Aaaaaaaaand breathe: How meditation is helping the world keep calm and carry on
Experts explain the surging popularity of ancient
It is as easy as breathing, apparently, but experts have told how meditation is helping the world cope with the stress of lockdown.
The pandemic has promped a huge surge in interest in the holistic Eastern practice most associated with Buddhism and, well, joss stick-burning hippies.
But the calming mindfulness is, it turns out, exactly what we need to keep an even keel during the stress and strain of Covid and is fast becoming as mainstream as yoga, backed by celebrities such as Russell Brand and Fearne Cotton, and now even prescribed by the NHS for stress and anxiety.
Described by meditation practitioner Ken Jamieson as a “mental break from your worries and stresses,” meditation puts the focus on something else so our minds have no space to think about the grind and churn of everyday life.
And in the past 10 months – a time where we have been unable to escape waves of bad news – meditation has been a mental escape for millions of
It works for stress and anxiety by calming the mind
people worldwide. Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, meditation app Headspace’s courses have had a 1,000% spike in users.
In the UK alone, 10 times more people are following Headspace’s Reframing Anxiety At Home course, and it now has 65 million users worldwide. Now the app is on TV with Netflix streaming Headspace Guide To Meditation, fronted by co-founder Andy Puddicombe, bringing a whole new concept to the phrase “Netflix and chill”.
Organisations such as Glasgow Transcendental Meditation have also seen an increase in online users during lockdown, while Glasgow Meditation has launched an app, Mindgem.
So what exactly is meditation, and how can it help us? “Meditation is simply about training the mind to become more aware of the present moment in order to gain perspective,” explained Ken Jamieson. “It’s not about trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings, but being able to recognise them for what they are – just thoughts and feelings.
“It works for stress and anxiety by calming the mind enough to deal better with worry or anything that is overwhelming us, and being present fully in the current moment.”
With origins in Buddhism going back around 2,600 years, meditation has long been thought of as a religious practice, similar to prayer. Although stemming from a religious faction and related to spirituality and enlightenment, its impact on our physicality has now also been proven.
Scientific studies have shown regular and sustained meditation alters the brain’s physical make-up, and medical professionals now take it far more seriously as a treatment. “Meditation can decrease respiratory rate, decreases heart rate, decreases blood pressure, and decreases muscle tension,” said former nurse Angela Landers, director of Glasgow Transcendental Meditation.
“Having taught transcendental meditation for 20 years, I find that people no longer need to be convinced of meditation’s practical benefits. Meditation is now more mainstream. It is being taught in schools and businesses and prescribed by doctors as well as being popularised by lots of celebrities.
“People are now meditation shopping and often want to know the difference between different types of meditations for different problems.”
As well as helping improve mental wellbeing, meditation can also be used to alleviate physical maladies which are worsened by anxiety.
“Meditation has been shown to help with skin conditions like eczema and even cancer, because a lot of our ailments are accentuated by stress,” said Jamieson. “It can also really help with insomnia, which is largely in part due to the worry of not being able to sleep. With mental health issues so high, meditation is one of the most under-utilised and free tools we have to help our brains.
“As social activist and Buddhist Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘If you don’t have time to meditate for five minutes, then meditate for an hour.’
A lot of meditation’s benefits stem from simply taking time out of our hectic and busy lives and spending 10-20 minutes for ourselves to just ‘be,’ to stop doing anything.”
And, as Puddicombe asks at the beginning of his new Netflix series, when you really think about it – when was the last time you took time to just breathe?