Stress and anxiety can impact both your mental and physical health. You might be able to manage your feelings of stress and anxiety by tapping into your physical body. Your mind and body are connected. When you feel good, you usually feel good all over. You feel happiness in your thoughts and mind as well as in elated feelings throughout your body. Feeling sick or upset also might make you feel weak or physically ill. The mind-body connection is powerful, and you can use this connection to deal with stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation activities can help you reduce stress and anxiety by focusing on your breath or on your five senses. When you are being mindful, you are engaging in activities that fully stimulate your senses. You can practice mindfulness while eating. You can try eating something small, like a raisin or a nut, and eat slowly. Try to concentrate on the sensations, tastes, and textures. When you are being mindful, you are putting your focus on limited areas and being “in the moment.” Any other activity involving one or more of the five senses, like listening to music or looking at art, can be completed mindfully.

Meditation involves mindful breathing. You concentrate on your breath and take slow, deep breaths. You are solely focusing on your breath and allowing thoughts to pass through your mind without judgment. Meditation can help to lower your stress levels. You can use this technique in moments of high-stress for a few minutes to calm down more easily. 

Mindfulness and meditation can help you deal with your stress and anxiety in daily life. Our minds and bodies are connected to one another. By focusing on our physical selves, we can alter our thinking and get out of our heads. Mindful activities can vary. We can concentrate on one or more of our five senses. We can listen to music mindfully or look at art, attempting to become fully engaged in the moment with our senses. Meditation and breathwork can help us calm down when we are stressed. We can also plan to meditate or make time for mindful activities regularly to help us regulate our stress levels throughout the day. When we are struggling with mental illness and addiction, we might experience anxiety and stress more frequently than usual. We may have never learned ways to calm or soothe ourselves when we are anxious or upset. If you are struggling with your mental illness and addiction, call Alma Loma Transformational Services at (866) 457-3843 for help.