Is There a Magic Pill that Could Solve All Your Stress and Anxiety?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Stress and anxiety have become an inseparable part of our lives. They are the byproducts of modernity, as we lead fast-paced, demanding lives. Most of us experience the symptoms of stress and anxiety, but not all of it can be avoidable or reducible. So what are you left to do?

Fortunately, anxiety help is possible, and it can be as simple as adding a daily meditation practice to your life. Meditation has become the go-to brain strengthening training for people like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, and Tim Ferris. In this article, we will delve into how meditation can help you deal with anxiety and stress, and how to get started, even if you’ve never meditated before.

Train Your Brain: Rewiring the Firing

Meditation is not just a spiritual practice. It’s more like a brain exercise. If you want to build strong muscles, you need to go to the gym and exercise. Similarly, if you want to strengthen your brain, you need to exercise it. The same goes for your brain, as there’s a saying in neuroscience that says, “The brain wires the way it fires,” which means the more we participate in a specific way of thinking, activity, or habit, the more the brain will build more wiring to make that process easier the next time around.

Chronic stress and anxiety wire the brain to become more sympathetic dominant (stuck in stress), which shuts off the parasympathetic mode (relax mode), making it more difficult to calm down, relax, and reduce anxiety and stress. Meditation helps the brain strengthen the parasympathetic side of your nervous system, which helps you restore balance and calm. Mindfulness meditation, a meditation technique that emphasizes focusing on the present moment, trains the brain to shut off the signals producing anxiety and stress by simply doing something as simple as concentrating on your breathing. By focusing on the “here and now,” it helps the brain become more aware of the source of your stress and anxiety, while simultaneously training the brain to become more resilient against stress and anxiety.

Destroy Your Stress Hormones

When your brain is stressed, it promotes the release of cortisol, your body’s stress hormone, to help the body deal with your stress. It’s a healthy, natural response to stress for a short period of time. Still, it is not meant to be a long-term solution to the work, financial, or relationship stress that may be causing it. Chronic high levels of cortisol from stress and anxiety can interfere with your energy, slow brain performance, promote weight gain, and increase the risk of depression.

Mindfulness meditation has been shown to decrease your stress hormone, cortisol, which can help you feel more energized and healthy while simultaneously crushing stress and anxiety.

Ramp Up Your “Feel Good” Chemicals

Not only does meditation lower the symptoms of your stress and anxiety, but it also boosts the chemicals in your brain that make you feel happier. Chronic stress and anxiety can lower your brain’s “happy” neurotransmitter, serotonin, as well as your brain’s “feel good” neurotransmitter, dopamine. Low serotonin levels can make you feel more sad, unhappy, lethargic, depressed, and anxious. Low levels of dopamine can make you feel unmotivated, less resilient to stress, tired, and forgetful. Studies show that meditation can increase the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, helping your brain not only crush stress but allow you to feel happier, motivated, and energized.

Help Make Lasting & Positive Change

Meditation may be the solution to lasting change and results. Science has shown that the brain continues to change and reorganize itself throughout your lifetime depending on your lifestyle and your experiences. This is called neuroplasticity. One of the most influential promoters of neuroplasticity is a protein called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF).

BDNF helps the brain produce more brain cells, create new connections in the brain, and helps protect the brain against damage and stress. BDNF can help your brain adopt new healthy habits easier, learn faster, and even promote a healthy brain. Meditation can increase the production of BDNF and help your brain reprogram itself for less stress, less anxiety, and more happiness.

Make Your Brain Bigger and Stronger

Meditation does more than meets the eye. Not only can meditation make you feel less stressed and anxious, but it can actually change the physical structure of your brain. One study found that regular meditation increased the thickness of the brain. A thicker brain is a stronger brain. One area of the brain scientists discovered an increase in thickness was the insula of the brain. The insula is thought to be a center for controlling consciousness, awareness, and emotion regulation. This means that meditation can help you increase the work capacity of the portion of the brain that regulates your consciousness and emotions.

Put Yourself In The Driver’s Seat

Chronic stress can make you feel “out of control” of your stress and anxiety, constantly feeling overrun by the source of your stress. Anxiety and stress act like a fire alarm in the brain. When you are stressed, often your concentration is on the feeling or source of your anxiety, not the solution. This can make you feel like a passenger in your own mind, constantly rebounding from your emotions. Meditation teaches you to calm the constant fire alarm of stress to gain perspective and clarity on the solutions. Meditation trains your brain to regain control over your thoughts and emotions, which allows you to get back in the driver’s seat with your hands on the wheel and control the direction and course of your mind.

Meditation Techniques When Your Brain Won’t Turn Off

· 5 Minutes a Day Can Make a Major Impact

Little steps can still lead to big goals. You can start with just 5 minutes a day, adding a minute at a time to progress further. You don’t have to be a Buddhist Monk, meditating for hours a day, to experience the benefits mentioned earlier. Even if you are busy, you can still find at least 5 minutes during your day to step away and find a quiet spot to take some time for yourself and meditate.

In conclusion, anxiety and stress are parts of our lives that we cannot eliminate entirely. However, we can train our minds to better resist and handle these emotions. Meditation isn’t a magic pill, but it offers a practical, effective, and efficient solution. By strengthening your brain, reducing your cortisol levels, increasing your “feel-good” chemicals, and promoting neuroplasticity, meditation can help you put yourself back in the driver’s seat of your mind, reducing your stress and anxiety, and improving several other areas of your life.

So, don’t wait. Start with just 5 minutes a day and take charge of your life.