Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on anxiety
The original concept of MSBR consisted of a mix of meditation, yoga, body scan, and lectures about mindfulness that spanned eight weeks. Program participants are encouraged to practice this intervention for 45 minutes each day for six days per week to achieve the maximum benefit.
Initially, MBSR was designed to assist clinical patients, but it is often used with nonclinical populations too (e.g., Khoury, Sharma, Rush, & Fournier, 2015).
Meta-analyses have consistently shown that MSBR techniques lead to positive outcomes by reducing stress and anxiety, as well as physiological measures such as blood pressure (Khoury et al., 2015), although long-term effects are unknown (De Vibe, Bjørndal, Tipton, Hammerstrøm, & Kowalski, 2012).
Loving kindness meditation is a proven beginner meditation designed to increase benevolence to yourself and those around you. It is a 30 minute guided meditation which includes visualisation practices to open your heart and increase your connectivity with others. When practiced regularly it can actually change grey matter in the brain and set the intention for the day to include loving kindness. Check out this ted talk about the happiest monk in the world. Here is also a link to 18 science based facts on why this meditation works
