Hijack Your Mind & Reduce Stress With Mindfulness Meditation

The truth is, we’re all stressed at some point. But did you know that meditation can decrease stress by rewiring the brain?

With 80% of Americans having experienced stress in just the past month, it’s clear that stress is rampant. Research shows that stress has a negative impact mentally, physically, and emotionally. And further, most adults know that their health is compromised due to stress. So what are you doing to manage stress and how effective are your attempts?

Meditation studies have shown that meditators are better able to control stress and anxiety, likely leading to healthier and happier lives. Specifically, meditators showed higher well-being, better concentration, higher quality sleep, and are physically healthier than non-meditators. But how?

We know the causes of stress— money, work, personal safety, relationships (of family, friends, partners), politics… the list goes on. And while we can’t prevent stressful situations from happening, we can change how we respond to stressors. In mindfulness meditation, we practice slowing the breath, focusing awareness, and being present. Ultimately, we learn to control our attention and perception of our environment.

This conscious knowledge and self-understanding is key to overriding our primordial system— which is wired to react at a neuronal level to stressors in order to protect us from threat. In short, our system experiences a spike in stress hormones, leaving us in a state of frenzy... fight or flight? Chances are in this day and age you don’t need to flee or fight to survive. So instead, meditation can teach us to turn off the ingrained frenetic response and tune into a cognizant controlled response.

Research shows that the structure of a meditator's brain can actually positively change through meditative practices. Want to rewire your mind for the better? Try these meditations (below) to learn mindfulness tools that will help reduce stress and anxiety. Subscribe to the (free) Blocker Yoga YouTube channel for more: