A study was published recently in the Journal Personality and Individual Differences, that focused on how to keep away anxiety and stress. The data was collected from 223 participants across different age groups ranging from 18 year olds to 90 year olds. The findings of the study were that planning ahead can help reduce stress drastically.
Interestingly, the study found that planning ahead wasn’t the sole criteria to keep anxiety away. Maximum participants who were able to keep their anxiety under control were applying another amazing combination. This combination was that of planning and yet staying in the moment. The participants who were planning ahead but at the same time working on their present moment along with meditating were the most successful in managing anxiety.
This mindfulness is quite analogous to that of an athlete. Athletes prepare for months and years before the event. But while they are playing, they focus only on the current moment. If they are still in the process of preparing and planning ahead during the game then it too can pose to be detrimental. And for that, meditating is one of the best strategies. One of the easiest and most powerful mindfulness is mantra meditation. Sometimes called “japa”, this practice focuses the mind by repeating a mantra in the mind while using a set of mala prayer beads. To start you will need some assistance in choosing mala mantras to meditate. These methods are proving to be helpful according to numerous researches.
The research also showed the same. According to the research, those who were planning ahead but not staying in the moment were also inviting worries. One of the easiest ways to deal with such situations is to do basic breathing exercises or work on a mala with eyes closed. If the thoughts are wandering too much into the future, then one can just do a plain inhalation and exhalation for a minute and focus on the breathing.
Bringing focus to the breathing brings us to the present. Research says that practicing this basic mindfulness technique can reduce anxiety drastically and elevate a sense of being happy.
