How Meditation Helps Calm Down Anxiety

How Meditation Helps Calm Down Anxiety

It seems as though the world never sleeps. Sometimes it seems as though our mind also never sleeps. Thoughts turn to other thoughts which turn into other thoughts. The cycle seems to just keep going and going and going…just like the Energizer Bunny! Racing thoughts and a mind that won’t slow down can interfere with our sleep…inhibit our ability to make decisions…interrupt and disrupt our daily functioning at home, work school and socially. Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?

We know that anxiety is primarily a physical reaction. Our heart rate goes up, our nostrils flare, our breathing becomes faster and more shallow to maximize oxygen intake. Your stomach produces more acid to more quickly digest what it hasn’t already. All of these things happen for one reason - to increase the likelihood of survival in the face of a perceived threat. Because these reactions are physical, it makes sense that the remedy would also be physical. Enter…relaxation strategies and meditation. It can be hard, however, to know if some of the strategies we’re using are actually working…are we decreasing our heart rate? Quieting our brain? Using tools that provide immediate feedback based on our physiological functioning can let us know immediately whether something we are doing is working…or if we need to tweak it in some way.

Now…pair the meditation with virtual reality. The research tells us that the more we can see something happening - imagine it, visualize it, see it - the more likely it is to happen. This is the notion that is supported by such things as goal-setting, planning for the future, vision boards…and the popular “Secret”, that is, the law of attraction. The more senses that we engage in imagining an activity the better - what would it look like? Sound like? Taste like? Feel like? Smell like? Together, through combining virtual reality and meditation, we can work to help you calm down your anxiety.

The product that we use to help our customers with meditation is the Muse Headband. The product that we use on the Virtual Reality side of things is the Oculus Go.