Photo by Paolo Nicolello
The simple answer sounds shocking: yes, it can be.
The fuller answer is more nuanced.
We all know that, much as we all need safety and protection, there is nothing that’s completely safe. Even our mindfulness practice can be harmful. It can trigger difficult internal states.
Probably you’ve experienced this. Difficult memories come up. Challenging moods arise. You find yourself in a difficult mind state and it seems like mindfulness practice opened you up and made you vulnerable. Perhaps it seems like practice left you in a foul mood or a dip into depression.
And for most of us, most of the time, that’s just a part of the journey. We take care of ourselves, perhaps through continuing the practice, perhaps in conjunction with other forms of self care. When we need to, we seek support from trusted friends or mental health professionals. And we realize we’ve learned something by going through difficulty although that ‘something’ can’t always be put into words. We feel that growth and healing has happened.
But sadly, for some of us some of the time, mindfulness practice can contribute to unstable mind states. For many years, this “dark side” of mindfulness and meditation wasn’t discussed by its fans or studied by the scientific community. In recent years, however, most mindfulness and meditation groups and teachers have become more aware that it’s not always healthy to stick to a practice like glue if a difficult mind state arises.
Something good to know is: adverse effects associated with meditation are rare. And if they do occur, they rarely persist beyond the ending bell of the practice.
Photo by Joanna Kosinski
Mind the Hype (and the backlash)
I bring up this “dark side” of mindfulness this month because, now that the initial hype around mindfulness of the early 2000’s has died down, we’re seeing more reports about the challenging aspects of the practice.
A recent example is an article by the psychology professor Miguel Farias which several friends and students shared with me: Meditation and Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Don’t Talk About.
Reading this piece carefully, I was reminded that we humans do have a tendency to overemphasize one side or the other of an argument. In this article we find the early “mindfulness will rewire your brain” enthusiasm being met forcefully with “mindfulness is trouble.” The author backs up his point of view with scientific references and quotations from mindfulness founder Jon Kabat-Zinn. Hype meets backlash.
Photo by David Monje
Seeking a Balanced Perspective
Fortunately, difficult experiences are rare and there is plenty of strong scientific evidence that mindfulness is a beneficial practice.
The scientific study Dr. Farias cites found that 10% of practitioners do experience some degree of difficulty. But thankfully only 1.2% experienced ongoing issues in their lives (defined as continuing to feel ill effects for a month or longer). And interestingly, participants were equally appreciative of their practice whether they experienced difficulties or not.
Other researchers have found similar results. One of the groundbreaking studies in this area was done by a team led by Dr. Willoughby Britton at Brown University which led to the creation of a wonderful resource called Cheetah House.
This research shows that we are more vulnerable to difficult outcomes from meditation if one is a survivor of significant trauma, has experienced systemic oppression, or has adverse childhood experiences. Being generally more sensitive to triggers means one is somewhat more at risk of difficult experiences in mindfulness. Given how mindfulness can open us up to repressed feelings and memories, this makes sense.
Finally: most reports of difficult experiences from meditation are in the context of longer retreats led with a very strict quality (in the schedule, expectations, or teachings) and a strong underlying message that one should just “sit with it” regardless of what arises.
Photo by Serene Arches
Safer Practice
At Mindfulness Northwest, we are doing our best to expand our knowledge and awareness of the needs of our community of participants and are always being stretched to learn more. We’ve studied trauma sensitive mindfulness (see the book of the same name by Dr. David Treleaven) and continue to learn more about systemic oppression, gender and racial inequities, living with disabilities, and the many other challenges people in our communities face on a daily basis. Our capacity is growing and we still have much to learn.
We’ve learned to encourage people to be kind to themselves in practice. Most importantly: to know that they are always in choice around how they engage with these practices. While there can be value to difficult experiences, it’s essential to stay aware and be curious, listening for and trusting our own intuition. Sometimes it’s productive to stay with a challenging feeling, other times it’s much better to step away from it.
We know that mindfulness brings with it the potential for tremendous benefit and growth so I hope learning more about the challenges mindfulness can bring doesn’t make you too wary! There are no panaceas and no perfect always-right approaches.
As mindfulness itself teaches us: pay attention to each moment and see for yourself. A great question to ask is, “What do I need right now?” with an emphasis on “right now!”
For me, “keep practicing with it” can be the right choice. I’ve found tremendous benefit in staying with challenging mind states during practice. It can be hard, but I’ve learned a lot about myself this way. But I’ve also had to learn not to be so rigid, and especially not to be so much in my head about what I’m “supposed to” do. To bring curiosity into that question again and again, asking myself how I’m feeling and what I need right now. Sometimes stepping away for a cup of tea, a walk outside, or calling up a friend for support is just the thing.
Yours,
Tim
P.S. For those with a more academic bent I recommend the book Altered Traits by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson – two top researchers who make a balanced presentation about what science can say with confidence about the benefits of meditation, and what it can’t.