27th May 2018
Meditation and mindfulness are such buzz words these days, but the actual practices have been around for a long time. Meditation is an activity, exercise or practice where a person (or a group of people) focuses their thoughts on a particular subject in order to obtain a mental state of clarity.
Mindfulness is a similar practice where a person brings their attention to the present moment and focuses on what they or others are thinking and feeling, what their senses are telling them, what emotions they are experiencing at that time or a combination of these things. I practice both to various levels and in my opinion they are very beneficial to my well being.
However, sometimes I think that the words meditation and mindfulness get over used in terms of “miracle cures” for mental health conditions such as anxiety, stress and even as a treatment for physical ailments and pain relief. Meditation and mindfulness are not miracle cures, but they can help alleviate symptoms or help a person to cope with whatever they are going through. I will be mainly taking about meditation here, mindfulness is different but they do have a lot in common too. Although it is not an exact fit I think you could swap the word meditation for mindfulness in some of the following points, but not all of them.
I practice several forms of meditation and try to have a session once a day (although I would admit I don’t always stick to this!). I practice Buddhism and therefore I think I undertake two forms of meditation. The more clinical version where a person may concentrate on their breathing for ten minutes or so, allowing their thoughts to come and go, and the spiritual form, where you may meditate on a particular subject. In Buddhism there are a series of daily meditations, each day you focus on subjects such as compassion, illness, death and loving kindness. They are designed to help you question who you are as a person and to help train the mind to be a better individual. I like to do both forms.
Meditation helps my anxiety but it never removes it completely. Here is what happens: I can wake up in the morning, full of worry and anxious thoughts. I am not always sure why they are there. Sometimes I might have something on my mind, like an event that I have to go to, so I know that could be the reason. At this point I would say my anxiety level is set at a high of eight out of ten. I can then meditate and reduce this eight to a four. Much better. In fact, during the process my anxious thoughts might disappear altogether which is blissful.
But I cannot meditate all of the time. As soon as I finish my practice then I return to the real world and my anxiety is there again. However, it is less intense and more manageable staying at the level of four. This is how meditation really helps me. It cannot “cure” the anxiety, apart from a brief period during the practice, but it can reduce it. Therefore in many ways meditation, for me, is similar to any treatment used to treat mental illness. Medication may not cure depression but can help to reduce symptoms of depression making the person more able to tackle the problems causing the depression.
Meditation does not work all of the time though. The hardest time to feel the benefits from it are often in the beginning, the initial practice. At first the act of calming the mind, causes a flood of feelings and thoughts that are overwhelming. If you are not used to this it feels like the meditation is making things worse as you naturally cling to the barrage of thoughts that are occurring.
I have spoken to people who have just started and expressed these concerns, to which I have told then to give it some time to work. Meditation is often described as a practice. In order to feel the benefit then you have to keep doing it. Although it is not for everyone and if you think it is still not working for you, after a period of reasonable time then that is ok. I have been practicing for about six years and the first four or five months of sessions felt nothing like the sessions I have now.
Another reason that meditation is not working is when I am hyper focussing on a subject. One of my Autistic traits is an intense focus on a subject or problem. For example, I might have a computer program to write at work and so I cannot really think about anything else. This thought process of problem solving is so intense that it can overtake other activities, including meditation. Sometimes when I am in hyper focus mode when I sit down to meditate I cannot even get started.
Whilst meditating, any thoughts you have are meant to be observed and then let them pass by you, but a hyper focus thought is just too strong. I can try and mediate but it is often really difficult. When this happens though I just accept it. I cannot do anything about it and the time is better spent on the hyper focus subject. A bad meditation session is not a failing; it is just that – a bad meditation session. Tomorrow’s session might be amazing or I can always try again later. If you find yourself struggling don’t worry about it. There is always another time.
One meditation practice I particularly like is more spiritual in nature. It is called “Metta Bhavana” which translates as cultivating loving kindness. To begin with you calm the mind with a normal breathing meditation technique and then you wish yourself happiness, to be free from suffering and to be well. This is done by concentrating on this thought. You then wish a friend/family, that is somebody you know well and get on with, the same happiness, well being and to be free from suffering in the same manner. This is then followed by the same procedure only this time with somebody you do not know, a stranger and have no feelings for either way, followed by somebody who you really dislike, an “enemy” or just somebody you don’t get along with. The final stage is to wish the same things again but for all four people at once, together, and then this is expanded to wishing the same happiness for everyone. It is a beautiful practice which teaches the mind acceptance, patience, equality, kindness and understanding. I also find it relaxing and a way to remove some negative thoughts and emotions.
So there is my overview of mediation and what it means to me. It is not a miracle cure but more of a means of helping to alleviate symptoms of mental illness. It does not always work for everyone, and does not always work all of the time. It requires some effort from the practitioner to feel the benefits, and patience to get the most from it. It can be used in a medical format, such as breathing meditation, or in a more spiritual format. It is not something to get worked up about, but to experiment with and to use it how you want to. Ten minutes a day may be enough for some whereas others may mediate for hours. I did a poll last week on Twitter, asking autistic people if they mediated or not. Forty nine people responded with 61% saying they sometimes meditated, 12% regularly mediating and 12% never meditating. This shows that it is something that autistic people do experiment with it and I hope that they do get want they need from it. If you have never meditated or practiced mindfulness then give it a go – you have nothing to lose!