New study shows meditation is equivalent to medication for anxiety

There was a study recently published showing that meditation--completed through an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program (here's a link to a free online MBSR course!)--is equivalent to first-line medication treatment for anxiety. I wanted to use this positive news as an opportunity to celebrate meditation and briefly talk about what meditation is, what it is not, and some of its many substantial benefits. 

A very common misconception about meditation is the notion that it's about achieving some sort of completely quiet and still mind. While it's true that sometimes during a meditation exercise practitioners experience moments of this, this is not at all what meditation is about and it definitely isn't the goal of meditation either - and unfortunately I can understand how this idea turns many people away from it (which, ironically, are the "perfectionist" types who would benefit the most from its practice!). Even the most experienced of practitioners will tell you that this is simply not possible for us busy, functioning humans.

Meditation is actually about getting to know your mind and the myriads of thoughts it often fills your mind with and, moreover, learning over time with continued practice to relate to your mind in a different way, which is how it can have a significant impact on improving anxiety. Anxiety and stress are actually adaptive to us when in moderation, so we neither want to get rid of it nor can we actually control the anxious thoughts and feelings that pop into our heads and bodies. What we can control, however, is our awareness of and attitude towards those internal experiences when they do show up, and meditation is a tool that allows us to start to do this and relate to our anxiety in such a way that we're not struggling against it. And this relating to our internal experiences in a more compassionate way are why meditation has so many benefits, which span across physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and even relationship health. I have been a devoted meditation practitioner for close to 3 years now and can attest to these benefits across domains though, unlike with medication, it is important to know that the impact of meditation practice progresses slowly over time.

I like to briefly review the 3 main components of meditation with my clients to better understand what the goal of meditation is. Rather than the goal being to achieve some sort of relaxed, blank-mind state, the goal of meditation - as understood by Western psychology though influenced by Buddhism and eastern philosophies - is to be aware of the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. So I break this definition into 3 parts: 1) awareness or attention, which is allocated toward 2) the present moment (especially internal experiences!), but with 3) an attitude that is nonjudgmental. This third component is by far the most difficult for us as humans to train, as we are hard-wired to judge and analyze our experiences for survival; however, this problem-solving mode of mind doesn't always need to be on and can actually keep us from properly regulating our emotions and further contribute to depression and anxiety (which is why we know it is effective in improving both of these!). The analogy I like to draw for the nonjudgmental attitude is to imagine that you're a basic scientist, and you're observing your experience like you've never experienced it before, meaning you're curious and open. It's also similar to the way you might look at an abstract piece of art - again, curious but without really being able to judge what you're seeing. 

I can go on and on about meditation but I'll leave you with one last important note on how to practice meditation. Most suggest starting with your practice with a breathing meditation. This means that you use your breath as your anchor toward the present moment for your practice. Naturally as you sit to focus your attention on the sensations of breathing moment by moment, your mind will wander off to various places - plans for the day ahead, scenarios from yesterday, and even and especially starting to analyze the exercise itself with thoughts like, am I doing this right, or feelings of boredom, impatience, awkwardness, frustration, etc. These internal experiences are opportunities to practice becoming aware but in a nonjudgmental way, meaning instead of judging those thoughts as true or reacting from those emotions you're simply just aware of them as an experience your mind or body is having, acknowledging them, and then returning your attention back to the breath. This can happen thousands of times in a five-minute breathing meditation or it can happen a handful of times. Each time that you notice you've become distracted, congratulate yourself as this is part of the practice! There is no right or wrong as remember the goal is to become aware when your mind has wandered and/or feelings pop up.