Breathe Again: Overcoming Anxiety Through Mindfulness That Actually Works
“What’s happened is not significant at this moment. What may happen in the future is not significant. The only thing that matters is your breath.”
~Carlos Patterson
Introduction:
Let’s face it—anxiety doesn’t knock politely. It storms in, uninvited, overwhelming your mind, body, and peace.
From spiraling thoughts to shortness of breath, it makes you feel like you’re losing control of your own story.
But the antidote isn’t always in medication—it’s often in a moment. One breath. One shift. One decision to become present.
Mindfulness isn’t just meditation—it’s a lifestyle of awareness and control, rooted in the now.
This article is your step-by-step blueprint to using mindfulness as a daily weapon against anxiety.
When you suffer from anxiety , you can worry about anything and everything.
You are assaulted by thoughts about past events as well as future possible ones.
And the feeling of having to handle/fix everything at once can be overwhelming to say the least.
You feel a lack of control and next thing you know you are spiraling into an anxiety episode.
This is where Mindfulness comes into play. Mindfulness helps bring your attention back to your body and the present moment.
It’s important to realize that these same feelings that contribute to your anxiety, also keep you from being present in your life for yourself and for you family.
They prevent you also from living and enjoying your best life, your here and now. But there’s hope and with the right guidance you can work toward overcoming anxiety by practicing mindfulness.
The steps shown below can be used at any time to help you move beyond moments of anxiety.
With the use of mindfulness, you can gain strength and overcome anxiety in the future.
When anxiety takes hold, it drags you into the past and hurls you toward imagined futures.
But mindfulness brings you back. Back to now. Back to the only place where healing happens.
Mindful Approach
Many doctors throughout the world suggest that mindfulness is a great alternative to the treatment of stress-related disorders.
They have found that it helps an individual to move forward in their lives stronger than ever before, knowing that they have found the remedy for anxiety within themselves and are not dependent upon others to show them the way.
When you are mindful, you can cope with situations that would normally make your anxious. Mindfulness helps you to concentrate all of your energy on this moment in time.
The Simple Yet Powerful Practice: Diaphragmatic Breathing
“Breathing in through the nostrils to a set count… Breathing out longer than you breathe in—this is where calm begins.”
By controlling your breath, you regulate your nervous system.
By focusing your awareness, you interrupt the spiral of panic.
Inhale for 8 seconds
Exhale for 10 seconds
Repeat until your mind slows down and your body feels safe
This is more than relaxation—it’s reclaiming your power.
Practicing Mindfulness, Not Escape
“Empathy means seeing the bigger picture—and not judging others in the process.”
Mindfulness teaches you not just to manage your own energy, but to understand the energies around you.
When you lead with empathy, you break cycles of judgment, shame, and disconnection.
When anxiety hits, it’s quite likely that you will feel overwhelmed by it.
Your heart rate increases, and your tendency to worry and ruminate kicks in.
The quickest way to move out of this situation is to move away from what’s upsetting you and sit down somewhere quietly.
Practicing mindfulness is quite simple: breathing from the diaphragm, take a breath in through the nostrils to the count of eight. When you breathe out, count to ten.
This way, you are mindful of your breathing and can let go of the problems that are surrounding you.
With your attention on your breathing, your thoughts will begin to slow down.
Mindfulness means letting go of anything that is not happening at this moment.
Breathe, concentrate on the breath, and be aware of your senses and body, letting all other things go.
What has happened is not significant at this moment.
What may happen in the future is not significant.
The concentration on the breath is the only thing that matters, as this allows you to let go, gain strength, and resolve.
Being Empathetic
Many people mistake empathy for sympathy, but they are two different things entirely.
Sympathy means that you feel sorry for someone, while empathy is much deeper than that.
You are capable of seeing things from their point of view or stepping into their shoes.
Mindfulness teaches you to do that by realizing that all of our lives are separate and that no two sets of values are identical. It makes you a lot more forgiving and thus able to let go of grudges or be able to stop arguments in their tracks.
Empathy means seeing the bigger picture, and it’s pretty amazing when you can do that without judging others.
Yes, there are those who do not have the same values as yours, but that makes them no less valid. They are simply finding their own solutions to life just as you find yours.
Mindfulness helps you to see the world through your senses, and this includes being able to use intuition.
When you couple that with empathy, it’s a very valuable tool against stress and anxiety .
Using Mindfulness to Overcome Anxiety
Stress is a huge inconvenience to everyone, but most of all, to the person suffering from it.
They become uneasy in the presence of others.
They are anxious about meeting others, or about events that may happen in the future or that have indeed happened in the past.
The point here is that when you exercise mindfulness, you shut out the past, and shut out the worries about tomorrow, thus being able to be more conscious about what’s actually happening in your life. Every aspect of your life can be given mindfulness treatment.
Doing the jobs you hate doing can be performed quicker if you are totally mindful of the actions that you are taking and don’t let yourself be pulled into distractions.
Mindful eating helps you to look after your body better and helps ease your digestive system; an efficient digestive system can also contribute to inner peace.
Instead of simply eating, be conscious of the tastes and textures of your food. Take time to chew it, relax, and enjoy the nourishment.
Mindfulness comes into every action that you take in life, from smelling the roses in the park to being conscious that a helping hand or a friendly smile may improve the lives of others.
Become aware of your senses of taste, touch, aroma, and ambiance and begin to be able to distinguish the sounds of nature as opposed to the noise of life.
Anxiety is lessened when you are more aware, and you are less likely to become adversely surprised by life.
It makes you less anxious and more capable of greeting the next moment with the same enthusiasm as the moment that you are currently in.
Being in the Breath
If you do not practice mindfulness breathing very much, it may be a good time to start because this allows you to be more in control of your sympathetic nervous system.
This means that your body is more capable of letting go of anxiety.
Breathing in through the nostrils to a set count and breathing out to a longer count helps you to normalize the oxygen flow in your body and makes you aware of the way your body reacts to the breaths that you take.
What good is that? When you are concentrating on your breathing, you are not concentrating on the things that stress you, so you can relax.
It is when you relax that you begin to discover all of the positive things about yourself, things that your anxiety may have pushed aside in favor of negativity.
You begin to see your strengths and weaknesses and are able to use moments of silent contemplation to move nearer to being authentically you.
The authentic person is less anxious and feels less of a need to impress.
You are who you are and you can begin to enjoy being that wonderful person.
Mindful Living Beyond Meditation
Mindfulness isn’t something you do on a mat—it’s something you bring to the table, to your work, to your interactions.
Eat with awareness
Speak with intention
Move with clarity
Think without spiraling
“Mindfulness isn’t just a practice—it’s a return to yourself.”
The Long Term Effects of Mindfulness
When you experience mindfulness in your life, it’s something that you take with you to counter the adverse effects of the world around you upon the way you think, act, and feel.
It strengthens you from the inside, so that when bad things happen – and they invariably will during the course of a lifetime – you are stronger and more open to learning from your experiences.
The anxiety of new things sinks into the background, and you begin to feel like you are celebrating life.
You become positive in your energy, and the law of attraction works in such a way that you attract positive people into your life.
Unlike the many pharmaceutical remedies for stress-related illness, you will find that you are able to find answers to problems instead of letting them grow so big that they become stressors.
You are aware of your fears and are able to rationalize instead of panicking.
Mindfulness also makes you a much calmer person, and it follows that calmness does not breed anxiety.
What breeds it is the inability to accept that this moment is the only one that you have at this time in your life.
It’s a moment to maximize, a moment to discover, and to profit from your creative thoughts, your zest for life, and your empathy for others.
The long term benefits of mindfulness are many.
Consider neurosurgeon Sara Lazar, who did not believe in the benefits of mindfulness in the fight against stress.
I think it is relevant that I show you the way to her Ted Talk to persuade you that it’s worth taking this move toward letting go of anxiety in favor of getting to know yourself better through mindfulness.
In fact, the scientific information points to the fact that you will indeed become less anxious and more empathetic.
You see, when you are continually mindful, when you practice it over the long-term, and you refuse to let life’s stresses and irritations bring you down, your brain changes shape.
When you allow mindfulness to become a part of who you are, your stresses diminish.
You are able to choose your friendships wisely but also make allowance for the fact that all people are different, including you.
You have the opportunity to shine as an authentic person, enjoying life because it’s your birthright. You will also enhance the lives of people around you without needing their validation.
Mindfulness helps you to validate yourself without placing judgment on those around you who choose to be different. You are amazing and able to transform your life.
First, you must recognize transformation is necessary for your life. When you have done that, you stand to gain the potential of becoming the best version of yourself that you can be.
When you see yourself turn from the shy chrysalis to the emerging hopeful, inspirational, positive, and encouraging social butterfly, you were always intended to be, life changes.
Mindfulness helps you reduce your anxiety and take back control of your life and will help you set up a foundation of solidity that lasts a lifetime.
Science Says: Mindfulness Rewires Your Brain
Neuroscientist Sara Lazar discovered that consistent mindfulness literally changes the brain—reducing stress, increasing empathy, and strengthening inner peace.
Watch her TED Talk here →
If anxiety has been ruling your life, it’s time to flip the script.
In the Inspiring Warriors Village, we don’t just teach breathwork—we mentor leaders on how to reset their thoughts, recenter their energy, and lead with clarity.
Join Inspiring Warriors Village
Let this be the first breath in a life fully lived.
