By Jayita Bhattacharjee
We sink into stress and anxiety when we become unable to handle the pressures and the adverse situation in our everyday living. So the question comes to, how do we supply the emotional resources given the increasing demand for it? We feel an immediate need to respond to the stressors as they become more challenging. But the question is, as you are stressed out, is a response necessary? So, how is stress management done?
The interaction of demand and supply of emotional resources is the area where mindfulness meditation steps in for stress and anxiety management. It is the feeling that lingers long after the stressors are gone, which can be very relieving. How does meditation provide relief? How does it release the stress? It provides us the space to determine which of the feelings, emotions, energy, and attention are very demanding and, therefore, valid stressors and which are not. It is the ability to differentiate between the two that can make our experience very different. You feel immediate pressure when you suffer from the shortage of space in your mind and life. But you experience immediate relief when a meditative act gives you the space and clarity that you do need to sort out. This can be defined as the demand side aspect of stress management.
The other key element is to look at the supply aspect of emotional resources. As per the scientific findings, brain plasticity, the brain’s ability to change and adjust, its characteristic feature to adapt throughout life brings in extraordinary goodness and relief. By engaging in meditation techniques to direct our minds, we see an increase in our mental resources, which puts us in a better position to handle a stressful situation. We become capable of meeting what is needed.
Just as we have become very conscious of having a healthy body, it would be equally necessary to have a healthy mind. As you engage yourself in a mindfulness meditation act, clarity comes to your clouded mind, and you become potent and capable. That enables you to handle demanding situations very effectively. From this perspective, meditation for stress reduction allows you experience a calmer life.
Stress Reduction….When you experience a stressful situation in your life, meditation prevents your mind from getting out of control, such as the loss of a loved one or a failed relationship. As they create a spiral of high stress, they become demanding and challenging for you. Or even the challenging situation at the workplace can be very demanding, so meditation can provide immediate relief at that critical point. It gives you a better grasp of how to handle the situation, provides you with a heightened awareness of your emotions, and offers you more space to respond. For example, when you grieve for someone, you become aware of what is going on in your mind, and consequently, the process of grieving puts you in a better position to process your sadness and grief. But if you are unaware, then your emotions will tend to color your judgments and perception and exaggerate a situation much more than it is. It stretches your sense of what the situation demands of you, and the entire thing gets inflated or blown out of proportion. So, it is perceived to be beyond our means to handle. And that is when it turns to be the insidious cycle of stress.
This is where meditation comes in to reduce stress. You begin to immerse in meditating, and it creates a space in your mind by reducing the demands as you learn to discern what is essential. This sense of distinguishing makes it seem less compelling than before. In the process, you develop skills you need to work with your emotions. So you grasp the reality of valid stress compared to inflated stress. So, handling the stress can be done peacefully. In this context, mindfulness meditation can be very instrumental in stress handling.
The perception of stress and how can that be altered during meditation.
Through authentic meditation practices, an alteration is possible in our perception of stress. The essential question is, how do we react to stress? To answer this, stress spans a range of reactions to sudden and unwelcome situations, which are unpredicted and go beyond our control. And the normal human reaction ranges anywhere from anxiety to panic. When stress takes over people, it influences the body and minds inevitably. It is the feeling of being pressured of having to handle challenging circumstances, and you become overwhelmed. When the suffering crosses the line, you reach out for help.
Numerous research findings have confirmed that specific meditation techniques can lead to stress reduction and assist us in coping with it efficiently.
The truth is, meditation can alter the way you relate to stress. You experience ‘tolerable’ stress when you perceive that a circumstance gets very demanding and is greater than your emotional availability, your ability to combat. That’s when the situation gets overwhelming, and stress gets its grip on you.
‘Intolerable’ stress can result when your resources to combat the stress are greater than the demands of an unwelcome situation. So you are willing to let yourself stretch a little further. Maybe because you perceive that the stress can be handled without it impacting you profoundly, so whether it is ’tolerable’ or’ intolerable’ stress, it all depends on the perception.
There are certain types of stress which actually motivate us, drive us to make us grow, and go beyond our comfort zone. We are comfortable in stretching ourselves beyond the limiting boundaries as we perceive it as ‘needed’ stress which is essential if we want to go for a personal transformation.
From this perspective, the stress mechanism has two aspects. How do you appraise it? How do you handle it? In other words, it is….How do you respond?
How do you react? If the gap between our thinking and our needing to do something in the context of that stress isn’t too large, then we can handle that stress. But if it is otherwise, then you fail to handle that stress. That’s where meditation can assist you.
When you practice meditation, it alters the perception of things, as you are no longer so actively engaged with them. You do not necessarily obsess with things or situations anymore—your identity changes. You undergo a transformation in your identity. It causes a distance between you and your problems. Consequently, you are less caught up in a stressful situation. You are not that much trapped in its emotions anymore. The problems that seemed like a mountain are then perceived as a lot more manageable.
The process of meditation teaches you to learn how to observe the entire picture from a safe distance. You are no longer in the vicinity of it, emotionally. It allows you to evaluate a stressful situation with considerable detachment.
You realize that you can walk even further. You can break free of the habit of viewing these situations as blocking obstacles and begin to perceive them as challenges. You no longer try to see it as a disturbing element and just simply be comfortable all the time. As if you do, it will not take you to the growth area. But if your vision is to grow as a human being, then you might perceive it differently.
Whatever stands in your way ultimately becomes the way.
An obstacle might be recognized as a learning opportunity, where you may learn to outgrow your discomfort and fear, so you can know yourself better and be transformed. So, what changed? It’s the shifting of our perspective. Shifting the perception of a problem into a challenge makes the needed difference in how we assess a situation.
Now, how do you evaluate your resources? Most often times, we are ignorant of how far you can go, what your limitations are, and the maximum extent to which you can stretch yourself. The truth is, when you engage in meditative practices, it brings you closer to reality as you are more in contact with yourself; you are in touch with your soul, your highest Self. Distractions do not easily pull you away. You have clarity in your vision. You are gaining practical wisdom as to what would be your real strength. Your assessment of your resources becomes realistic.
When meditation becomes a part of your life, the capacity to concentrate gets strengthened. As a result, you can cope by solving that problem. The problem-solving abilities become much more accurate as your attention is grounded there. There is no deviation. Your mind is not pulled any other way.
Consequently, you become more competent in trying to tackle that situation and come out triumphant. In addition, your capacity to regulate your emotions improves as well. As that directly results from meditation which makes you emotionally stronger. Numerous neuroscientific findings have proved it. Meditators handle a stressful situation better as they become less reactive to emotional stimuli. Instead of being reactive, they become responsive to it. They no longer cling to it emotionally. So, the way they cope with their emotions makes them much more practical and proficient. Their stress level drops, and they become less agitated. Being calm and cool, they can handle the crisis efficiently.
Mindfulness meditation can be very healing. This awareness is the essential key to being in the here and now. It is to be aware of every thought, action, feeling, emotion and moment-to-moment interaction, sounds, smell, and so on. An important aspect of mindfulness is to be absolutely non-judgmental. It comes when you allow yourself to accept just the way it is. To just sit with your emotions, thoughts, and feelings, no matter how they come, pleasantly or unpleasantly, whether they are welcome or unwelcome. Mindfulness has tremendous potential because it helps us self-regulate, and our resilience gets built up. Mindfulness can impact the ruminations that lead to anxiety and depression. e.g., when negative thoughts repetitively surface in our minds, we become depressive, and mindfulness cuts down all that by asking you to be attentive to the present moment. Mindfulness silences those voices and helps us focus on what is going on in the here and now. Additionally, it strengthens your memory. It downregulates adrenaline, adrenaline, and cortisol.
Additionally, it lowers inflammation and strengthens the immune system. From this perspective, mindfulness can be a non-pharmacologic, therapeutic intervention. That’s where the power of mindfulness is.
This way, we cease to be reactive and return to the present moment. Grieving ceases, and healing begins in the act of meditation.
