Calming power of Mindfulness: Study finds out these effective techniques to reduce anxiety  

At a time when people are struggling with long and odd hours of work, disorganised eating habits, and catastrophic diseases in their 30s and 40s, anxiety, depression, worry and all such mental issues have taken over the youth and middle-aged population. However, if one pays attention to the present moment without thinking of anything else, these problems can be solved. The basic idea behind all mindfulness techniques can help calm anxiety and improve focus, said Resh Gupta, a postdoctoral research associate with the Mindfulness Science and Practice research cluster. 

How mindfulness cure anxiety

“A lot of research has shown that mindfulness can reduce anxiety symptoms," she said. The calming power of mindfulness is well-known to people who have made the practice a part of their daily lives. Still, experts continue to investigate how it works and which types of mindfulness might be most useful for different types of anxiety, ranging from fleeting bouts of worry to more chronic, clinical anxiety disorders. “We all experience anxiety, but it can manifest in many different ways,” Gupta said. 

“It's a tough problem to pin down.” In a paper published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Gupta and co-authors laid out a new approach to understanding the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, they propose that different kinds of mindfulness practices might be helpful for different varieties of anxiety. The proposed framework should ultimately help us understand how to match anxiety sufferers with more precise treatments, Gupta said. Todd Braver, the William R. Stuckenberg Professor in Human Values and Moral Development and a professor of psychological and brain sciences, is a co-author of the paper.  

The other co-author is Wendy Heller, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “There is growing recognition that these practices can be incredibly useful in enhancing psychological well-being,” Braver said.  

Gupta, Braver, and Heller suggest that mindfulness combats anxiety by improving a mental process called cognitive control. “Cognitive control is the ability to regulate your thoughts and actions in a way that helps you achieve your goals,” Gupta said. “For example, if you know you have to go to the grocery store right after work, you can keep that goal in mind during the workday and turn down an offer to do something else after work.” People who are more mindful generally perform better on tasks requiring cognitive control. That observation is supported by neuroimaging studies, which have shown that mindfulness meditation can effectively modulate activity in brain regions that support cognitive control. Using mindfulness to improve cognitive control can help interrupt the harmful cycle of worry.  

(With Inputs from agency)