Mindfulness as Effective Stress and Anxiety Reducing Technique

Stress and Anxiety occurred when there is a gap between Expectation and Reality. In order to reduce the Stress or Anxiety, we can either close the gap by setting a more realistic expectation or improve the status of reality. When a thing doesn’t happen according to the expectation, we will be receiving unpleasant experience and stress. Some people may be able to cope with the stressful feeling and set recovery actions to solve the issue. However, certain people may start to judge himself and create negative self remarks. This behavior will further increase their stress and anxiety.

In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts to treat the chronically ill. This program sparked the application of mindfulness practices in Medicine. Mindfulness is a technique to connect with the current moment and we will be able to be aware of the event, our thought, emotion and body sensation associated with the event. We can easily utilize body sensation or breathe to obtain mindfulness. It trains us to look and accept things as they are without judging and expectation. In this way, we are able to see things in a non-personal and more neutral way. Right decision and choice could be made leading to increase of performance efficiency. The end result of mindfulness practice enable us to take conscious decision instead of habitual reaction. It brings the awareness about “we have the choice to choose” and create our emotion reality. We can still allow ourselves thinking and planning, the difference is we do it mindfully instead of in an unaware, random, distracted and stray away manner.

Mindfulness practice could cultivate our capacity of acceptance and compassion. The acceptance and compassion not only towards other people or events, more importantly is about we need to learn how to accept our self and have compassion on our past behaviors. Self-support, kindness and compassion will motivate and strengthen our ability to cope with negative situation.

When an unfavorable event happened, a primary thought will form in response to the event. If a person habitually form a secondary thought which linked to negative belief about self such as “I am no good”, then the self-critic such as “I am a life failure, this thing is not going to be a success” will kick in making him feel powerless and even more stressed. To the extreme, panic attack may happen and the patient will not be able to function normally. Mindfulness practice will enable a person to hold their experience and thought, up to primary thought level only. This will eliminate occurrence of the unnecessary habitual secondary thought thus prevent the stress or anxiety to escalate.

Mindfulness connects us to current moment. This technique provides the avenue to disconnect us from unfavorable past which create depressed emotion and uncertainty future which make a person anxious. It is a very useful non-religious exercise that built inner strengths to reduce stress and anxiety. With proper guidance on the technique, everyone could practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere with a clear mind to achieve body, emotion and mental well being.

Reference: Mindfulness Technique for Stress and Anxiety in Malaysia

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