A systematic review and meta-analysis: Many people meditate to reduce psychological stress and stress-related health problems. To counsel people appropriately, clinicians need to know what the evidence says about the health benefits of meditation.
According to Harvard researchers, individual cognitive behavioral therapy is helpful for many people; antidepressant medications help many people. But it’s also the case that many people don’t benefit from them as well. There’s a great need for alternative approaches.
Students who practiced mindfulness reported a statistically significant reduction in depression and increased self-efficacy, hope and resilience.
Childhood trauma can leave a lasting scar on a person's life if they never lear to cope with these traumas. This combined with the stressors of living in the 21st century digital age have been linked to our growing unhappiness. 46% of all children in the U.S. have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE). According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 3 adolescents will meet criteria for an anxiety disorder by the age of 18.
WHY I CHOSE THIS ARTICLE
The reason I chose to include this was to share my personal experience with mindfulness and the effectiveness I feel mediation had in my life. It was with mindfulness that stronger capacity for self-care and self-compassion grew and my ability to nurture, comfort, and heal myself, students, and others became possible. My experience of Graduate School was one of immense turmoil, loss, grief and gritting teeth. I am astonished I was able to make it out alive because I felt like I lost myself. I wanted to quit, each semester that passed was worse than the last, until finally I had sunk so low I had no choice but to swim. I relied so heavily on the things I had still lingering in my mind heard from the Headspace mediation app. I remembered how I used to feel and what it was that I was doing for self-care. I remembered that the horns in Ska music bring a smile to my face. I remembered the feeling of a slow, long deep breath that brings relief to my tense muscles. I wanted to regain the tranquility I remembered from the quiet stillness of being present.