How meditation can help ease anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, fear, worry or foreboding. For anyone suffering from occasional anxiety or anxiety disorders, meditation is one treatment option that can provide relaxation for the mind and body.

Meditation is a mental exercise that requires a person to be physically still and quiet, while at the same time focusing his mind or thoughts on a single object.

• This concentration on helps to empty your mind of the extraneous thoughts that lead to feelings of panic, fear and worry.
• With practice, your meditation sessions will give you more control over your negative thoughts.
• As you learn to let go of ideas or thoughts that make you anxious, you can greatly reduce or even eliminate the anxiety episodes your have.
• The many benefits of meditation help you to calm your mind and your body until you feel completely relaxed.

All types of meditation require a quiet area free of distractions for at least five to 20 minutes. You should try various types of meditation techniques to find the ones that appeal to you.

Mindfulness Meditation. This technique lets your thoughts come and go as they wish, but you're a detached observer of these thoughts and they have no effect on your mental state or emotions.

Transcendental Meditation (TM). In TM, you sit with your back straight and silently repeat a word, sound or phrase such as "ohm."

Guided Meditation. With this approach, you listen to a recording of a soothing voice that guides you through a series of images or imagery that you focus on in order to relax.

Concentrative Meditation. With this type of meditation, you concentrate on one object such as your breath. You focus on every inhalation and exhalation and nothing else.

Regardless of the type of anxiety you might suffer from, you're likely feeling nervous, powerless, and panicky. Although doctors often recommend therapy and medication as treatment, meditation techniques can have a lasting effect on your mental state if you're willing to devote the time to incorporate it into your daily routine.