Mindfulness study may help with anxiety
Hello everyone! I have always been really interested in mindfulness, and the science that can back it up. I came across an article, that I summarize here, which talks about a simple and time effective meditation technique that can ease stress and also improve mood. I image that this might also be very helpful with anxiety. I hope you enjoy it! 
Traditionally studied meditation training programs, such as Transcendental Meditation and The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program, can be very costly in terms of both time and money. Lane et al. (2007) wanted to test whether a shorter meditation training program would be effective in improving participants perceived stress and negative mood, and whether practicing more frequently resulted in more improvement.
In an effort to measure the potential benefits of this brief training, the researchers administered several stress and mood related tests prior to training, and after training, during monthly follow-up sessions that lasted for a total of 3 months. The training included four 1-hour sessions where the participants learned one mantra meditation technique. They were instructed to practice this technique twice a day. The participants selected a sound, word, or phrase that would serve as their mantra. The training required participants to sit with their eyes closed, to engage in abdominal breathing for ~1 minute, to repeat their mantra at a pace that felt natural to them for 15-20 minutes, and to then sit in quiet rest for several minutes. During the course of practicing, participants were instructed to direct their thoughts back to the mantra when intrusive thoughts or feelings came into their consciousness.
The researchers found that this brief meditation program significantly improved participants perceived stress, and negative mood. Participants reported improvements after a month of training and a persistence in this improvement during subsequent follow-up sessions. They also found that the participants who practiced more frequently, at least once per day, demonstrated better outcomes those who practice less frequently. In summary, this study demonstrates that even brief periods of this type of meditation training can be beneficial to those who would like to try it in an effort to reduce their stress and improve their mood.
If you would like to check out the study, and the details I might have left off, you can find the link to the study below.
(http://managestressnow.com/pubarticles/Brief%20Meditation%20Lane%20and%20Seskevich.pdf
To all the wonderful people out there, lets turn this awesome topic into several threads where we discuss our experiences and possible benefits that can result from practicing meditation/mindfulness.
I want to start this awesome discussion by encouraging all of you to tell us about some techniques that you use to help with stress, or what has helped you when you were feeling low.
@SimpleOwl
Thank you for sharing this article. I love scientific articles. I wonder what sound or words they used for their mantra. I want to know more about things like this. It's nice to know that it's to try to direct intrusive thoughts towards the mantra again. I don't like intrusive thoughts and I think I don't do mindfulness because of it. haha
@helpfulSugar9 @SimpleOwl
I love to meditate, and it helps me a lot. I like to focus my attention on my breathing. I focus on the air coming into and then going out of my lungs, and that helps a lot. :)
@Probius
Oh, I see. I've heard of that before also. I like it but I tend to get distracted and forget to breathe in that way. Haha
@helpfulSugar9
Hey Sugar! If you find it tough to concentrate on your breathing, you might like this visual breathing exercise :)
@helpfulSugar9
I'm happy to hear that you also enjoy scientific articles! I can relate to what you say about the intrusive thoughts- it's tough to keep your mind from wondering, but I think it's also ok if it does :) I have heard that we can get better at focusing with practice :D. Just in case you want to check some stuff out... here are some links you might be interested in :)
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11317/11-easy-ways-to-meditate-even-if-it-seems-impossible.html
https://www.7cups.com/exercises/mindfulness/?showlist=1
Thanks for posting this SimpleOwl. I tried mindfulness meditation. I can see how it could be beneficial for anyone who experiences chronic anxiety...as a relaxation technique but my anxiety is event-related as in I don't experience it unless I'm in the act of attempting to do something I fear. For this, I found meditation totally useless.
I appreciate your post because when I tell listeners that I've tried mindfulness meditation but did not find it helpful, they dismiss the idea and tell me, oh you just didn't try it long enough and it takes time and blah, blah, blah... This study shows that brief practice is no impediment to benefit. Participants reported benefits after one month of practice. I practiced meditation twice daily for more than three months and perceived no benefits.
So now when listeners dismiss me when I try to tell them that mindfulness meditation didn't help me, when they try to tell me that I didn't do it long enough and that it WOULD have helped if i had...then I'll just tell them to talk to you, SimpleOwl so you can tell them about this study.
@BrightWriter
Thank you so much for this thoughtful and insightful response. I think you bring up an excellent and very important point- What works for one person, may not work for another. Also, a technique that is useful in one situation, might not work in another situation. Nonetheless, I'm sorry to hear that mindfulness didn't really work for you. Have you come across some other techniques that you have found helpful in these context specific situations?
Unfortunately no, SimpleOwl...not yet.
@BrightWriter
I'm so sorry to hear that BrightWriter... Have you ever heard of systematic desensitization? It's the first thing that came to mind because you mentioned that you had fears that depended on context. I did a quick search and found this. http://www.guidetopsychology.com/sysden.htm
Not sure if it exactly relates to the things you are concerned about, but I thought I would share. <3
That was very kind of you SimpleOwl, to research that for me. Thank you. Yes I have heard of this, also heard it called exposure therapy. It's been around forever and is pretty much the "gold standard" treatment for fears and phobias. It works best with straight up phobias I think. It's always a phobia type fear that's used as the example whenever I've read about this technique. I have been unsuccessful with systematic desensitization.
@BrightWriter
Thank you for your input, that's very helpful to know.
Mindfulness apps do help quite a bit :)
@Mellietronx
Ooo I imagine that that can make practicing mindfulness a littler easier on the go. Can you name at least one of your favorites for us? :)
@SimpleOwl Simple Habits is pretty awesome :)
@Mellietronx
I will definitely check that out! Thank you kindly :)
Thanks for sharing this. A listener here at 7 cups recommended a site which is a bit similar to this method. I have been using it for past 48 hours and have noticed a lot of difference in the energy of my home. People are more positive in their speech and interactions with each other. Its as if I am sweeping away the negative vibes in my space.