How To Practice Mindfulness For Anxiety Relief and Inner Peace

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Mindfulness is so much more than just a trendy word people use. It’s about giving your full attention to what’s happening right now, in this moment. Sounds easy, but we all know how our minds tend to wander, right? Suddenly, we’re lost in thoughts about the past or worrying about the future, which can really amp up our anxiety. But here’s the cool thing: mindfulness is something we’re all capable simply by using a few mindfulness exercises. As for using mindfulness for mental health,  you just have to learn how to practice mindfulness for anxiety, depression or whatever it is you’re struggling with. So, why not give it a try? You might be pleasantly surprised!

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is your natural ability to be fully in the present, aware of your surroundings and actions, without getting too caught up in external stimuli. It’s being in the now; and not caught up in the worries of tomorrow or what happened in the past. And as you can imagine, mindfulness exercises are powerful tools for combating anxiety and intrusive thoughts.

Now, before you jump in and start practicing mindfulness for anxiety relief, you must first understand the five core concepts of mindfulness:

•  present-focused awareness
• an accepting or open attitude
• non judgemental approach
• compassion for self and others
• the energy of mindfulness

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The Benefits of Being Mindful

Being mindful isn’t a “woo-hoo” practice with no evidence supporting it. There’s a ton of recent research supporting the benefits of mindfulness. In fact, several have confirmed practicing mindfulness can have a positive impact on your health and wellbeing. Mindfulness-based treatments, specifically, have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. There’s also evidence that mindfulness can lower blood pressure and improve sleep. It may even help people cope with pain. So, when it comes to the advantages of incorporating this peaceful practice into your daily routine, there are tons.

Let’s take a look at some of our favourite benefits of mindfulness for mental health:

• Reduces rumination (repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings)
• Reduces stress levels (and helps you manage stress better)
• Improves memory
• Enhances focus
• Decreases emotional reactivity
• Improves self-awareness skills
• Boosts relationship satisfaction
• Improves your ability to communicate emotions effectively
• Makes it easier to enjoy life’s pleasures and fully engagement in activities
• Builds resilience in dealing with adverse events
• Minimizes being consumed by future worries and past regrets
• Helps you make deeper connections with others
• Relieves stress and promotes relaxation
• Enhances sleep quality

On top of that, mindfulness can help with the treatment of several physical health conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic pain, gastrointestinal problems and many more.

How to Practice Mindfulness for Anxiety

It’s important to note that mindfulness isn’t a skill you have to create from scratch; it’s already within you. You simply need to discover how to tap into it. Below are some guidelines to help you learn how to practice mindfulness for anxiety, or really, for any reason at all.

1. Pay Attention to Body Sensations

Start to hone in on subtle physical sensations like an itch or tingling, and just feel it. Pay attention to all the feelings that come with it. Do this mindfulness activity throughout the day, anytime the thought of mindfulness comes to mind.  Overtime as you get better at narrowing in your attention, you can start to shift focus from one body part to the next. This will help you strengthen your mindfulness muscle.

2. Engage With Your Senses

Focus on your sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch throughout the day. You can do this while eating or brushing your teeth, taking a walk, or really, any time you have a moment to yourself.  Simply focus on what you see, the sensations in your mouth, the smells you are experiencing, the color variations you see, the texture you feel and so on and so forth.

3. Feel Your Feelings

An easy mindfulness exercise that will directly help your anxiety and overall mental health is allowing yourself to feel your emotions. The next time your heart is thudding or your fingers start to tingle from anxiety, let yourself feel them. 🫣 Instead of pushing the sensations away or trying to ignore them altogether, lean into them. Allow yourself to truly, fully feel them. Heck, even narrow in on the sensation.

In areas of your life where you tend to rush, whether it’s out the door or responding to a text, learn to press pause. Instead of picking up the phone with the first ring or jam-packing your schedule with one thing after the other, give yourself a minute and just sit in the silence. Instead of rushing out of the car to go into the grocery store, press pause.  Taking small moments to practice mindfulness throughout the day count and this mindfulness exercise will help you feel less stressed and overwhelmed at the end of the day.

5. Notice Past and Future Thoughts

As anxiety peoples, we can get caught up in past and future thoughts; remunerating over something that happened a long time ago or fearing something that has yet to happen. This drains your energy and keeps you stuck in that awful anxious feeling, going around and around and around.

As you learn how to practice mindfulness for anxiety, you’ll start to become more aware of your thoughts. This allows you to spot when your mind is in the past or too far ahead and gently remind yourself to come back to the present moment. And since you followed this guide on mindfulness for anxiety, you’ll know how to stay in that present moment to further prevent this from happening.

Mindfulness Exercises for Anxiety

Learning how to practicing mindfulness for anxiety is a powerful tool for overcoming anxious moments and for just living a healthier, calmer life altogether. In addition to using the mindfulness tips mentioned above, there are all kinds of mindfulness exercises you can incorporate into your daily self care routine to maximize the effects it can have on your mental health and life.

Here’s a straightforward guide on how to integrate mindfulness into your daily routine to help soothe anxious feelings:

1. Breathing Exercises:

Begin by focusing on your breath. Take slow, deep breaths: inhale through your nose for a count of four, hold for a count of four, and exhale through your mouth for a count of six. This type of breathing helps reduce anxiety by activating the body’s relaxation response.

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2. Mindful Observations:

Choose an object within your immediate environment and focus on watching it for a minute or two. This could be anything—a leaf, a cup, the clouds. Notice every aspect of its appearance, texture, and the way it moves or sits still. The goal is not to think about it critically but to simply observe and be present with it.

3. Practice Mindful Listening:

This involves listening to sounds in your environment without judgment. Pay attention to the variety of sounds you can hear—perhaps birds chirping, traffic noise, or the hum of a refrigerator. Each sound is noted as it arises, without trying to label or change it.

4. Body Scan Meditation:

Lie down on your back or sit comfortably. Start at your toes and slowly move your mental focus up through different parts of your body. Notice sensations like tingling, warmth, or tension. You don’t need to change anything, just become aware of each sensation as you move up to the crown of your head.

5. Mindful Walking:

Go for a walk and concentrate on the experience of walking. Notice how your feet feel hitting the ground, the sounds as you move, and how your arms swing alongside your body. If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to the act of walking and the sensations of your body.

6. Use Guided Meditations:

If you find it difficult to practice mindfulness on your own, consider using guided meditations. There are many resources available online, including apps like Headspace and Mindfulness App, which offer guided sessions for beginners and advanced practitioners alike.

7. 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise:

This exercise uses your five senses to ground yourself in the present.

• Acknowledge five things you can see around you.
• Identify four things you can touch or feel.
• Notice three things you can hear.
• Recognize two things you can smell.
• Name one thing you can taste.

8. Progressive Muscle Relaxation:

Begin by tensing and then relaxing each muscle group in your body, starting from your toes and working up to your head. As you tense each muscle, hold it for about five seconds, then release the tension and notice the sensation of relaxation.

9. Mindful Coloring or Drawing:

Try coloring or drawing as a form of meditation. Focus on the colors and the sensation of the pencil or crayon moving across the paper. Be fully present in the act of coloring or drawing.

The Mindfulness App

Learning how to practice mindfulness for anxiety can be as simple as downloading an app. The Mindfulness App sets you up with better daily wellbeing through guided meditation and mindfulness practices. While the basic version is free, upgrading unlocks all kinds of additional features designed to deepen your journey.

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Final Words

Learning how to practice mindfulness for anxiety can significantly change the way you navigate through those difficult moments. With a few mindful moments combined with mindfulness exercises, you can find calm in the chaos and signal to your brain and body to calm down quicker, giving you the relief you’re looking for. So press pause, breathe, slow down and be in the now. Remember, worrying about tomorrow or something that happened the past doesn’t change it.