Meditation is often recommended to us when we are stressed and worried. Mindfulness is not a panacea. Siri Frericks is a psychologist and mindfulness expert and explains in an interview with the starWhat Meditation Really Brings.
Mindfulness, especially meditation, is now often used as THE remedy for stress and problems. That almost sounds like a panacea. But can meditation really deliver on that promise?
Siri Freericks: The idea of a panacea is as beautiful as it is improbable. Anything that is touted as a panacea should therefore evoke healthy skepticism. Especially in the case of (severe) diseases that require treatment, it is advisable to first contact the therapists and get their opinion if you are interested in setting up a mindfulness or meditation routine. In the meantime, more and more doctors and psychologists have appropriate training in the field of mindfulness and can accompany the process and provide help if necessary – this is often valuable, especially for beginners.
But where does the widespread thesis that mindfulness brings only good for everyone come from?
The assumption that mindfulness can be a panacea suggests that many people have or have had positive experiences with it. Here I can only guess: a common denominator for many of these people could be stress. Long-term stress in particular can contribute to or trigger various physical and mental illnesses. Mindfulness, in turn, can help to learn how to deal with stress in a healthier way and to strengthen psychological resilience. However, I don’t find the designation as a panacea any less problematic.
Siri Frericks is Psychologist at the meditation app “7Mind”. She has previously gained experience in everyday clinical practice. She uses her knowledge of clinical psychology and psychotherapy to develop online prevention courses for “7Mind”.
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How meditation can help with stress
Mindfulness does not help everyone and not against everything. Nevertheless, meditation and a mindful lifestyle are an integral part of your everyday life – privately and professionally. Why?
There are numerous habits that for many people are a matter of course in everyday life in order to stay healthy and feel good: washing your hands, brushing your teeth or jogging and exercise are just a few examples. These routines might seem odd to our ancestors, but time has shown that all of these can be helpful in promoting health and well-being. We wash hands to curb infectious diseases, brush teeth to keep them as long and undamaged as possible and do sports to strengthen the body over the long term.
Meditation, especially mindfulness meditation, has a similar role for me: it is an everyday practice that helps me to pay attention to inner processes. This includes feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. So I’m into meditation and mindfulness because they’re part of my mental hygiene. So they are of great importance to me. Especially – but not only – when life gives me a few more challenges.
That sounds a bit like purposeful meditation. Shouldn’t mindfulness actually be about an aimless and intrinsic action or way of life?
Right. In mindfulness meditation in particular, it is more advisable to build up, maintain and enjoy a practice than to “meditate” on certain goals. However, people often come to meditation and mindfulness in challenging phases of life. This also makes sense in view of the study situation. Because what is now scientifically quite clear: mindfulness practice can help to reduce stress in the long term. And many people feel stressed today – not only because of private issues and workloads, but also because of social crises.
But there is a whole range of relaxation methods and remedies for stress…
In contrast to other relaxation methods, one of the strengths of mindfulness meditation seems to be that distracting and brooding thoughts and behaviors decrease. Less stress, along with fewer distractions and ruminations, can have a positive impact on overall well-being and health. There is also growing evidence that meditation contributes to positive changes in the brain. What exactly is behind it and how it affects our everyday experience has not yet been finally clarified. There are still some exciting discoveries waiting for the researchers and for us.
When is it meditation?
In fact, there are already some studies that show the effectiveness of meditation and mindfulness. Well, well-being is a very subjective matter. How do you measure the success of meditation?
A common procedure is that study participants answer various psychological questionnaires at the beginning and are divided into different groups. For example, while one group is meditating, another is practicing an established relaxation technique such as autogenic training, another group is watching a film, and one group is doing nothing. At the end of the group phase, everyone fills out the questionnaires again – possibly answering them again a few months later in order to determine long-term changes.
The researchers can then compare the results of the individual groups, calculate connections or effects and then interpret and discuss the results. In addition, there are also physiological measurement methods. For example, brain waves, blood pressure or other processes of the body in connection with meditation are measured.
Meditation is also closely associated with our breathing. When exactly do I start meditating instead of just breathing?
Even in the everyday use of the term, it becomes clear that meditation can look very different. Some casually describe household chores, such as tidying up, washing dishes, or ironing, as meditative. There are also countless concrete meditation techniques that people have come up with over the years. Meditation is a rather unspecific collective term for various mental exercises, which also include a focus on breathing.
And mindfulness?
The distinction between formal and informal practice is popular here. Mindfulness is defined as a specific way of focusing attention: intentionally, in the present moment, and accepting as much as possible, rather than automatically judging. We can formally train this natural ability to be mindful by planning time and space for it and pursuing a mindfulness exercise as focused as possible. Or we train informally – that means: I adopt this mindful attitude in everyday situations while I’m hanging out the laundry, looking out of the window or standing at the checkout in the supermarket. Personally, I like to combine formal and informal exercises – depending on how it suits me and my everyday life best.
What mindfulness has to do with esotericism
Perceiving and accepting the present moment, connecting with your inner being – these are phrases about mindfulness that ensure that some people lump meditation with esotericism.
Certainly there are people who are interested in both esotericism and meditation and thus combine both. However, the connection is by no means in the matter itself. There are meditation techniques that have a religious, spiritual or esoteric content and there are techniques that completely do without such content. In particular, mindfulness meditations are very focused on what is observable in the here and now – i.e. on body, mind and everything that can be perceived in the environment with one’s own senses. There is no religious or esoteric teaching provided, just observation of what is now. I don’t find anything esoteric about being aware of my body, paying attention to a few breaths, focusing on my hearing, or observing my thoughts.
It may not be esoteric, but it sometimes sounds difficult to concentrate on thoughts and feelings, for example when I suffer from inner turmoil. How do you learn meditation?
If you want to get in touch with it for the first time, you can first think about the general conditions: Do I want to meditate in a group or do I prefer to meditate alone? Would I like to delve deeper into the matter as part of a prevention course or retreat or try it out a little first? Which technology am I interested in? Many interested people can find a good, low-threshold entry point with high-quality meditation and mindfulness apps. Here users have the opportunity to try out different techniques, exercise lengths and teachers and find out what suits them.
If you want to create a habit of your own, you can make it easier by linking the new habit to an existing one. For example, I can always meditate before brushing my teeth or every day at the end of my lunch break. Such a combination of habits, combined with the right commitment, can help to establish and maintain a routine.