Anxiety is a significant public health concern, affecting about 31% of adults and adolescents, which is nearly one in three people (NIMH, 2022). Research shows that mindfulness practice is effective in reducing anxiety (Hofmann & Gomez, 2017). In this video that I developed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, I discuss what mindfulness is, what anxiety is, and how mindfulness can be helpful with anxiety. Guided mindfulness exercises are also included.
Video chapters are listed below that link directly to specific sections of the video. If you find a particular mindfulness exercise in the video helpful, you can go back to them easily any time by using those timestamped links.
Video Chapters
00:00:06 Introduction to Mindfulness for Anxiety
00:01:49 What Is mindfulness?
00:02:49 What is anxiety?
00:04:29 How can mindfulness Help?
00:07:16 Preparing for mindfulness practice
00:08:25 Calming activities
00:09:52 Space preparation
00:10:48 Preliminary mindfulness exercise
00:18:33 Mindfulness exercise
00:28:56 Discussion about the mindfulness exercise
00:30:58 Summary-Recap
REFERENCES:
Hofmann, S. G., & Gómez, A. F. (2017). Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Anxiety and Depression. The Psychiatric clinics of North America, 40(4), 739–749.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2022). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder, retrieved November 12, 2022.
Mindfulness FAQ 