Meditation Shouldn't be Resented
1 year 5 months ago #1647
by Setanaoko
Meditation Shouldn't be Resented was created by Setanaoko
Oftentimes, I hear it said in the community that meditation should be done every day. But if I’m being honest, that standard is irresponsible. It comes from a place of either privilege at best, or romanticism at worst.
Although there are a lot of good studies out there that demonstrate the benefit for meditation, it is lesser known that there are studies which reveal meditation also has a dark side. I’m not talking about the typical Christian push to demonize meditation for opening oneself to otherworldly forces, I’m talking about personal trauma, or anxiety, which can be brought about by meditation.
It’s actually been observed in meditation studies that 8 percent of people who engage in meditation have negative experiences. Most of these are categorized as “deconstructive meditations”. Things like Zen and Mindfulness meditations fall into this category. So it’s important that we are aware of the possibilities which can arise from meditation, and acknowledge that we need different meditation tools in order to accommodate the vast array of things we process at any given time.
There is a time for discovery, a time for observation, a time for contemplation, and a time to let go. Each stage is necessary for processing one’s emotions and working towards our own personal goals. Understanding these basic purposes for meditation as a transformational tool is the first step in framing how each meditation session should be taken after you’ve engaged in it.
Although there are a lot of good studies out there that demonstrate the benefit for meditation, it is lesser known that there are studies which reveal meditation also has a dark side. I’m not talking about the typical Christian push to demonize meditation for opening oneself to otherworldly forces, I’m talking about personal trauma, or anxiety, which can be brought about by meditation.
It’s actually been observed in meditation studies that 8 percent of people who engage in meditation have negative experiences. Most of these are categorized as “deconstructive meditations”. Things like Zen and Mindfulness meditations fall into this category. So it’s important that we are aware of the possibilities which can arise from meditation, and acknowledge that we need different meditation tools in order to accommodate the vast array of things we process at any given time.
There is a time for discovery, a time for observation, a time for contemplation, and a time to let go. Each stage is necessary for processing one’s emotions and working towards our own personal goals. Understanding these basic purposes for meditation as a transformational tool is the first step in framing how each meditation session should be taken after you’ve engaged in it.
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