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Longevity Atlas
Stress

Stress management, meditation

10–20 minutes of daily mindfulness measurably reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms; chronic stress accelerates telomere and immune ageing.

Impact 3/53/5Effort: free, today
First step today

Right now: 5 slow exhales, each longer than the inhale.

How

10 minutes of breath awareness or body scan each morning; 4-7-8 breathing in the moment; one screen-free morning in nature each week.

Evidence

Goyal 2014 meta-analysis (47 RCTs, n=3,515): mindfulness programmes reduce anxiety, depression and pain with moderate effect. Epel 2004: chronic stress equated to ≈10 years of telomere shortening.

Goals

SleepBrain, memoryHealthy yearsEnergy, fatigue

Sources

  1. Goyal M et al. Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being – meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med (2014) ↗
  2. Epel ES et al. Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. PNAS (2004) ↗

Last reviewed: 6 September 2026

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