Dear Friend,
I’ve been thinking about you lately and wanted to share something that might resonate, especially with everything you’ve been feeling. You know how meditation is often suggested as a way to calm anxiety? It makes sense because a lot of us turn to meditation to find some peace when stress and anxiety seem overwhelming.
There are actually two different ways meditation for stress and anxiety can help, and I think they might be helpful to know
Here’s How Meditation Can Help Calm the Mind
The first, and probably the most common, is using meditation to quiet the mind. This meditation is great when you’re feeling restless or tense because it creates space in the mind for inner calm. You find an “anchor” – like focusing on your breath or repeating a word or phrase – and develop the skill of watching your thoughts. When we do this, we start to see that our thoughts are just passing experiences, not something that defines us or that we need to fight. It’s temporary, just like everything else. Your thoughts begin to settle after a while.
This practice is especially effective as a meditation technique for anxiety because it allows the mind to disengage from the spinning wheels of worry. By simply anchoring yourself in the present, stress levels can decrease naturally.
Understanding Anxiety Through Meditation
Once you have developed the skill of watching your thoughts without being your thoughts, you can move on to another approach, which is less about finding immediate calm and more about understanding your anxiety. Instead of trying to avoid or push it away, this method encourages you to look directly at what you’re feeling.
When we do this, we start to see that anxiety is just a passing experience—not something that defines us or that we need to fight. It’s temporary, just like everything else. This makes meditation for anxiety not only a tool for stress relief but a method of deep self-awareness and growth.
By seeing that anxiety isn’t “me” or “mine,” it becomes less overwhelming. We realize that anxiety shows up because we want control over things we can’t actually control. But when we see it from this angle, something shifts inside, and we feel deeper peace over time.
That being said, sometimes focusing on calm is exactly what’s needed – like when you’re trying to sleep and anxiety is keeping you awake. In moments like that, turning your attention back to something steady, like your breath, can be the best way to unwind.
But when you’re ready, the deeper work comes from being curious about your feelings. The process of noticing the anxiety, accepting it, and questioning whether it’s really worth holding onto can help loosen its grip.
That’s how meditation really helps with anxiety and stress relief. The idea is not just to live with less anxiety but to learn from it, to live more in harmony rather than always feeling like you’re battling something.
This kind of insight lasts—not just a fleeting sense of calm but wisdom that lets us handle things more easily. It’s not about banishing anxiety but learning to coexist with it, and strangely enough, when we stop fighting it so hard, it shows up less and less.
A Mindful Shift: Stop the Spinning
There’s this cartoon that captures the idea perfectly. It’s of two gerbils in cages with those spinning wheels. One gerbil is running like crazy on its wheel, looking frantic. The other gerbil is lounging, totally relaxed, just lying in its wheel because it’s stopped moving. The caption reads: “I had an epiphany.”
The gerbil figured out it didn’t need to keep running in circles. It could stop. This perfectly illustrates the potential of meditation for stress and anxiety – realizing that we can stop the frantic spinning and rest in the peace that’s already there.
I’m always here if you want to talk more about this or try it together. Take care of yourself.
With love,
Bob