This study delved into the mitigating effects of calligraphy practice on anxiety and its underlying neural mechanisms. Participants were subjected to Velten self-representation induction to evoke negative emotions, during which their calligraphy practice was combined with EEG data collection and spectral analysis to assess their pre- and post-anxiety states. The findings revealed a notable surge in beta-band (13-30 Hz) power following anxiety induction, with an average increase of 65.74%. Conversely, a marked reduction in beta-band power, averaging a 38.18% decrease, was observed after participants engaged in calligraphy practice.Subjective evaluations using the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) scale corroborated these results, showing a significant escalation in scores post-anxiety induction (from 42.5 to 60.4), and a substantial decline after calligraphy practice (to 32.1), further underscoring the efficacy of calligraphy in anxiety reduction. Notably, higher affective potency scores were associated with regular and clerical scripts, indicating that these calligraphic styles may exert a more pronounced positive impact on emotional regulation. The study’s findings suggest that calligraphy practice can effectively alleviate anxiety by significantly diminishing beta-band power, a mechanism that parallels the focused attention and reduced external distraction observed in meditation. By doing so, calligraphy may harness a similar psychological mechanism to meditation. This research offers a neuroscientific foundation for the therapeutic use of calligraphy in emotional regulation, potentially paving the way for novel emotion-healing strategies in the realm of mental health.