Kayse Budd, M.D.
September 11, 2019
Anxiety is an extremely common problem, affecting approximately 23.4 percent of females and 14.3 percent of males. In fact, it is the most common mental disorder worldwide. Data from the National Institute of Mental Health suggest that around 31 percent of adults can expect to experience some type of anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Only about one-third of those who experience anxiety seek formal treatment, but anxiety is one of the most common reasons that people use holistic and alternative modalities.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, anxiety is an imbalance in the Vata dosha. Vata is the “air” principle. It is light, dry, and mobile. An imbalance of Vata, mentally, is associated with an overabundance of lightness or movement—erratic thoughts, worries, obsession, confusion, and difficulty focusing. Vata imbalance is also associated with a hyper-excitable nervous system and trouble sleeping. If you’ve ever heard someone say they feel “ungrounded,” that’s a classic description of Vata imbalance. It’s too much energy in the mind, not enough at the feet.
Thus, when Vata is disturbed, you feel ungrounded—disconnected from the earth. To treat anxiety/Vata imbalance, you have to stabilize your energy—calm the nervous system, relax the mind, release obsessive thoughts, connect to your body and to the earth, and ultimately surrender to the flow of the Universe.
Role of Meditation in Healing Anxiety
Meditation is a wonderful, evidence-based tool for healing anxiety. It is an ancient technology for gaining mastery over the mind. Meditation involves diligent practice letting go of thoughts, regulating the breath, and surrendering to the open space of the current moment. Meditation could be considered training for the rest of life. If you become skilled at controlling your mind while seated on the meditation cushion, you can more easily manage your mind during the rest of the day. In meditation, you become humbled by the strength of your thoughts. You learn to be compassionate to the struggle—the struggle to have a moment of stillness and the struggle to have peace in the rest of your life. The gift of struggle is surrender. It is the ultimate antidote to resistance. And, it is also a key in the healing of anxiety.
Surrender allows you to become less attached to what could happen, is happening, or did happen and helps you focus instead on finding your way to your heart in every moment. To heal anxiety at its roots you want to try to find a way to be loving in the face of fear.
