Do you struggle with anxiety and depression? If so, are you looking for relief to alleviate these conditions? Maybe you have heard about mindfulness exercises. Are you curious about how to do this? This article will guide you on how to do this and how your mind and body will benefit.

Table of Contents:

·         How Mindfulness Calms Anxiety and Beat Depression

·         9 Mindfulness Practices you can do at home

·         What are the benefits of doing mindfulness?

·         Connected: Subscribe for Ongoing Guidance on Your Mindful Journey

How Mindfulness Calms Anxiety and Beat Depression

You think all the time. That means your mind works nonstop to process your thoughts,

feelings, and desires. You may worry about your upcoming exams. You may be thinking of ideas about your presentations or even the food you want to eat for dinner.

Mindfulness is paying attention to your thoughts, emotions, and desires in the present moment without judgment. It makes you more aware and engage with your surroundings with acceptance and no violent reaction.

Stress, life experiences, and daily activities are the major causes of anxiety and depression. Through mindfulness, it can tone down the symptoms of anxiety and depression. You will experience positive outcomes just by using your thoughts and feelings. It can make you calmer when stressed and improve your concentration when doing tasks.

 

9 Mindfulness Practices you can do at home

1. Establish a goal

According to the article “14 Mindfulness Tricks to Reduce Anxiety” by Mandy Ferreira (2020), “setting an intention or goal can help you focus and remind you why you are doing something.” By establishing a clear intention, you can stay focused on your goal and nurture a sense of direction and purpose throughout your goals. It includes journaling, reading, and mind meditation. For example, if you’re stressed about giving school presentations, write down your purpose and why you’re doing it.

 

2. The raisin exercise

This exercise uses raisins or any food to focus and engage your senses. To do it, you will:

• pretend that you've never seen a raisin before

• Examine the raisin and how it looks

• How it smells

• How it feels when it touches your hands and tongue

• How it tastes (chew it slowly and take time to notice its taste and flavor)

3. Take a walk

According to the article “6 Ways to Enjoy Mindful Walking” by Christopher Willard (2023), “getting outside to walk deliberately in nature can open our eyes, offering new perspectives different from those we encounter indoors or inside our digital devices.” Spending time outdoors and exposure to nature uplifts happiness and calms your negative emotions.

You need to go outside and walk but with a twist. While walking in the street or park, appreciate the beauty of your surroundings. It could be flowers blooming on the side of the street or the beauty and warmth of sunrise. You may appreciate the laughter of the children on the playground. Remember, if you take a mindful walk, notice everything that can make you absorb positivity: a funny scenario, an act of kindness, or beautiful scenery. This can benefit not only your mental health but your body as well!

4. “Look to the Sky” Meditation

According to the podcast “Happiness Break: Pause to Look at the Sky, With Dacher” by Dacher Keltner (2023), “There are real powerful benefits to simple activities where we take in what is vast, like looking to the sky.”

Dacher suggests that if you take a break from work or sit in the park, you first need to do a few breath-ins and breath-outs and look up at the sky. “Now, as you breathe in, notice the light. Get a sense of the light distributed throughout the sky. Notice how it changes across your view, where it’s bright, where it’s less bright,” he adds. Dacher also mentioned looking at the clouds in the sky and noticing their shapes and sizes. “And now again, expand your gaze. Get a sense of the full sky on our final couple of breaths,” he said.

Doing this meditation helps our brain focus and feel a sense of awe, improving our minds and thoughts. You become more creative if you do this exercise often.

5. Mindful breathing

Mindful breathing is a relaxation technique where you will pay attention to your breathing. It hinders anxious thoughts from conquering your mind. It will also soothe the painful feelings you have if you are emotionally hurt and depressed.

The article “How Mindful Breathing Can Change Your Day (and Your Life)” by Jenna Sinclair (2021) suggests doing these things while having deep breaths:

• Count your breaths. Count one with each breath in and out until you get to ten. If you lose focus, start over at step one.

• Focus on the sensation. Use belly breathing. Pay attention to the rising and falling in your belly or chest whenever you breathe.

• Focus on the point at which the breath changes. Focus on breathing changes from breathing to breathing out.

• Practice alternate nostril breathing. Close your left nostril and concentrate entirely on inhaling through your right nostril. Next, try the opposite side.

• Notice the quality of the breath. See how every breath is different. Compare each breath to see if it is longer or deeper than the last.

6. Body scan

The body scan is done by paying attention to the areas of your body where you feel pain, soreness, and tingling sensations. The article “21 Mindfulness Exercises & Activities For Adults (+ PDF)” by Courtney E. Ackerman (2017) mentions that a body scan is done systematically “starting at the feet and moving upwards” like this:

• Toes of both feet;

• The rest of the feet (top, bottom, ankle);

• Lower legs;

• Knees;

• Thighs;

• Pelvic region (buttocks, tailbone, pelvic bone, genitals);

• Abdomen;

• Chest;

• Lower back;

• Upper back (back ribs & shoulder blades);

• Hands (fingers, palms, backs, wrists);

• Arms (lower, elbows, upper);

• Neck;

• Face and head (jaw, mouth, nose, cheeks, ears, eyes, forehead, scalp, back and top of the head);

• The “blowhole”

7. Drinking tea

“How to Be Mindful With a Cup of Tea” by Ed Halliwell (2016) demonstrates the steps of doing mindfulness by drinking tea:

Step 1: Listen to the sound of the water heating and boiling in the kettle. Notice the gurgling sounds, wisps of steam and shaking of water inside.

Step 2: Observe how it feels to be in your surroundings. Feel your bottom’s contact with the chair if you’re sitting or your feet touching the floor if you’re standing.

Step 3: As you pour the tea, witness the color of the water change as it reaches the teabag. Keep an eye on the changes of color from clear water to tea color. Be mindful of the tinkling sound of liquid as you pour it into your cup.

Step 4: Feel the handle of the teabag as it lifts out of your fingers and the weight of the bag falling away as you tip it into the trash can. Allow yourself to hear sounds, like the opening and closing of the bin lid.

Step 5: Be aware of your feelings as you add milk and sugar to the brew. Ask yourself: Do you want them? How do you know?

Step 6: Notice how your hands feel the warmth of a hot cup.

Step 7: Place the cup to your lips and consider how your arm and hand can move in this direction.

Step 8: Take a sip of tea. Move the liquid around your lips lightly and savour the flavor. Let these sensations cross your mind, and don’t rush drinking.

Step 9: Look closely at the feeling you get upon swallowing the tea and the liquid passing down your stomach.

Step 10 – When the liquid disappears, ask yourself: Is there a point when the tea stops being separated from you? When and how do you recognize that moment?

Step 11: Take a pause and be aware if there’s any irritable feeling present or any feeling that emerges.

Step 12: Look at the surroundings and notice the feeling that comes up.

Step 13: Bring your focus back on the teacup you are holding. Repeat step seven until the cup is empty. Compare the temperature and taste if there are changes.

Be gentle on each step and enjoy every moment.

8. Social Media Detox

Are you among the teens who frequently check recent posts? Do you stay in your bed while scrolling your phone the whole day? Do you feel the urge when you hear the phone cling as it notifies you? Social media is beneficial when used right, but when you get addicted, it contributes to your anxiety and depression.

Logging out to your account will help you fight social media addiction. Set time limitations if you want to check-in. Have deep breaths if you feel the urge to hold your phone. Remember the posts you share and read, as they may affect your thoughts.

9. Dishwashing

You may be surprised that this is included in the list. Dishwashing is an everyday household chore, but practicing mindfulness through it is possible. Here’s what to do:

1. Feel the coldness or warmness of water as you open the faucet. Analyze how cold or warm the water is.

2. Hold and squeeze the sponge with your hands. How does it feel?

3. Notice the smell of the used plates, kitchen utensils, and dishwashing liquid.

4. You can start over again if you lose focus upon following these steps.

 

What are the benefits of doing mindfulness?

Mindfulness gives wholesome benefits to your emotional, mental, and physical well-being. These may include:

Relieve depression. Mindfulness soothes the symptoms of depression, such as loss of interest, irritability, and concentration problems.

Reduce anxiety and stress. Mindful breathing is a mindfulness exercise proven to reduce anxiety and stress. Research shows that mindfulness can help regulate emotions (Remmers, Topolinski, & Koole, 2016), which improves mood, personal relationships, and performance at school and work.

Boost memory. Mindfulness reduces cortisol levels, which impair memory and shrink the hippocampus, a part of the brain responsible for storing new memories and recalling emotional memories.

Recovery from terminal illness. The research titled “Improvements in emotion regulation following mindfulness meditation: Effects on depressive symptoms and perceived stress in younger breast cancer survivors” (Boyle, Stanton, Ganz, Crespi, & Bower, 2017) shows that there’s an increase in self-kindness among younger breast cancer survivors which helps them to lessen stress.

Prevent from feeling upset quickly.

Feel happier and more satisfied.

Develop self-control and self-awareness.

Pay attention better and be less distracted

Remain calm and relaxed when you feel stressed.

Have better relationships with others.

 

Stay Connected: Subscribe for Ongoing Guidance on Your Mindful Journey

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Mindfulness isn’t just a practice; it’s a superpower you wield against the storms within. Join us as we unravel the mysteries of mindfulness and empower ourselves with practices that soothe the restless mind. Hit subscribe and embark on a journey toward healing and flourishing. Your inner peace awaits!

References:

1. Ferreira, M. (2020). 14 Mindfulness Tricks to Reduce Anxiety. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mindfulness-tricks-to-reduce-anxiety

2. Willard, C. (2023). 6 Ways to Enjoy Mindful Walking. Mindful. https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-to-get-the-benefits-of-mindful-walking/

3. Keltner, D. (2023). Happiness Break: Pause to Look at the Sky, With Dacher. Greater Good Science Center. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/podcasts/item/happiness_break_pause_to_look_at_the_sky_dacher_keltner

4. Ackerman, C. E. (2017). 21 Mindfulness Exercises & Activities For Adults (+ PDF). Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-exercises-techniques-activities/

5. Halliwell, E. (2016). How to Be Mindful With a Cup of Tea. Mindful. https://www.mindful.org/mindful-cup-tea/

6. Remmers, C., Topolinski, S., & Koole, S. L. (2016). Why Being Mindful May Have More Benefits Than You Realize: Mindfulness Improves Both Explicit and Implicit Mood Regulation. Mindfulness, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0520-1

7. Boyle, C. C., Stanton, A. L., Ganz, P. A., Crespi, C. M., & Bower, J. E. (2017). Improvements in emotion regulation following mindfulness meditation: Effects on depressive symptoms and perceived stress in younger breast cancer survivors. Psychological Assessment, https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fccp0000186