Do you struggle with anxiety? Do you feel like your mind is always racing, worrying about the future or ruminating on the past? Do you wish you could calm your nerves and enjoy the present moment more?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges in the world, affecting millions of people every year. Anxiety can interfere with your work, relationships, health and happiness. It can make you feel overwhelmed, stressed and hopeless.
But there is good news. You can rewire your anxious brain with mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a simple yet powerful practice that involves paying attention to your present-moment experience with curiosity, openness and kindness. Mindfulness helps you break free from the cycle of negative thoughts and emotions that fuel anxiety. It helps you cultivate a more balanced and positive outlook on life. It helps you cope with challenges and difficulties more effectively. And it helps you enhance your well-being and happiness.
But don’t just take my word for it. I know how important it is to back up these claims with robust scientific evidence - it's also very motivating! I've seen these results for myself and my clients...and thee is hope for you to see feel these results too. Let's look at some of the scientific evidence to back up these claims.
Mindfulness is as effective as medication for treating anxiety
A recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry compared the effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with antidepressant medication for preventing relapse in people with recurrent depression and anxiety. MBCT is a group-based programme that combines mindfulness meditation with cognitive-behavioural techniques to help people change their relationship with their thoughts and feelings.
The researchers found that MBCT was as effective as medication for preventing relapse over a two-year period. They also found that MBCT reduced the severity of depressive and anxious symptoms, improved quality of life and increased self-compassion.
This study suggests that mindfulness can be a viable alternative or complement to medication for treating anxiety and depression.
Rewire your anxious brain with Mindfulness to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress
Another study published in Clinical Psychology Review analysed the results of 209 studies involving more than 12,000 participants who received mindfulness-based interventions for various psychological problems. Mindfulness-based interventions are programmes that use mindfulness as a core component to help people cope with stress, pain, illness or other challenges.
The researchers found that mindfulness-based interventions were effective for treating a variety of psychological problems, such as anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders and personality disorders. They also found that mindfulness-based interventions were especially effective for reducing anxiety, depression and stress.
This study shows that mindfulness can help people overcome a wide range of mental health issues and improve their emotional well-being.
Mindfulness changes the brain
But how does mindfulness work? How does it rewire the brain?
One way to answer this question is to look at the brain imaging studies that have examined the effects of mindfulness on brain structure and function. These studies have revealed some fascinating insights into how mindfulness changes the brain.
For example, one study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience investigated the effects of an eight-week mindfulness meditation training programme on brain connectivity. Brain connectivity refers to how different regions of the brain communicate with each other. The researchers focused on the connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. The amygdala is a part of the brain that is involved in processing emotions, especially fear and anxiety. The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain that is involved in regulating emotions, attention and behaviour.
The researchers found that mindfulness meditation training altered the connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex in a way that reduced stress-related amygdala reactivity. In other words, mindfulness meditation training helped people become less reactive to stressful situations and more able to regulate their emotions.
This study demonstrates that mindfulness can change the way the brain responds to stress and anxiety.
More research supporting the claim that mindfulness changes the brain:
Hölzel, B. K., et Al (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1),
This study found that participants who engaged in an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program showed a decrease in gray matter density in the amygdala, suggesting reduced reactivity to emotional stimuli.
Hölzel, B. K., et Al (2010). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(1), 11-17. doi:10.1093/scan/nsp034
MBSR participants exhibited reductions in perceived stress levels and decreased amygdala gray matter density compared to a control group.
Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1)
MBSR significantly reduced anxiety symptoms and increased cognitive reappraisal, a strategy associated with downregulating amygdala activity.
Zeidan, F., Et Al (2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training. Consciousness and Cognition, 19(2), 597-605.
The results showed that mindfulness meditation led to increased working memory capacity and reduced amygdala reactivity during emotional stimuli.
Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4)
This review article provides an overview of neuroimaging studies on mindfulness meditation and its effects on the brain. It discusses evidence suggesting that mindfulness training enhances attentional and emotional regulation processes by modulating the activity of the amygdala and other brain regions.
What is mindfulness?
So what exactly is mindfulness? How do you practise it?
Mindfulness is not a complicated or mysterious concept. It is simply a way of being aware of your present-moment experience without judging it or trying to change it. It is a way of being present with whatever arises in your mind and body, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, comfortable or uncomfortable.
Mindfulness can be practised in many ways, but one of the most common and effective ways is through meditation. Meditation is a practice that involves sitting quietly and focusing your attention on something specific, such as your breath, a word, a sound or a sensation. Meditation helps you train your attention and awareness so that you can become more mindful in your daily life.
There are two gold standards of mindfulness treatments: mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). MBSR is an eight-week programme that teaches people how to use mindfulness meditation and other techniques to cope with stress, pain, illness or other challenges. MBCT is an eight-week programme that combines MBSR with cognitive-behavioural therapy to help people prevent relapse from depression and anxiety.
Both MBSR and MBCT are based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, a pioneer of mindfulness research and practice. He defines mindfulness as:
“The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.”
How does mindfulness help with anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural and normal response to perceived threats or dangers. It is part of our survival mechanism that prepares us to fight or flee from harm. However, sometimes anxiety becomes excessive or chronic, causing us to worry about things that are unlikely or unrealistic. This can interfere with our functioning and well-being.
Mindfulness helps us deal with anxiety in several ways:
Mindfulness helps us recognise when we are caught up in anxious thoughts and feelings. We learn to observe them without identifying with them or believing them.
Mindfulness helps us accept our anxious thoughts and feelings without judging them or trying to get rid of them. We learn to allow them to be there without resisting them or reacting to them.
Mindfulness helps us redirect our attention from our anxious thoughts and feelings to our present-moment experience. We learn to focus on what is happening right now instead of what might happen in the future or what happened in the past.
Mindfulness helps us cultivate positive emotions such as gratitude, compassion, joy and love. We learn to appreciate what we have instead of worrying about what we don’t have. We learn to be kind to ourselves instead of criticising ourselves. We learn to enjoy life instead of fearing it.
By practising these skills regularly, we can rewire our anxious brain and create new neural pathways that support calmness, clarity and confidence.
How to get started with mindfulness
If you are interested in learning mindfulness, you may wonder whether a group or a private setting would be best for you. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on your needs and preferences. A group setting can offer you the opportunity to share your experiences and learn from others who are on the same journey. It can also provide you with a sense of support and community. However, a group setting may not be suitable for everyone. If you have specific challenges that require more individualised attention, if you have been diagnosed with disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder or depression, or if you have a history of trauma that may make you uncomfortable in a group setting, you may benefit more from a private setting. A private setting can offer you more flexibility and customisation in your learning process. It can also allow you to explore your issues more deeply and confidentially with a qualified mindfulness teacher who can guide you and support you along the way. As a mindfulness teacher who offers both group and private sessions, I can help you decide which option is best for you based on your goals and circumstances. Please get in touch with me if you would like to find out more and chat about how mindfulness can help you improve your well-being and happiness.
References:
Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83-91.
Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Evans, K. C., Hoge, E. A., Dusek, J. A., Morgan, L., ... & Lazar, S. W. (2010). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(1), 11-17.
Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Vangel, M., Congleton, C., Yerramsetti, S. M., Gard, T., & Lazar, S. W. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1), 36-43.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science And Practice, 10, 144–156.
Khoury, B., et al. (2013). Mindfulness-based therapy: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(6), 763-771.
Segal, Z. V., et al. (2022). Antidepressant monotherapy vs sequential pharmacotherapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or placebo, for relapse prophylaxis in recurrent depression. JAMA Psychiatry.
Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213-225.
Taren, A. A., et al. (2015). Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: A randomized controlled trial. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(12), 1758-1768.
Zeidan, F., Johnson, S. K., Diamond, B. J., David, Z., & Goolkasian, P. (2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training. Consciousness and Cognition, 19(2), 597-605.