Meditation Myths and Tips for Practice

Mindfulness-based strategies are drawn from ancient Buddhist practices and have found acceptance as one of the major behavioral medicine techniques of today (Hilton et al, 2016; Khazan, 2013).  Throughout this blog the term mindfulness will refer broadly to a mental state of paying total attention to the present moment, with a non-judgmental awareness of inner and outer experiences (Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004; Kabat-Zinn, 1994). This approach is the common core for many stress management approaches (Peper, Harvey, & Lin, 2019).

Background

Transcendental meditation (TM), a form of concentrative meditation involving repetition of a sacred word or phrase known as a mantra, was a popular meditation technique introduced in the United States from India and participants reported improvement of mental and physical health (Wallace, 1970; Paul-Labrador et al, 2006; Rainforth et al, 2007; Hawkins, 2003). To make TM more acceptable for the western audience, Herbert Benson, MD, adapted and simplified the TM process and then labelled a core element, the ‘relaxation response’ (Benson, Beary, & Carol, 1974; Benson & Clipper, 1992).  Instead of giving people a secret mantra and part of a spiritual tradition, he recommend using the word “one”  as the mantra. Since that time numerous studies have demonstrated that when patients practice the relaxation response, many clinical symptoms were reduced.

In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced a manual for a standardized Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (Kabat-Zinn, 1994; Kabat-Zin, 2003). The eight-week program combined mindfulness as a form of insight meditation with mindful yogic movement exercises designed to focus awareness on body sensations, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Mindfulness based programs have become a predominant approach used in behavioral medicine.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) combine mindfulness meditation training with cognitive therapy and is a useful approach to reduce  a variety of mental and physical conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression, addiction,  disordered eating, chronic pain, sleep disturbances, and high blood pressure (Andersen et al., 2013; Carlson, Speca, Patel, & Goodey, 2003; Fjorback, Arendt, Ørnbøl, Fink, & Walach, 2011; Greeson, & Eisenlohr-Moul, 2014; Hoffman et al., 2012; Marchand, 2012; Baer, 2015; Demarzo et al, 2015; Khoury et al, 2013; Khoury et al, 2015; Teasdale, Segal, & Williams, 1995; Kabat-Zinn, 1994; Kabat-Zin, 2003; Zimmermann, Burrell, , & Jordan, 2018). Although in most cases, MBSR is helpful, in some cases meditation can evoke negative physical and/or psychological outcomes and inhibit prosocial behavior (Kreplin et al, 2018; Lindahl et al, 2017).  Based on this encouraging research, many people are learning to meditate on their own using meditation apps. However, there are many questions that can arise for people new to meditation – such as what is meditation, how do I do it, what are the challenges, and how is it helpful? Some people also develop misconceptions about what meditation is and can become discouraged.

Watch the outstanding presentation by Professor Jennifer Daubenmier presented for the Holistic Health Lecture Series, in which she discusses meditation myths and pragmatic tips for practice.

References

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