Effective Treatment Of Anxiety

treatment for anxiety

Treatment of anxiety can be complex, but let’s face it; most of us just want it gone.

It’s not quite as simple as that. In fact, the number one mistake most people make when trying to get rid of their stress is just that; they try to get rid of it.

In reality, the best way to deal with these uncomfortable feelings is not to try to get rid of them (which is impossible anyway), but to reduce the negative impact they have on your life.

 

What’s The Real Problem?

The real problem isn’t anxiety. It’s our reaction to the emotion. When an anxious thought arises, we tend to get carried away by a stream of negative thoughts that tell us all kinds of fantastic stories about how terrible the future is going to be.

There’s only one way to wake up from the trance of fear and that is to regularly train your mind. Apart from hypnotherapy, the best way to do that is with meditation. I teach many of my my clients a technique called mindfulness meditation.

 

A Simple Practice

Instructions on the practise of meditation

Mindfulness is the act of paying close attention to your immediate experience. The simplest form of this practise is mindfulness of the breath. You can do this anywhere, any time.

Here’s how it works; You pay attention to the in-breath. Then you pay attention to the out -breath. And so on and so forth. Now, of course your mind IS going to wander off and the important thing is not to get frustrated when that happens.

This is just what the mind does; it’s always jumping from one thing to the next. So when it wanders off (and sometimes it might take a while for you to realise that this has happened), you bring your attention back to the breath – without getting annoyed with yourself.

Every time you bring your focus back to the breath, you are strengthening your ‘mindfulness muscle’; you are also improving your ability to regulate your emotions.

 

Why Bother?

Because it’s really good for you, that’s why. Regular mindfulness practice has been proven in numerous studies to reduce stress and increase overall happiness.

Think about it; how many times do you get caught up in your own internal dramas? It’s almost like you go into a dream state and it is very painful to be controlled by your thoughts. Mindfulness helps you wake up from the dream more often.

Brain research has shown in as little as 8 weeks of mindfulness practice, there are actual changes in the brain – specifically in the parts of the brain responsible for mood and immune function.

 

All It Takes Is Less Than 5 Minutes Per Day

Start small – set aside 2-5 minutes per day for mindfulness meditation. It’s better to do it every day for a short period than doing longer sessions less often.

Being prone to stress, anxiety and catastrophizing myself I find meditation really helpful. But in the beginning I had to start small too. For over 11 years I’ve done meditation on and off, but I could never stick to it long-term until I committed to doing it every day.

And that’s the key – you do have to be consistent to get results.

Meditation is an effective treatment of anxiety, and great adjunct to anxiety hypnosis in Melbourne. So try it for just 5 minutes per day and reap the rewards. If you would like to know more about how to meditate you can contact me on my contact page any time.