Be mindful of the selfish traits linked to meditation

MINDFULNESS has grown in popularity as people search for meaning in life – however doing it alone could make you more selfish, an expert at the Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned.

Dr Alison Gray, chair of the spirituality special interest group at the college, which advises psychiatrists on how to deal with spiritual issues, said more “inward-focused” types of spirituality “can become self-involved”.

“Inasmuch as religion is about binding people together, spirituality can become inward looking and selfish,” she said.

She warned that meditation can lead to problems as people uncover negative aspects of their personality which they might previously have buried.

Meditation and mindfulness can mean people notice “selfish drives and ambitions, bits of themselves that they previously projected onto other people, anger, hatred, all the negative emotions”.

To counter this, the practices should be done in groups.

“I would encourage people to be in with a community,” she said.

Practises such as meditation and mindfulness have been growing in popularity in the UK and other western countries as people who do not have religious beliefs turn to “spirituality”.

Data from the Office for National Statistics published last year found that people with no religion have below-average happiness and life satisfaction levels.