Orlando Therapist: Mindfulness vs. Meditation and Their Impact on Anxiety

Written by: Lauran Hahn, LMHC

Do you struggle with anxiety and wonder how mindfulness or meditation can help? There's much talk these days about self-care and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. It seems like everyone is into these practices. Friends, coworkers, and social media influencers are all talking about how mindfulness and meditation have improved their mental health and well-being.

You may have many concerns, such as: "Do I need mindfulness, meditation, or both?" How can I know which type of meditation is right for me? How can these routines help me with my anxiety? You are not alone. Many people who are trying to take charge of their physical and mental health feel overwhelmed when introduced to the terms mindfulness and meditation.

We at Mindful Living Counseling understand your confusion and want to clear that up for you. Allow us to take you through untangling these terms, understanding the difference, and learning how to use mindfulness and meditation to improve your mental health and overall well-being.

Mindfulness vs. Meditation: Understanding the Difference

Mindfulness and meditation are closely related but not the same. Mindfulness involves being fully present and engaged in the existing moment without evaluating or judging your thoughts, feelings, and sensations. During mindfulness practice, your mind intentionally and fully focuses on what you are doing, thinking, feeling, and what is happening inside and around you at the present moment.

For instance, when you're drinking tea, you can focus on the taste, warmth, and smell rather than letting your mind wander. This is a form of mindfulness. Similarly, when you're feeling stressed, you can sit quietly and focus on your breath, letting go of the stressful thoughts. This is a form of meditation.

You can apply mindfulness to virtually any activity, whether eating, walking, making coffee, or washing dishes. Mindfulness is about paying attention to one thing at a time with intention. Moreover, you can apply it to your parenting, workplace routine, driving, listening, and even breathing. So, there are many ways to be mindful. You don't have to engage in meditation to be mindful or intentional.

Meditation, on the other hand, is one way to practice mindfulness. It's a specific technique that involves dedicated time to focus on a particular object, thought, or activity—such as your breath.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the practice of paying close attention to your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without judgment or reflection. It involves being fully present in the moment, whether sitting quietly, walking, cooking, driving, or engaging in other daily activities. Unlike traditional meditation, which is often done in a specific setting and for a set amount of time, mindfulness can be practiced informally at any time and place. By focusing on your current experiences with openness and curiosity, mindfulness helps cultivate a deeper awareness of the present moment, fostering a sense of calm and clarity throughout your day.

Meditation

Meditation is a deliberate practice that involves focusing on your inner world to achieve a state of calmness, balance, and concentration. There are various types of meditation, including guided meditation, transcendental meditation, breath meditation, mindfulness meditation (where you observe your thoughts), different types of Buddhist meditation, progressive relaxation, loving-kindness meditation, mantra meditation, movement meditations like yoga, or walking meditation, and so on.

Whether you're practicing seated meditation or a movement meditation like yoga, the goal is the same: to direct your attention inward, whether on your breath, a mantra, or a specific thought. The result is a sense of stillness and mental clarity that can extend beyond the practice itself, promoting a more centered and balanced approach to life. It's a feeling of calm and clarity that can help you navigate life's challenges with a greater sense of control and resilience.

How Do Mindfulness and Meditation Benefit Your Mental Health?

1. Improved Control Over Your Thoughts

Whenever we engage in mindfulness or meditation practice, we intentionally pay attention to something, which slows down the internal noise. This focused attention trains our brains to slow down the runaway thoughts that often contribute to anxiety and stress.

Mindfulness and meditation train our brains to practice focus, so when we notice our thoughts running wild, mindfulness and meditation can help us intentionally slow things down. This allows us to choose what to pay attention to rather than being controlled by our thoughts. Mindfulness and meditation give us control over our thoughts, allowing us to use them as a tool rather than being ruled by them.

2. Reduced Stress and Anxiety

Mindfulness and meditation empower us to take control of our thoughts rather than being ruled by them. For example, individuals who have experienced trauma often have an overactive amygdala, which is the part of the brain that processes fear and emotions and is the starting point of the fight-or-flight stress response. Research has shown that regular mindfulness and meditation practices can actually shrink the size of the amygdala, helping to reduce its overactivity and stress response.

3. Improved Self-Regulation

Practicing mindfulness and meditation can improve our emotional regulation and empower us to take charge of our emotional reactions rather than being overwhelmed. By becoming more in tune with our bodies and emotions, we can recognize when we are becoming agitated and take control of our reactions. For example, you can notice when you're becoming stressed or anxious and take steps to calm yourself before these feelings escalate. This enables you to regulate yourself more effectively and face life's challenges with increased clarity and resilience.

4. Staying Within Our Window of Tolerance

You can use mindfulness and meditation as tools that help you remain in your window of tolerance, which is the optimal state in which you can handle stress and respond to challenges. Your "window of tolerance" is the range of emotional and physiological states in which you can function optimally. You can handle stress, process emotions, and make decisions effectively within this window.

When you're outside of this window, you might feel hyperarousal (panic, anxiety) or hypoarousal (numbness, disconnections). Both of these states are reactions to what you perceive as danger. For example, trauma and chronic stress can narrow this window, making it harder to stay within our optimal functioning range. Mindfulness and meditation help us stay within our "window of tolerance" by improving our self-awareness, emotional regulation, and stress management. With the help of these practices, we learn to better handle challenges without becoming overwhelmed.

If you're eager to start practicing mindfulness and meditation to improve your physical and mental health, we can help. We understand how overwhelming it can feel when you don't fully grasp these practices or their benefits, but it doesn't have to be this way. Guidance and support are available.

Interested in How Therapy Orlando Helps?

At Mindful Living Counseling, we can help you understand the benefits of mindfulness and meditation and the differences between the two, and we can help you choose the practice that resonates with your needs. Contact us today to schedule a session and start your journey towards greater resilience and well-being.

1. Fill out our New Client Consultation Form

2. Schedule a consultation call with one of our anxiety therapists.

3. Begin your healing journey!

Not Ready for Orlando Therapy?

The dedicated team of therapists at Mindful Living Counseling is eager to support you. We understand that you may have questions before reaching out for the first time, but our trained experts will provide you with effective tools. If you're interested in learning more about Orlando Therapy, please review the articles below.

Additional Orlando Therapy Resources

Trauma Therapy: Internal Family Systems

Trauma Therapist: Signs of Childhood Trauma in Adults

Types of Counseling: Trauma Counseling

Orlando Therapist: Understanding Therapy Jargon

EMDR Therapy: Healing the Unspoken

5 Signs You’re Healing from Trauma

Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando

We also acknowledge that you may be encountering other obstacles, and we are prepared to assist with those as well. This is why we provide a broad range of therapy services, including Couples Therapy Orlando, Trauma Therapy Orlando, Anxiety Therapy Orlando, EMDR Therapy, and Teen Therapy, as well as Guided Meditations. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.

About Orlando Therapist: Lauran Hahn

Lauran Hahn works as a therapist in Orlando, specializing in conducting EMDR Intensives to assist clients dealing with anxiety, trauma, and recovering from toxic relationships. In addition to being a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist and a Certified EMDR Therapist, Lauran is also an EMDRIA Approved Consultant. Lauran's objective is to help her clients achieve a sense of calm within their bodies, find peace in their minds, and establish meaningful connections in their relationships.