How mindfulness helps anxiety?

Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention, at the moment, without judgment. It sounds simple enough and is an innate ability but can require cultivation. There are multiple mindfulness-based education programs and thousands of books, podcasts, and websites devoted to mindfulness. Its growing popularity is in part because it works well for many people and in part. After all, scientific evidence shows that it works and how. 

The amygdala is a part of the brain that works to scan our environments and detect threats in them and initiate the stress response or fight or flight response system to respond to those threats. In people with anxiety and related issues, the amygdala may be overactive. Some research indicates that experiencing trauma may cause changes in how the amygdala responds, including a heightened fight or flight response or diagnosis of certain anxiety-based issues like posttraumatic stress disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.

Researchers using magnetic resonance imaging or MRI technology have documented the effects of mindfulness on the brain. In these imaging studies, scientists noted the amygdala decreasing in size. The prefrontal cortex region of the brain, which is responsible for higher-order thinking, reasoning, and decision making, seems to increase in density.

Anxiety often involves thoughts that fixate uncertain situations, unknowns, feared circumstances or objects, and related content. This may activate the amygdala and cause difficulty in regulating the stress and anxiety response. Since mindfulness helps improve the brain’s ability to down-regulate and utilize the part of the brain that helps with reasoning, mindfulness may also help regulate anxiety by supporting down-regulation. In essence, the part of the brain that helps people down-regulate the anxiety response grows larger, and the part of the brain that detects and responds to threats becomes smaller. This sheds light on how mindfulness may be very helpful to those with anxiety.

If you’re struggling with anxiety, talk with your doctor or licensed mental health professional about your symptoms. Mindfulness may be a recommended part of your anxiety management, as it is often a lifestyle change that doctors and counselors alike recommend.