Mindfulness and Meditation: Wellness and Anxiety

Today’s society is not only facing an obesity epidemic, as I spoke of in a previous article, but also a noticeably sharp increase in levels of anxiety and mood disorders that affect mental and emotional health. These ailments can have tremendous effects on an individual’s daily progress, and unfortunately, sometimes are not given the respect they deserve in today’s society and can be profoundly debilitating in some circumstances.  A healthy, balanced diet is important to help balance one’s mental health, and here is where wellness comes into play in a bigger fashion. Let’s dive in a little deeper and take a look specifically at wellness and anxiety.

Whether it be a genetic predisposition, competitive environment, social media, or being a highly sensitive/intuitive individual, likely an empath, who picks up easily on energy around them, anxiety levels appear to be on the rise. So. what can be done about it? Eating healthy is important, however, is not the only thing that can help and research is looking into many new therapeutic techniques to help combat these sometimes silent disorders. Being kind to our neighbors, as much as possible, treating others as we would like to be treated, and showing care and compassion, are great things to be mindful of to not only prevent anxiety in others, but to be good overall human beings caring for one another in a sometimes cruel world. I know we are not living in an ideal world, and unfortunately, this can be hard to recognize at times. This is where we need to look into other measures and figure out what can we do to help this slowly growing challenge that needs attention.

As we know, there are many anxiety medications out there on the market that doctors prescribe on an as needed basis. Some have shown to be helpful for individuals and since every person responds differently, there are many to choose from, based on a physician’s assessment of symptoms, and some may not always do the trick. Exercise is so beneficial, for an array of reasons, as we know and has also been shown to reduce levels of stress. Incorporating in a consistent routine can help combat certain levels of anxiety, but still more may be needed depending on the level of anxiety at hand. Cardio, resistance, HIIT, and yoga have beneficial results on the body and mind and do help to cope with certain levels of anxiety. I absolutely encourage these forms of exercise and believe whole-heartedly, they help with overall mind, body, and soul healing. So, what else is being looked at in regards to wellness and anxiety?

Mindfulness and meditation – Breathing, mindfulness and meditation are important in that they help one to be in the moment and get in touch with their emotions- in a non-judgmental way, allowing them to just be, accept and release. Calmly acknowledging one’s feelings and emotions in the moment is what mindfulness and meditation center on. Developing a consistent breathing technique to slowly calm the physical body into a more peaceful state is what meditation strives to do and listening to meditation music aims to help to do this successfully. The idea of being in acceptance mode and releasing, through breathing and meditation, is better than resisting emotions. What you resist, persists and this is not what we are striving for. Accepting, processing, releasing, and letting go is what we want to do here in the most non-judgmental way possible. Let Go and Let God I like to say!

After attending the Food and Nutrition Conference in Philadelphia, I stumbled into one of the many presentations and learned a little more about some newer treatments to help with anxiety and mood disorders. The presentation focused on CBD oil, what it is, and what it is being looked into and used for today. If you walk into many hair salons, chiropractors, several doctor’s offices, you may see CBD oils and creams being sold everywhere, even in toothpaste (which I came across recently unbenounced to me upon buying a tube and learning of this after the fact) and not know too much about them. What I did learn in the conference was beneficial and one of the presenters stood up and spoke of the many benefits CBD oils has had on her daughter, who struggles with epilepsy and has frequent seizures that need constant attention and treatment. She spoke of how after researching CBD, getting a doctor’s consent, and giving a correct or appropriate dosage to her daughter, she has seen a miraculous improvement in her condition. She boasted about the wellness effects of CBD and how it is being used for not only epilepsy, but anxiety, mood disorders, arthritis, and several other ailments that many medicines have not been able to combat. We are now seeing CBD being sold in many places and the (mom) presenter went on to talk about the importance of researching the product and knowing enough about it to make an informed decision for yourself.

All individuals are different and may respond to any of these treatments differently, yet we are living in a world where we need to be proactive in our health to live the best life we are meant to live. Transforming into the best version of ourselves is what we are striving to do here and I believe in that, we must research and consider all options that may have positive effects on our mental, emotional, and physical health. Whether any of these treatments mentioned can help with one’s wellness, anxiety in particular, I believe should be left up to the individual to research and decide upon.

Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet is important and being compassionate and understanding is so vital. Also, remembering some struggles are harder for some than others and this is where positive self-talk, love and care for others, helps us to move in a positive direction.  Understanding we are not living in an ideal world, yet knowing we are doing our best to slowly transform into the best versions of ourselves is what makes it all worthwhile! You are all awesome and amazing and I hope to see you soon!