Keywords
COVID-19
meditation
breathing
mindfulness
Abstract
The scale of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to adversely affect the mental health of a large number of people. In this Note, the author shares her strategies for dealing with uncertainty and anxiety. Recounting her personal experiences, she reveals how simple breathing exercises and meditation practices helped her accept and respond to a traumatic experience as well as an unexpected illness. A number of studies appear to support the view that breathing exercises and meditation can help people manage anxiety. It is suggested that these studies highlight the relevance and value of these practices in the current distressing conditions.
References
Blum, Harrison, Christopher Rutt, Carol Nash, Victoria Joyce and Ralph Buonopane. 2019. “Mindfulness Meditation and Anxiety in Adolescents on an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 1-19.
Carpena, Marina Xavier, Patrice de Souza Tavares and Carolina Baptista Menezes. 2019. “The Effect of a Six-Week Focused Meditation Training on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Brazilian University Students with 6 and 12 Months of Follow-up.” Journal of Affective Disorders 246:401-407.
Chen, Yu, Xueling Yang, Liyuan Wang and Xiaoyuan Zhang. 2013. “A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Anxiety Symptoms and Systolic Blood Pressure in Chinese Nursing Students.” Nurse Education Today 33:1166-1172.
Chiang, Li-Chi, Wei-Fen Ma, Jing-Long Huang, Li-Feng Tseng and Kai-Chung Hsueh. 2009. “Effect of Relaxation-Breathing Training on Anxiety and Asthma Signs/Symptoms of Children with Moderate-to-Severe Asthma: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” International Journal of Nursing Studies 46:1061-1070.
Decker, James T, Jodi L Constantine Brown, Wendy Ashley and Allen E Lipscomb. 2019. “Mindfulness, Meditation, and Breathing Exercises: Reduced Anxiety for Clients and Self-Care for Social Work Interns.” Social Work with Groups 42(4): 308-322.
Delmonte, M M. 1985. “Meditation and Anxiety Reduction: A Literature Review”. Clinical Psychology Review 5:91-102.
Edwards, Meghan K, Simon Rosenbaum and Paul D. Loprinzi. 2018. “Differential Experimental Effects of a Short Bout of Walking, Meditation, or Combination of Walking and Meditation on State Anxiety Among Young Adults.” American Journal of Health Promotion 32(4):949-958.
Han, J N, K Stegen, C De Valck, J Clement and K P Van de Woestijne. 1996. “Influence of Breathing Therapy on Complaints, Anxiety and Breathing Pattern in Patients with Hyperventilation Syndrome and Anxiety Disorders.” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 41(5):481-493.
“Coping with Coronavirus Anxiety.” 2020. Harvard Medical School. Retrieved on March 30, 2020 (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/coping-with-coronavirus-anxiety-2020031219183).
Hayama, Yuka and Tomoko Inoue. 2012. “The Effects of Deep Breathing on ‘Tension- Anxiety’ and Fatigue in Cancer Patients Undergoing Adjuvant Chemotherapy.” Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 18:94-98.
“We’re Here for You.” 2020. Headspace. Retrieved March 30, 2020 (https://www.headspace.com/covid-19).
Hoge, Elizabeth A, Brittany M. Guidos, Mihriye Mete, Eric Bui, Mark H. Pollack, Naomi M Simon and Mary Ann Dutton. 2017. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 95:7-11.
Hussain, Dilwar and Braj Bhushan. 2010. “Psychology of Meditation and Health: Present Status and Future Directions.” International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy 10(3):439-451.
Joshi, Rupali. 2014. “Stress, Depression and Anxiety and Breathing Exercise Among College Going Late Adolescents.” International Journal of Education & Management Studies 4(1):01-11.
Khng, Kiat Hui. 2017. “A Better State-of-Mind: Deep Breathing Reduces State Anxiety and Enhances Test Performance through Regulating Test Cognitions in Children, Cognition and Emotion.” Cognition and Emotion 31(7):1502-1510.
Kim, Sunyoung, Walton T Roth and Eileen Wollburg. 2015. “Effects of Therapeutic Relationship, Expectancy, and Credibility in Breathing Therapies for Anxiety.” Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 79(2):116-130.
Kim, Yeon Hee, Hwa Jung Kim, Seung Do Ahn, Yun Jeong Seo and So Hee Kim. 2013. “Effects of Meditation on Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, and Quality of Life of Women Undergoing Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer.” Complementary Therapies in Medicine 21:379-387.
La Torre, Mary Anne. 2001. “Meditation and Psychotherapy: An Effective Combination.” Perspectives in Psychiatric Care 37(3):103-106.
Leite, José Roberto, Felipe Leite de Moraes Ornellas, Tascila Mary Amemiya, Anna Alice Figueirêdo de Almeida, Arnaldo Aparecido Dias, Rui Afonso, Stephen Little and Elisa Kozasa. 2010. “Effect of Progressive Self-Focus Meditation on Attention, Anxiety, and Depression Scores.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 110(3):840-848.
Lin, Feng‐Lien, Mei‐Ling Yeh, Yeur‐Hur Lai, Kuan-Chia Lin, Chong‐Jen Yu and Jung‐San Chang. 2019. “Two‐month Breathing‐Based Walking Improves Anxiety, Depression, Dyspnoea and Quality of Life in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Randomised Controlled Study.” Journal of Clinical Nursing 28: 3632–3640.
Lin, Peter, Joanne Chang, Vance Zemon and Elizabeth Midlarsky. 2008. “Silent Illumination: A Study on Chan (Zen) Meditation, Anxiety, and Musical Performance Quality.” Psychology of Music 36(2):139-155.
Manocha, R, D Black, J Sarris and C Stough. 2011. “A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Meditation for Work Stress, Anxiety and Depressed Mood in Full-Time Workers.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 3:1-8.
Menezes, Carolina Baptista and Lisiane Bizarro. 2015. “Effects of a Brief Meditation Training on Negative Affect, Trait Anxiety and Concentrated Attention.” Paidéia 25(62): 393-401.
Mitrofan, Laurentiu, Mihaela Chraif, Florinda Golu and Emil-Razvan Gatej. 2014. “The Unifying Creative-Meditation Technique and Physiological Measurement of Anxiety in Romanian Amateur Drivers.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 127: 823 – 827.
Neeru, D C Khakha, S Satapathy and A B Dey. 2015. “Impact of Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) and Deep Breathing Exercises on Anxiety, Psychological Distress and Quality of Sleep of Hospitalised Adults.” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 10(2):211-223.
Park, Eunok, Hyunjin Oh and Taeim Kim. 2013. “The Effects of Relaxation Breathing on Procedural Pain and Anxiety During Burn Care.” Burns 39:1101-1106.
Paulus, Martin P. 2013. “The Breathing Conundrum – Interoceptive Sensitivity and Anxiety.” Depression and Anxiety 30:315-320.
Stinson, Cynthia, Eileen Deges Curl, Gina Hale, Stacey Knight, Cynthia Pipkins, Iva Hall, Kelli White, Nancy Thompson and Christy Wright. 2020. Nursing Education Perspectives (forthcoming).
Taco ́n, Anna M, Jacalyn McComb, Yvonne Caldera and Patrick Randolph. 2003. “Mindfulness Meditation, Anxiety Reduction, and Heart Disease: A Pilot Study.” Family & Community Health 26(1):25-33.
Teng, Hsiu-Chin, Mei-Ling Yeh and Mei-Hua Wang. 2018. “Walking with Controlled Breathing Improves Exercise Tolerance, Anxiety, and Quality of Life in Heart Failure Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing 17(8): 717–727.
Tiwari, Nupur and David S Baldwin. 2012. “Yogic Breathing Techniques in the Management of Anxiety and Depression: Systematic Review of Evidence of Efficacy and Presumed Mechanism of Action.” Mind & Brain, the Journal of Psychiatry 3(1):14- 22.
Toneatto, Tony and Linda Nguyen. 2007. “Does Mindfulness Meditation Improve Anxiety and Mood Symptoms? A Review of the Controlled Research.” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 52(4):260-266.
Tweeddale, P M, I Rowbottom and G J R McHardy. 1993. “Breathing Retraining: Effect on Anxiety and Depression Scores in Behavioural Breathlessness.” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 38(1): 11-21.
“Wellbeing tips for UN Personnel.” 2020. United Nations. Retrieved March 30, 2020 (https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/wellness).
Valenza, Marie Carmen, Geraldine Valenza-Pena, Irene Torres-Sanchez, Emilio Gonzalez-Jimenez, Alicia Conde-Valero and Gerald Valenza-Demet. 2014. “Effectiveness of Controlled Breathing Techniques on Anxiety and Depression in Hospitalized Patients with COPD: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” Respiratory Care 59(2):209-215.
Wells, Ruth, Tim Outhred, James A J Heathers, Daniel S Quintana and Andrew H Kemp. 2012. “Matter Over Mind: A Randomised-Controlled Trial of Single-Session Biofeedback Training on Performance Anxiety and Heart Rate Variability in Musicians.” PLoS One 7(10): Retrieved March 28, 2020 (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0046597).
License
Manuscript authors are responsible for obtaining copyright permissions for any copyrighted materials included within manuscripts. The authors must provide permission letters, when appropriate, to the Society Register Editors.
In addition, all published papers in Society Register are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern CC BY-NC 4.0 as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.