Why Do I Feel More Anxious After Meditating?
It seems a bit paradoxical to practice meditation only to have your anxiety increase. We think of meditation as a calming activity, and a great way to work with anxiety. However, for many people this is a common experience.
It can happen for many reasons. Here I’ll talk about two mechanisms that may be at play: the default mode network (DMN) and relaxation-induced anxiety (RIA). The DMN may be more responsible for anxiety during meditation, while RIA plays a role both during and after meditation.
The Relationship Between Meditation and Anxiety
Before jumping into anxiety during or after meditation, I want to cover what the research says so we can get a firm understanding. First, research suggests that meditation and mindfulness generally decreases anxiety. A 2018 meta-analysis of multiple studies found reductions in anxiety in both the short-term and long-term.
In general, meditation and mindfulness based practices seem to reduce anxiety. However, this may not be true for everyone. A 2023 study found that nearly 1/3 of participants experienced meditation-related adverse effects, with the most common being anxiety. Other studies have found similar numbers.
In the studies looking at adverse effects, certain factors were found to be correlated. These included a history of childhood adversity, higher levels of neuroticism, a history of anxiety or depressive disorders, and trauma. However, not everyone who had an adverse effect had one of these conditions or histories.
My experience working with individuals one-on-one is that although meditation generally reduces anxiety in the long-run, single sessions of meditation may be anxiety-provoking. This can be quite uncomfortable or activating, especially for beginners to meditation.
Default Mode Network
I reference the default mode network (DMN) quite a bit on my website because I think it is important to understand. The DMN is a system of the brain that is key in mind-wandering. It ruminates about the past, plans for the future, and contemplates your own mental state.
This narrative form of thinking comes from various brain regions, and activates when we don’t have an attention-demanding task. You may notice it clicking on when you meditate, lay down to sleep at night, or are bored waiting in traffic. Meditation just happens to be a place where we can truly see it happening.
Because the brain defaults to this system when we have no tasks at hand, thoughts can come quickly when we sit to meditate. It’s not personal; it is just the brain doing it’s job. If you’re wondering if it is normal to think during meditation, the answer is clearly yes.
For many people, the activation of the DMN feels like anxiety. The mind is active, we’re trying to relax, and anxiety arises. Again, I think it is useful to note that this is normal, and does not mean anything is wrong with you. We’ll talk in a bit about what we can do to work with this information!
Relaxation-Induced Anxiety
As far as feeling more anxious after meditating, you may be experiencing something known as relaxation-induced anxiety (RIA). As the name suggests, this is a condition in which relaxation actually causes anxiety. Some research has found that around 15% of people with chronic anxiety experience RIA.
Causes of Relaxation-Induced Anxiety
The causes of relaxation-induced anxiety are varied, and it may arise as the result of multiple different factors. It’s generally a non-conscious reaction, and one that we can’t exactly choose to do or not to do directly.
Fear of Losing Control
It is generally understood that the fear of losing control is at the root of many cases of RIA. This may be because of a past trauma, hypervigilance, or generalized anxiety disorder. People with high anxiety often rely on control, and letting go like we do in meditation can be quite triggering.
Negative Contrast Effect
This relates to losing control, but is a specific way in which fear arises in us. The idea is that if we allow ourselves to fully relax and/or be happy, a negative or unpleasant experience will hit harder. By maintaining a baseline level of anxiety, the person feels more nonconsciously prepared for this drop in mood.
Intrusive Thoughts
You can call it intrusive thoughts or overthinking, but slowing down can give these thoughts lots of room to bounce around. This is related to the DMN. Unpleasant thoughts like worries, unpleasant emotions, and unsettling thoughts may come to the surface during meditation.
Productivity Guilt
I wasn’t sure what to call this, but there is a deep-seated cultural belief that productivity equals worth. When we sit in meditation, we may feel unproductive and therefore unworthy. Meditation is in fact a form of self-care, and quite productive. Still, the sentiment persists.
The Role of Awareness
Although it may not be the chief cause of anxiety after meditating, I think it is crucial to mention the heightened awareness that comes from meditation. Because we have been sitting with our experience both in the mind and body for however long in meditation practice, we may have an increased sensitivity both during and after sitting.
As we sit in stillness feeling each experience as it arises and passes, we are quite literally training the mind to be present with experiences. As such, the minutes after meditation may leave us still sensitive to any sensations or thoughts we identify as anxiety. We may be more anxious because of the DMN or RIA, or we may not be.
Either way, we feel the experience of anxiety a bit more heavily. We have more awareness of the anxious thoughts, and feel the anxiety more strongly in the body perhaps. I find with my students that this heightened awareness can lead to an increase in perceived anxiety.
How to Decrease Anxiety in Meditation
Understanding both the default mode network and relaxation-induced anxiety, what do we actually do to work anxious feelings after meditating? I have a few tips here. Some are relevant to feeling anxious during meditation and some are related to the after-meditation anxiety.
Loving-Kindness and Compassion
Any unpleasant emotional experience can call for a bit of loving-kindness and/or compassion practice. I think it’s important to understand the difference between the two.
Loving-kindness is an attitude of kindness and goodwill. I find that toward myself, it manifests as a sense of gentleness, patience, and general care. There are many benefits of loving-kindness practice, including an increase in positive emotions, increased empathy, increased social connection, and decreased self-criticism.
Compassion can be understood as what loving-kindness becomes when it comes into contact with pain or suffering. We tend to the pain with care, presence, and patience. Rather than pushing away the suffering, we tune into it with kindness.
Both of these practices can be done regularly to encourage kind and gentle responses to the anxiety when it arises. Furthermore, we can turn toward these practices if we are noticing anxiety arising during our practice. Don’t be afraid to switch to some phrases of self-compassion!
Below is a short, ten minute guided meditation on self-compassion I encourage you to check out! It’s from my free 30 day meditation challenge.
Collecting the Attention
Practicing concentration meditation may be quite difficult during bouts of anxious feelings. But it also can be one of the most potent ways to work with anxiety in and after meditation. As we learn to collect our attention and choose where we place it, the experience of anxiety weakens.
We of course may still feel the sensations and thoughts related to anxiety, but a collected mind can help us to be with one thing at a time. As we cultivate this ability we can intentionally place our awareness onto the thoughts, sensations in the body, or any other experience to investigate fully.
There are many ways to work on collecting the attention. The above self-compassion practice is one way, as we are actively focusing on the phrases. The other traditional way is through a breath concentration meditation such as breath counting.
I’ve included a meditation below from my playlist of ten minute guided medtiations. It starts with a few minutes of counting the breath, and then we let go of the counting to just focus on the breath. Remember it’s a training. If your mind doesn’t focus perfectly, don’t beat yourself up!
Working with the Body
Anxiety, whether it is during meditation or after meditation, is often a combination of a pattern of thinking and some sensations in the body. Sometimes, we can hop out of our minds and into the body to have a more somatic experience. This can help us leave the thoughts be and give the mind something else to focus on.
One of the best ways to do this is with a body scan meditation. There are many ways to do a body scan, with some being more awareness-focused while others are relaxation-based. Either way, a body scan can help you drop out of the thinking mind and into the body when you’re feeling anxious or restless.
Here’s a relatively short meditation, also from my playlist of ten minute meditations. It’s an awareness-based body scan, simply moving through the body and paying attention to the sensations present.
Moving Meditation
Both in my personal experience and in my years working with individuals, I’ve found moving meditation to be a great way to work with anxiety. We often think of meditation as sitting still, but practices like yoga, qigong, and walking meditation are central to many meditation traditions.
Moving meditation is a lovely way to practice that lets us work with some of the energy we have going on. Rather than trying to sit still, we can allow space for the energy that anxiety brings. It’s a solid way to practice in a different position, and can truly help with feelings of anxiety after meditation.
I’ve included a walking mindfulness practice from my challenge below, as well as a qigong practice from Thich Man Tue, a senior monk in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh. We do one of these qigong routines nearly every morning; I highly recommend incorporating it into your routine or doing it after meditating if anxiety is present!
Outside Factors
If we are experiencing anxiety at any point, regardless of meditation practice, I think it is useful to consider contributing factors. There are too many potential factors to list here, but I’ll name a few common ones I’ve seen in my years teaching students who come to me with anxiety.
It’s important to note that there are also factors that may not be within our control such as genetics, adverse childhood experiences or trauma, or medical diagnoses. I’m only listing a few factors here that we can investigate fairly easily in meditation.
Food and Drink
This deserves a post on its own, but what we consume can dramatically impact anxiety levels. Drinks like alcohol or caffeine can affect anxiety, as can food like processed foods, sugars, and generally poor eating habits. It’s always worth investigating the relationship between anxious feelings and what we are consuming.
Rest and Sleep
It is well documented that sleep issues can cause anxiety. And anxiety can of course cause insomnia. It’s a brutal cycle for many people. Be mindful of your sleep hygiene and bedtime routine. Try to get as much quality sleep as possible, and note if your sleep is correlated at all with anxiety levels.
Stimulation
Any type of stimulation can cause anxiety, especially when we juxtapose it with the solitude of meditation. I generally recommend not looking at screens, especially phones, for some time before meditating. As we become accustomed to this constant stimulation, the mind can look for such stimulation in meditation and turn toward anxiety.
Discomfort
Any discomfort can lay the groundwork for anxiety to arise. It may be a chronic pain or injury, or simple discomfort during meditation. If this is the case for you, I recommend investigating for yourself how you can sit in a way that is conducive to your wellbeing. Maybe it’s lying down, walking, or standing instead of sitting!
Exercise and Movement
Generally, more exercise and movement is correlated with lower anxiety levels. You don’t need to take up crossfit or running. If you’re relatively sedentary, try to fit in a short walk every day. It can do wonders for anxiety levels. Research has found time and time again that walking significantly improves symptoms of both anxiety and depression.
Other Factors
There are also countless other factors that may be worth investigating such as major life transitions, political climate, weather, social situation/loneliness, etc. Meditation is not a cure-all. In fact, some mindfulness can help us tune into other aspects of our lives to help us care for ourselves more holistically in my experience.
Support and Guidance
Nothing really substitutes for support and guidance with meditation. I spent many years without a teacher of my own, only to find that having a teacher that really knew me and my practice was perhaps the most beneficial thing for my progress.
You can start by listening to some podcasts or guidance to find teachers that you gel with. I have a list of my favorite mindfulness and meditation podcasts here. These offer solid ways to get some structure and guidance to your practice without spending any money or making any commitment!
If anxiety is getting in the way of your life and you feel you need professional support, please reach out to a licensed therapist. There’s no substitue for a trained and licensed clinical professional!
If you want to work one-on-one or see if we’re a good fit, you can schedule a free consultation with me here. A very large portion of my students come to me with some form of anxious feelings or stress, and I appreciate the work we do together to figure it out and work with it.