Mindfulness Exercises For Anxiety

Mindfulness is the ability to focus on the present, the ability to return to it when the mind has wandered into the past or the future. Mindfulness exercises can help train this ability. In this article, we present good mindfulness exercises for anxiety.

Mindfulness exercises make you really aware of what you want to achieve and what your goals are. If something unpleasant is happening in your life right now, you can choose not to think about it. The problem is that we may often be immersed in a stream of thoughts thinking about a past that no longer exists. We may also frighten ourselves with distressing thoughts about the future designed to control what has not yet happened. This makes it even more difficult to make decisions about life goals and values.

Mindfulness helps people realize that the only reality is here and now. Other moments exist only in our imagination, they are not real. Experiencing every situation without condemning, accepting them with all the senses, is wise, for it frees you from unnecessary feelings such as guilt or worry.

Mindfulness exercises for anxiety

Utilizing mindfulness requires doing selected exercises on a daily basis so that they become routine. There are many types of mindfulness exercises, but in this article we will share five ones that will help control anxiety.

As you probably already know, anxiety is a feeling that prepares people for danger. It is a defense mechanism that helps us cope and make decisions quickly and effectively in a potentially dangerous situation. Therefore, you need to realize that anxiety itself is not evil. It should not be condemned. Understand its purpose and try to use it to your advantage.

Here are some mindfulness exercises for anxiety that may be helpful.

1. Take a shower

One good way to start practicing mindfulness is to take a shower focusing on that moment. Thoughts should be just at the moment of showering.

So focus on everything related to taking a shower: taking soap, washing your body, feeling the skin, smelling the soap, feeling the water on the skin, how the water slips the soap and you see bubbles flowing with the water into the sewer…

This requires a return to the “beginner’s mind,” as if you had never taken a shower before. Let all the elements of the shower fascinate you. So don’t wash quickly, and don’t think about what you’ll do next. Just enjoy the full shower.

2. Playing with modeling wax

This exercise takes you back to childhood, and children are the best mindfulness teachers: they are constantly living in the present moment, and everything is new and wonderful to them.

Try to be a child again. Take a colorful modeling wax and shape it into funny characters. Think about what you want to formulate and dedicate yourself to it patiently, focusing and investing in the task to the fullest. Don’t get up to do anything else until you’re done. Completely indulge in modeling wax to the design, letting your mind focus on just that.

3. Soap bubbles

This exercise will help you practice an alternative, breath-based relaxation method. It also increases the ability to focus on a single task at hand.

Get a soap bubble toy and start blowing soap bubbles. Notice how some bubbles are smaller and others much larger. See how light is reflected from them, forming beautiful colors. Pay attention to how the bubbles explode after reaching a certain height and how some of the bubbles continue to rise higher and higher. Enjoy the moment!

4. Erase your hard drive

When you feel anxious, take paper and pen and “erase your hard drive”. In other words, write down all your thoughts on paper.

Write them down as if they were telegrams. So don’t judge, reject or judge them. They are just thoughts!

5. Wash the dishes

Dishwashing is a great mindfulness exercise that resembles the exercise of taking a shower. The intention is therefore to focus on all the sensations during washing the dishes. Note the water temperature, the composition of the dishwashing detergent, how the dirt comes off and the dish starts to clean and so on.

The purpose is to focus on the task itself and consider other thoughts as mere “noise”.

The benefits of mindfulness

Many studies support the benefits of simple mindfulness exercises. They help you focus on the present and be more aware of everything around you here and now. Mindfulness also allows you to distance yourself from chewing and negative emotions. Mindfulness helps you avoid internalizing them so that you can continue to do things that will help you achieve your goals.

On the other hand, mindfulness also helps to differentiate between judgments and criticisms based on your deepest beliefs, and gives peace of mind and serenity. When you don’t judge yourself, you will feel better and your social interaction will also improve. So it not only improves self-esteem but also interpersonal relationships.