Practicing mindfulness can quiet the noise of anxiety

If you’ve ever found yourself overwhelmed by work, bills, or the latest headlines, taking a moment for mindfulness might offer some relief.

The practice – simply paying attention to the present moment without judgment – is known to help calm the mind and improve concentration.

“A lot of research has shown that mindfulness can reduce anxiety symptoms,” said Resh Gupta, a postdoctoral research associate with the Mindfulness Science and Practice research cluster.

While many people experience the benefits of mindfulness firsthand, scientists continue to explore exactly how it works and which types of mindfulness best suit different anxiety patterns.

Some anxieties come and go. Others linger and interfere with daily life. “We all experience anxiety, but it can manifest in many different ways,” noted Gupta. “It’s a tough problem to pin down.”

Matching mindfulness with anxiety types

At Washington University in St. Louis, researchers proposed a new framework to better understand how mindfulness interacts with anxiety.

Their idea, published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, suggests that no single technique works for everyone. Instead, different mindfulness approaches may work better for different anxiety profiles.

The team includes postdoctoral research associate Resh Gupta, psychology professor Todd Braver, and Wendy Heller, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Their work was supported in part by WashU’s Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures.

Braver described the paper as a reflection of the cluster’s broader goals. “There is a growing recognition that these practices can be incredibly useful in enhancing psychological well-being,” he said.

“But we still do not fully understand the mechanisms of action by which mindfulness can produce beneficial effects. That’s where the scientific research can be so valuable, by helping us more precisely identify why and how certain practices are effective.”

The role of cognitive control

One of the key ideas in the new paper is that mindfulness may ease anxiety by improving what scientists call “cognitive control.” This is the brain’s ability to stay on track — to manage thoughts and actions in ways that support our goals.

“Cognitive control is the ability to regulate your thoughts and your actions in a way that helps you achieve your goals,” Gupta explained. “For example, if you know you have to go to the grocery store right after work, you can keep that goal in mind during the workday and turn down an offer to do something else after work.”

Mindfulness appears to boost this mental skill. Neuroimaging research shows that meditation can activate the parts of the brain involved in cognitive control.

In contrast, anxiety tends to do the opposite. It floods the brain’s working memory – the system we rely on to keep track of tasks and priorities – with worry and distractions.

“Worry occupies a lot of space in the brain’s working memory system,” Gupta said. “This is where your goals are stored.”

That mental clutter weakens cognitive control and makes it harder to cope with stress. But mindfulness can strengthen control again and break the cycle of worry.

Choosing the right practice

Not all mindfulness techniques work the same way. Depending on what kind of anxiety someone is experiencing, one approach might work better than another.

For people who tend to ruminate – replaying worries over and over – focused attention might be the most effective.

“Focused attention teaches you to choose an anchor, such as your breath or a sound,” Gupta said. “You keep bringing your attention back to that anchor every time your mind wanders. Instead of focusing on the worry, you’re focusing on the present moment experience.”

Others experience anxiety as physical symptoms, such as a racing heart or tightness in the chest. For those cases, a broader technique may be more useful.

“For this type of anxiety, a form of mindfulness meditation called open monitoring may be beneficial,” Gupta said. “Instead of focusing on one thing, such as the breath, you can observe all internal and external experiences from moment to moment in a non-reactive, non-judgmental way.”

Bringing mindfulness into the community

The Mindfulness Science & Practice cluster at Washington University isn’t just focused on research. It also offers programs for students, faculty, and the St. Louis community.

The programs include talks, workshops, and events that introduce participants to mindfulness exercises taught by trained practitioners.

“We’re dedicated to helping the WashU and greater St. Louis community get access to tools to learn about mindfulness science and practice,” Gupta said.

Braver believes that making a variety of mindfulness options available empowers individuals to find the practices that suit them best.

“People have different options they can choose from, so it becomes easier to find one that best fits your particular temperament, concerns, or current situation,” said Braver. “It’s quite empowering to learn these types of practices, and to feel like we can be in charge of how we use them to improve our quality of life.”

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