By Brittany Doohan
You don’t need to go on a weeklong meditation retreat to help calm the effects of stress and anxiety. Research shows that even a fairly short mindful meditation practice may make people more resilient when they’re under mental stress.
In a study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, one group of participants was asked to perform simple breathing exercises and keep their attention on the present moment — for just 25 minutes a day, for 3 days. Another group was asked to analyze poetry for the same amount of time, to help improve their problem-solving skills. All of the participants were then given stress-inducing speech and math tasks. The group that had practiced mindfulness reported that they felt less stressed before these tasks, which may show that the exercises helped them be more resilient in the face of psychological tension.
Ready to give it a try? Start with a mix of these calming activities:
If you have a chronic condition and because of it your stress is more intense, research shows mindfulness can help with that, too. A 2010 Australian review of studies revealed that following a structured meditation program called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) helped people with chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease cope better with their symptoms, enjoy a better quality of life, and even have better health! Learn more about MBSR.
Published on April 21, 2016.
Brittany Doohan is a health and lifestyle writer and editor living in San Francisco.
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