but there has been an obvious increase in the past few years, largely due to the impact that the pandemic had on our lives. From job loss to isolation and more, the combining factors of the pandemic catapulted society into mental health struggles that many were unprepared for.

Anxiety and depression tend to go hand in hand. Often, the feelings of fear and lack of control stemming from anxiety can lead to symptoms associated with depression, such as sadness and a lack of desire to participate in daily activities or positive habits. Living with these types of challenges can be difficult, but gratefully, meditation and mindfulness are beneficial tools that can allow us to find calmness and peace through it all. In fact, a survey done by NHIS shows that at least 63.6% of people surveyed found meditation to be useful in managing their mental health conditions.

If you’re dealing with the effects of anxiety or depression in your life, you may be looking for a way to cope with or overcome them. While this may be a challenge that you live with regularly, having “tools” in your toolbox that can help you navigate life while dealing with symptoms can be hugely beneficial and return joy to your life.

There has been a lot of research showing that meditation and mindfulness can help to decrease emotional reactivity as well as provide individuals with stress reduction in a way that many other things do not. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the person has been practicing mindfulness for a month or for decades, as long as someone has built up a habit of being more present and aware with mindfulness techniques, they see a difference in the way that they handle stressful situations in their lives.

If you’re looking to improve your mental health and find anxiety relief, it can be useful to find various ways to manage mental wellbeing. As mentioned above, the benefits that positive meditation provides for anxiety relief and to improve depression are multiple. Here are a few practices for emotional wellbeing and stress reduction that can improve your overall emotional well-being:

• Meditation: Meditation is a useful tool in more ways than one. There are many instances where meditation can completely change your day. For example, if you’re dealing with a highly emotional situation but need to keep your composure, a few minutes of meditation can help you with emotional regulation. It can also clear your mind and help you find clarity in a situation.
• Breathwork: Using breathing techniques to calm your nervous system is a great tool for anxiety support. People who may deal with frequent panic attacks find this tool to be invaluable. There are various options for breathwork, but a popular one is to inhale for four seconds, hold for seven, and then release in another eight seconds. Even just the simple act of focusing on your breath can help you find the anxiety relief you need during hectic moments.
• Slow movement: While there’s a place for a vigorous HIIT workout or fast run, there’s something to be said about focused, slow movements that help you to return to your body, so to speak. Yoga or stretching can take your mind off your racing thoughts and help you to stay in the present, and in your body.
• Listen to affirmations: Sometimes negative self-talk can have us in a spiral of thoughts that lead to depression. Finding a helpful affirmation playlist on your favorite app can help you to focus less on the negative self-talk and more on positive thoughts. Approaching your challenges with self-compassion can help to turn things around.

Whether you’re dealing with anxiety or depression or facing a highly stressful situation, find comfort in knowing that meditation and mindfulness practices can benefit you. Consider using a tool like Upliftly for guided meditation and mindfulness for extra anxiety support. Join the waitlist for Upliftly today for 30-day free access.

App, U. P. M. (n.d.). Upliftly: Positive Mediation App. Upliftly: Positive Mediation App. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://upliftlyapp.com

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, October 13). Mental health conditions: Depression and anxiety. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/depression-anxiety.html

Cramer, H., Hall, H., Leach, M., Frawley, J., Zhang, Y., Leung, B., Adams, J., & Lauche, R. (2016). Prevalence, patterns, and predictors of meditation use among US adults: A nationally representative survey. Scientific Reports, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep36760

Davis, D. M., & Hayes, J. A. (2012, July). What are the benefits of mindfulness? American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-corner