The advice sounds so simple: “Just sit and breathe. It’ll calm you down.”
But when anxiety is peaking, sitting feels like torture. Every fibre of your body wants to move. Your mind screams that there’s danger, that stillness is wrong, that you need to DO something.
You try to meditate. Within seconds, you’re bouncing your leg, checking your phone, giving up. “This doesn’t work for me,” you conclude.
I’ve been there. Anxiety made traditional sitting practice feel impossible. But I learned that meditation can meet you where you are — even when where you are is highly activated.
Why sitting is hard when anxious
Anxiety is your nervous system preparing for action.
Heart rate up. Muscles tensed. Adrenaline flowing. Your body is ready to fight or flee. Every system is oriented toward movement.
Then you ask it to sit completely still and focus on something subtle like breathing.
No wonder it resists.
You’re essentially asking a sprinter mid-race to stop and relax. The physiology works against you.
This has nothing to do with willpower or meditation aptitude. Your body is behaving exactly as an anxious body does. The challenge is working with that reality rather than fighting it.
Movement before stillness
When activation is high, movement helps.
Walking. Slow, deliberate walking. Feel your feet make contact with the ground. Feel the weight shift. The forward motion satisfies some of the body’s need to act.
Stretching. Gentle stretches discharge some of the tension. Cat-cow from yoga. Forward fold. Whatever feels natural.
Shaking. Let your body shake. Arms, legs, whole body. Animals do this to discharge stress after a threat passes. It works for humans too.
After 5-10 minutes of movement, try sitting. Often the body has released enough activation to tolerate stillness.
This counts as part of your practice. Movement that leads to settling is valid meditation preparation.
Start where you are
Traditional meditation instructions assume a relatively calm baseline. When anxious, you need adapted approaches.
Shorter duration. Three minutes instead of twenty. Even one minute. Whatever you can genuinely do right now.
Eyes open. Closing eyes can increase anxiety for some people — you can’t see what’s happening around you. Try a soft, downward gaze instead.
In a corner. Sitting with your back against a wall, in a corner, can feel safer. Nothing behind you, contained space.
Covered. A blanket over your shoulders sometimes helps. The slight pressure can be grounding.
Grounded posture. Feet flat on floor. Hands on thighs. Feel the contact points.
Meet your nervous system where it is. Then gradually invite settling.
Techniques for high activation
Grounding with senses
Anxiety pulls attention into worried thoughts. Sensory grounding pulls attention back to now.
What can you see? Name five things. What can you hear? Name four things. What can you feel physically? Name three things. What can you smell? Name two things. What can you taste? Name one thing.
This 5-4-3-2-1 technique works because it forces present-moment attention. Your senses only perceive now.
Extended exhale
Your nervous system responds to breath pattern. Long exhales activate the parasympathetic (calming) system.
Breathe in for 4 counts. Out for 6-8 counts. Slow and gentle. The exhale longer than the inhale.
Even a few breaths of this pattern can begin shifting nervous system state.
Body contact
Place your hand on your chest. Feel your heart beating. The warmth of your hand. The pressure.
Self-touch activates calming responses. It signals to your body that you’re present and caring for yourself.
Alternatively, press your palms together firmly for a few seconds, then release. Feel the residual sensation.
Cold water
Splash cold water on your face. Hold something cold. Press ice cubes against your wrists.
Cold activates the “dive reflex” — a physiological response that slows heart rate. It’s a nervous system hack for acute anxiety.
Containment
Curl up. Make yourself small. Wrap arms around yourself. The contained position can feel protective.
Or lie on the floor. The solid ground beneath you communicates safety to your body.
Guided helps more
When anxious, following your own mind’s instructions is hard. There’s too much chaos inside.
An external voice to follow can help. Guidance provides structure that your agitated mind lacks.
“Focus on the feeling of your feet.” “Take a breath in… and a slow breath out.” “Notice what you can hear around you.”
The voice becomes an anchor. You’re not generating the practice yourself; you’re following along.
This is where AI meditation can be especially useful. You can tell InTheMoment exactly what’s happening: “I’m very anxious right now and can’t sit still.” The session then generates specific guidance for high-activation states.
Two free sessions per day. Worth trying when anxiety is high and you need something that meets you where you are.
Regular practice when calm
Here’s the counterintuitive part: meditation helps anxiety most when you practise while relatively calm.
Regular practice builds capacity. It trains the nervous system to find calm more easily. It develops skills you can access during high-anxiety moments.
Practising only when anxious is like only going to the gym during competitions. The training needs to happen beforehand.
Aim for daily meditation when you’re in a manageable state. Even five minutes builds the muscle that helps during activated states.
Progress looks like this
Early on: anxiety makes meditation feel impossible. You avoid it or force through it painfully.
With practice: you develop modified approaches that work for you. Movement first, shorter sits, specific techniques. Meditation becomes accessible even when anxious.
Over time: your baseline anxiety decreases. You notice activation earlier. You have more capacity to sit with discomfort without it overwhelming you.
Eventually: meditation becomes a tool you can actually use when anxious, and the practice itself is part of why you’re less anxious overall.
This progression takes months. It’s gradual. The relationship with anxiety shifts before the experience of anxiety changes dramatically.
What doesn’t work
Forcing yourself to sit still when activated. This usually increases distress and creates negative associations with meditation.
Judging yourself for struggling. “I should be able to calm down. Other people can do this.” Shame doesn’t help. Your nervous system is doing what it does.
Treating meditation as the only solution. Meditation is one tool. For severe anxiety, it works best alongside other supports — therapy, lifestyle changes, sometimes medication.
Expecting immediate relief. A single session might help slightly. Significant change to anxiety patterns takes sustained practice over time.
The realistic picture
Meditation helps anxiety. The research is clear. But the help comes from cumulative practice, not emergency interventions.
When you’re highly anxious, meditation may provide modest relief. It creates a small shift, not a transformation.
The real benefit comes from the practice you do when calm — the daily sitting that gradually changes your baseline, builds skills, and develops capacity.
That said, learning to meditate despite anxiety is valuable. It teaches you that you can sit with activation without it destroying you. That tolerance itself is powerful.
Start where you are. Use modified approaches. Practise when you can. The relationship with anxiety shifts over time.
Need meditation that works with high anxiety? Get started with two free sessions per day — tell us where you’re at and we’ll create something that meets you there.