Understanding Anxiety & Overthinking First
Anxiety and overthinking are like mental whirlpools. You begin with a single idea or worry, and all of a sudden, your mind is spinning with “what if” scenarios, potential outcomes, and replays of past errors. This can be exhausting, and for many people, it feels inescapable.
Overthinking tends to come from a place of fear or uncertainty. The brain, in an effort to protect us, tries to “solve” problems that haven’t even happened. Anxiety is often the physical and emotional response to this kind of thought pattern—racing heart, shallow breathing, restlessness, inability to focus, etc.
Meditation does not “get rid of” these feelings or sentiments. Rather, it transforms our relationship with them.
What Is Meditation, Really?
Meditation is fundamentally an awareness-based technique. It all comes down to living in the moment and avoiding getting bogged down in the past or the future.
There are many forms of meditation, including:
- Mindfulness meditation – observing thoughts without judgment
- Concentrating on a sound, a mantra, or the breath is known as focused attention.
- Loving-kindness (Metta) – generating compassion toward yourself and others
- Body scan: raising awareness of various body areas
- Transcendental meditation – using a mantra to go beyond thought
What they all share is the invitation to be here, now—with whatever arises.
What Happens to the Brain During Meditation?
Neuroscience gives us a clearer picture of what’s going on under the hood. Researchers using EEG and fMRI discovered that:
1. Reduces activity in the Default Mode Network (DMN)
This is the part of the brain that’s most active when we’re lost in thought—especially self-referential thoughts (aka “me, myself, and I” thinking). This includes worrying, ruminating, and planning. Meditation calms this system down.
2. Strengthens the Prefrontal Cortex
This region is in charge of attention, emotional control, and decision-making.With regular meditation, it becomes more active and resilient, which helps you stay grounded during anxious moments.
3. Shrinks the Amygdala
The amygdala is the brain’s alarm system. It gets triggered when you’re stressed or scared. Over time, meditation can reduce its size and reactivity, meaning fewer false alarms.
4. Increases Gray Matter Density
Studies show that long-term meditators have more gray matter in areas linked to emotional regulation, empathy, and introspection.
How Meditation Eases Anxiety & Overthinking
1. Brings Awareness to the Present Moment
Meditation keeps you rooted in the now, while anxiety dwells in the future. When you concentrate on your breath, body, or sensations, you interrupt the loop of expectation.
Example:
Instead of stressing about tomorrow’s meeting, you notice the sensation of breath going in and out. That alone will ground you.
2. Helps You Observe Thoughts Without Getting Caught in Them
Instead of reacting to every thought, you begin to witness them. Thoughts like “I’m not good enough” or “Something bad will happen” lose their grip when you realize, “This is just a thought, not reality.”
Perceiving thoughts as mental experiences rather than facts is referred to as cognitive defusion.
3. Trains You to Respond, Not React
Anxiety often triggers a fight-or-flight response. Meditation gives you a gap—a moment of space between the trigger and your reaction.
That gap is powerful. In it, you can breathe. You can choose. You can pause.
4. Promotes Emotional Regulation
With regular meditation, you become more emotionally resilient. You still experience difficult emotions, but they don’t control you. You learn to sit with discomfort without panicking or suppressing it.
5. Reduces Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
One popular meditation technique that triggers the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) is deep breathing.This slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and relaxes your muscles—creating a calm internal environment.
6. Builds Self-Compassion
Self-critical thoughts fuel anxiety and overthinking. Practices like loving-kindness meditation help you soften that inner voice. You begin to replace harsh judgment with kindness, even when you feel anxious or “not enough.”
7. Interrupts the Loop
Anxious overthinking is a loop: thought → emotion → reaction → more thought.
Meditation cuts into this loop. The pattern can be broken and your attention redirected with only one attentive breath.
A Sample Practice: Mindfulness for Anxiety (5–10 Minutes)
You can try this simple exercise anytime:
- Find a quiet space. You can easily sit or lie down. Close your eyes and inhale deeply.
- Bring your attention to your breath. Consider where you feel it the most: your chest, your nostrils, and your belly.
- Your mind will wander—let it. Gently notice when you drift off. After then, restore your attention to your breathing without passing judgement.
- Label your thoughts. If a thought arises (“I might fail this test”), silently say: “Thinking.” Then return to the breath.
- Notice the body. Scan your body for tension. Just observe it—don’t try to change it.
- End with kindness. Say to yourself: “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m safe.”
Even just five minutes per day might add up over time.
📊 What the Research Says
- Harvard Study (2011): Found that just 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation led to changes in brain structure, especially in the hippocampus (memory, learning) and amygdala (stress response).
- JAMA Internal Medicine (2014): Mindfulness meditation can reduce pain, anxiety, and depression, according to a meta-analysis of more than 18,000 research.
- Stanford University (2013): Found that mindfulness meditation reduces anxiety by calming brain regions linked to worry and fear.
Meditation Tools for Anxiety
Here are some practices and resources you can explore:
Guided Apps:
• Headspace – Beginner-friendly, science-backed
• Calm – Focuses on sleep, anxiety, breathing
• There are thousands of guided meditations available on the free Insight Timer.
• Ten Percent Happier: A practical, realistic method of practicing mindfulness
Breathwork Techniques:
- Box Breathing (inhale-hold-exhale-hold, each 4 seconds)
- 4-7-8 Breathing (inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8)
- Breathe coherently by taking five slow breaths and letting them out.
Rewiring Takes Time (But It Works)
You might not feel calmer after one meditation session—and that’s okay. Think of it like brushing your teeth. One time won’t do much. But on a daily basis, it turns into mental hygiene.
Over time, you’ll notice:
- Less reactivity
- More clarity
- Fewer spirals of worry
- A gentler inner voice
Meditation Doesn’t Replace Therapy (But It Complements It)
If your anxiety is severe or clinical, meditation should be part of a broader approach, not the only tool. It works beautifully alongside:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Medication
- Talk therapy
- Journaling and self-inquiry
- Grounding techniques
Final Thought
You don’t meditate to get rid of anxiety—you meditate to stop being at its mercy.
With patience and practice, you’ll develop a kind of calm that isn’t about “fixing” your thoughts—but seeing that you’re bigger than them.
The storm may still come, but meditation helps you find the stillness at the center.
