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As a meditation teacher, one of the most common requests I get for topics this time of year is anxiety. A few minutes of meditation each day might be the perfect micro habit to add to your day for living with less anxiety and more freedom.
Meditation is such a powerful tool because it helps to soothe anxiety in the moment. Over time, it can actually rewire your brain for less anxiety in the long term. According to Sara Lazar, Ph.D. and researcher at Harvard University, as little as 10 minutes a day of meditation for eight weeks can begin to shrink your amygdala, which is the anxiety center of the brain. This means that over time, you will begin to have smaller fight or flight responses to anxiety triggers and begin spending more time in the relaxed restful state of the parasympathetic nervous system. Plus, it will begin to quiet your fear center of the brain immediately when you begin to meditate. Why not try a few minutes of deep breathing or listening to a guided meditation today to start easing your anxiety?
Contributed by Kelly Smith, the author of You Are Not Your Thoughts: An 8-Week Guided Meditation Journal.
