Meditation retreats are not bliss.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Long been considered the apex of stress relief and mental health, the Daily Mail Australia has reported that contrary to common perception, meditation can trigger depression and anxiety.
According to years of alleged research, Watkins states intensive meditation retreats are the most common place for these effects to occur and labels them as a “psychological boot camp” for those who attend, especially after building up years of suppressed emotions.
“Intensive meditation retreats are not all bliss, a lot of stuff can come up when you are meditating ten hours a day for ten days…it can release blocked or suppressed emotions and memories,” Watkins said.
While people have occasionally suffered adverse effects while partaking in the ancient art of mediation, Watkins — who hosts mediation workshops and online courses — hopes people are not scared away.
“For the bulk of people meditation is absolutely beneficial and it helps us to relax, get calm, increases blood flow to the frontal lobe and can even help cultivate compassion and empathy and a range of interpersonal benefits, Watkins stated. “People shouldn’t be getting scared and nervous, meditation is a great thing but people just need to be aware of this information,” he continued.
Other purported benefits to meditation per the Washington Times include decreased blood pressure, better sleep, decreased depression and anxiety, dealing with chronic pain, and improved immune function.
6 Comments
POS research. Even reading a spiritual book or chanting lowers the heart rate and blood pressure. Meditation is a reaching a depth below chanting. I hope this man didn’t collect grant money to come to this BS conclusion.
The confusion arises because people who meditate tend to be depressed in the first place – or concerned that they may be depressed. They do it to block-out what’s called “negative energy” in the self-help books .And it evidently does work for those who ,like Sammie , was finding it hard to cope before taking up the activity(or lack of activity) . I find a nap in the afternoon does the trick.
irresponsible reporting…no research is sited and then statements like this one, “a lot of stuff can come up when you are meditating ten hours a day for ten days.” Really? Let me tell you, if you do ANY activity for ten hours a day for ten days, “stuff” will come up. This reporter should be embarrassed. How ridiculous.
I wouldn’t say that it trigger depression or anxiety I meditate and It actually helps for me. I have found that with meditation I can cope with daily activites and I feel much more comfortable during the day. I learned how to meditate from this site http://doiop.com/dsdsf
I can only hope that no one believes this garbage. Meditation was designed to help you gain control over your mind, how could it possible worsen depression and anxiety? When I struggled with anxiety, I turned to all natural methods thanks to the panic away book (CODECHEST.NET) and honestly meditation was one of the key methods that helped me naturally beat anxiety.
sorry, dobule post