It's already a known fact that meditation is beneficial, but not only to one's health. Not only does it train the mind to stay calm and fight stress, it is also said to relieve depression and anxiety, which are two of the most common mental health issues today.
As per NPR, due to its effectivity, mindful meditation classes are being offered in numerous schools and hospitals.
Dr Madhav Goyal of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine stated that 'mindful meditation' does have a positive effect on anxiety and depression.
"We have moderate confidence that mindfulness practices have a beneficial effect, It was surprising to see that with so little training [about 2.5 hours of meditation practice per week] we were still seeing consistent effects,"
Mindful meditation may be effective but there are some health professionals that doubt its capability to reduce depression and anxiety. This being said, a research was done focusing on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, which can be taught in eight sessions.
As per the founder of MBSR, Jon Kabat Zinn, 'Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction' is similar to Buddhist meditation without the 'Buddhism' aspect. The meditational practice is focused on training the brain to stay put. In order to have the practice done, practitioners are being trained to let go of their past regrets and as well as their fears and anxiety. Though it may take a while for the brain to fully absorb the concept, it is however proven to be effective.
A recent study was released which focused on the effectiveness of mindful meditation for managing numerous medical conditions which ranged from breast cancer, fibromyalgia, and depression.
For breast cancer however, meditation was not used to cure the illness, but it designed to provide supportive care for the person suffering from it. Subjects were able to lessen their stress and anxiety brought by cancer in which they were able to have a lighter and happier disposition.
