Using meditation to overcome stress

If you’re in good health, there should be no reason why you can’t practise meditation. However, your doctor may advise you against doing some types of meditation if you have certain health conditions, such as epilepsy.

Feeling a bit stressed out or run down? Think you’ve tried everything to relax and unwind? Perhaps the ancient art of meditation can help. Now used as a complementary therapy for improving health and wellbeing, meditation is a practice that has increased in popularity over the last decade.

It’s been made more accessible by the growing number of qualified instructors, gym-based classes, telephone and even online courses that are available.

What is meditation?

The term meditation is used to describe many different meditative disciplines. The aim of most practices is to reduce your stress levels and change your emotional reactions. Practitioners of meditation believe that by achieving a deep state of relaxation and inner awareness, you can improve your health and wellbeing.

Modern meditative practices originated from Eastern religious and spiritual traditions but meditation doesn’t need to be based on any specific traditions or beliefs. Today, many thousands of people from different cultures around the world meditate; so, if you’re thinking about trying it for yourself, you definitely won’t be alone.

How is meditation practised?

When you meditate, you will usually be sitting or resting quietly with your eyes closed. Sometimes you may repeat a sound or phrase (known as a mantra) to help you focus. As there is no such thing as a typical meditation session, you can do it for as long or as little as you want and in a place that suits you.

There are two main types of meditation recommended by medical practitioners: ‘mindfulness meditation’ and ‘concentrative meditation’ (also known as ‘transcendental meditation’).

In mindfulness meditation you’re encouraged to change the way you think, feel and act. The aim is for you to try to replace negative thoughts and actions by building up positive thoughts and ways to deal with situations.

To achieve a state of mindfulness, you learn a series of techniques that may involve focusing on your breathing, or on feelings and sensations in different parts of your body (body scanning). You may also learn how to incorporate mindfulness into everyday tasks, such as in your movements and when eating a meal.

The aim is to learn to fully immerse yourself in the experience, without reacting to or judging what is happening around you. It has been found that people who practice this method regularly become more able to deal with thoughts and emotions in everyday life in a more balanced way.

The concentrative technique is quite different to mindfulness meditation. The only thing you need to do is repeat a mantra over and over in a very soft voice, or silently. This is used to stop you getting distracted, and will help you to focus and find a state of relaxed awareness.

Does meditation work?

There is some evidence to suggest that meditation may have a number of health benefits. For example, if you have been depressed before, a treatment called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy may reduce the chances of you becoming depressed again.

There is also research to suggest that mindfulness meditation can help relieve stress, or help if you have an anxiety disorder or an addictive behaviour.

Scientists who research meditation think it may work by affecting the part of your nervous system that controls the ‘fight-or-flight response’ (an involuntary reaction in which your body responds to stress by increasing your heart and breathing rate and the amount you sweat). However, there isn’t enough evidence yet to say whether there is a definite link to this theory or not.

Can anyone practise meditation?

If you’re in good health, there should be no reason why you can’t practise meditation. However, your doctor may advise you against doing some types of meditation if you have certain health conditions, such as epilepsy. This is because some breathing techniques may increase the chance of an epileptic seizure (fit) in some people.

If you have an existing mental health condition, speak to your doctor for advice before starting meditation because this practise may make your symptoms worse.

Meditation shouldn’t be used as an alternative to prescribed treatments.

Action points

• Find a quiet location. Meditation requires focus, so to prevent distractions go somewhere you can relax and won’t be disturbed.

• Get comfortable. If you need to hold a certain position for an extended period of time, it’s important to be as comfy as possible.

• Focus your attention. Breathing in a controlled way, or repeating a mantra, may help you to get into a meditative state.

• Be open-minded. If you’re trying meditation for the first time and you can’t focus straightaway, remember that it’s a practice so you will need to do just that.