Well-Being

I Meditated Every Day for a Month to Get My Anxious Mind to STFU

Could 30 days of meditating be the secret to obliterating stress?

by Mary Squillace | COMMENT

PHOTO 6/7

The Meditation Payoff I wish I could say I had stuck with my practice and was writing this from the lotus position, fresh off a day-long meditation retreat. But lying feels antithetical to the spirit of meditation. The truth is, after my self-imposed month of meditating ended, my efforts have been sporadic, at best. On mornings when I'm not racing the clock to get to work on time, I try to pause and meditate, but often, I'm lucky to squeeze it in at all.

But this isn't to say it wasn't worth it. Even if I wasn't overcome with an overwhelming sense of zen by the end of the month, learning to meditate has helped me get a grip on my stress.

"A hallmark of mindful meditation is to train your mind to be in the present moment. When we're in past and future that's where depression and anxiety lies," Winston explained. "This is an opportunity to just be instead of do do do." I found this to be true. Meditating equipped me with the ability to rein my mind in when it started barreling days, weeks, or months ahead of me or got stuck in the past. Plus, more mindful approach helped me appreciate my present moments more, instead of rushing through things or zoning out.

I also gained a lot from the breathing technique encouraged by the Breethe app. With each inhale, you say to yourself "breathing in," and as you exhale you say to yourself, "breathing out." It sounds stupidly simple, but I've found it to be remarkably helpful. It's given me a simple mantra to keep my mind focused when I feel my anxiety surging or I'm dealing with physical discomfort.

However, I'm aware that being a so-called "emergency meditator" won't help me reap the full benefits of meditation as much as a regular practice would. Studies have shown that with consistency, meditation has the power not only to alleviate stress, but also to literally alter your brain in a number of meaningful ways -- from improving focus to actually increasing your gray matter.

For the time being, I'm going to do my best to practice, while withholding judgment from myself if I fall off track. And at the very least I hope that I can get through a savasana without entertaining thoughts about nuclear disaster, my mounting list of to-dos or any of the other stressors that consume my mind.

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