Mindfulness: how to use it to calm fears and worries

To relieve anxiety symptoms, it is now known as one of the most effective strategies. However, what we often tend to ignore is that the mindfulness may turn out to be one useful resource also to hold off fears and worries and therefore to improve the ability to cope with the (many) stressors with which life often forces us to deal with.

This is underlined by the experts of the Harvard Medical School which explain how, in moments when worries seem to take over the mind, learn to “anchor yourself” with awareness to the present it can really make a difference.

Ever tried to challenge yourself with mindfulness?

At first, practicing mindfulness, experts point out, may seem difficult and yet it is enough train this skill for a few minutes each dayto learn to calm the mind and put the worries that grip it into the background.

Where to start? Harvard experts have compiled a small guide to take the first steps…

The importance of breathing

The first step is to start from breathing. Breathing is such a simple and natural gesture that, experts invite us to think, we breathe about 20,000 times a day without thinking about it. Although it may seem strange, learning to regulate breathing and especially to take deep breaths, it can have a significant impact on worry or fear. The breath, or what yogis call “prana»indeed, it has powerful calming effects on the brain and nervous system in general.

The reason is simple: when you’re in a state of anxiety, your breathing quickens. So here’s that intentionally slow your breathing, helps you gain more control over your mental state. Not to mention that it is one strategy that you can try to put into practice anywhere and in any situation.

There are several breathing techniques that help calm the mind, one of them is the diaphragmatic breathing.

Here’s how to do it:

• you start by sitting in a comfortable position or lying on your back;
• then he places one hand on his chest and the other on his stomach;
• after relaxing your belly muscles, slowly inhale through your nose until you feel your belly begin to rise;
• then you exhale slowly, keeping your lips slightly parted and feeling your belly retract;
• then it all repeats.

The other technique that can be useful is that of box breathing which is practiced instead by slowly and mentally counting to four, following these steps:

• inhale while mentally counting up to four;
• hold your breath for a count of four;
• then exhale counting to four;
• and again hold the breath for a count of four;
• then it all repeats.

You can start with just a minute or two of exercise and then work your way up to at least 10 minutes of deep breathing every day. During each session – the experts suggest – it is good pay attention to the sensation which gives breath when it moves in and out. At the same time observing what happens in the body when you focus only on the breath.

Meditation

Meditation then takes deep breathing to a further level by combining it with the mental focus. For this, carve out a few minutes a day to meditate or better to practice mindfulnessmindfulness meditation, can help for improve the ability to cope with stress.

How to do if you are still not practical? Here, again, the advice provided by experts at Harvard Medical School:

• first, it is good to sit in a quiet place and close your eyes;
• inhale and exhale deeply while calming the mind;
• you can also repeat a sound, experts suggest, as a phrase or a simple “oh“;
• if the mind tends to wander and get distracteddon’t worry: it’s inevitable that it will happen but just try to calmly bring it back to the present. The secret is to try imagine your most insistent thoughts as clouds. Recognizing them but then letting them drift.

However, one aspect on which experts warn is this: the exercise of mindfulness may seem easy, but just that sense of simplicity can be deceiving. To calm the mind, especially when it is under stress and full of thoughts, in fact, it takes a lot of effort and it may take even a long time and more attempts to hit the target.

To start, it’s good then Establish a time to practice mindfulness daily: you can start by dedicating yourself to this exercise a few minutes each day. As you feel more comfortable, you can plan for longer sessions. A good goal? Practice up to meditate for 10-20 minutes every day.

All that remains is to try.

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