Mindfulness, a central concept in yoga and various forms of meditation, has proven to be effective against depression, but difficult to grasp for a significant number of people who try it, according to a University of Calgary researcher.
In a recent study of people at risk for relapse in clinical depression, PhD candidate Alisa Singer found that 40 per cent of them could not apply the concept of mindfulness to their own thinking. Mindfulness is the practice of simply being aware of thoughts and emotions, rather than getting caught up in them or analyzing their meaning.
“Mindfulness helps people step back and recognize that the negative thoughts they are having on a given issue are simply thoughts and may or may not be true,” Singer says. “By acknowledging and accepting such uncomfortable feelings, our research has found that negative moods will dissipate more quickly.”
Singer says that the people in her study who weren’t able to master the concept of being accepting of their own thoughts shared similar traits: they tended to be more anxious; were more worried about their ability to maintain relationships; were less likely to say that their experience with depression made them stronger; and were more likely to think that ruminating about an issue was a better strategy for dealing with it.
People who ruminate analyze their problems over and over without reaching any satisfactory conclusion. Ruminators tend to be more likely to suffer a depressive relapse than people who distract themselves with other activities, or those who practice mindfulness.