How Meditation and Mindfulness Support Mental Health

By WITHIN Meditation Cofounder Hannah Knapp

Everyone has to manage their relationship with their brain and emotions every day. While the type of mental health challenges we each face and their severity varies from person to person, we all struggle with something. So how can meditation and mindfulness help you support your mental health?

At its heart, meditation (particularly mindfulness meditation) is about paying attention to the present moment, without judgment. Practicing meditation is simply practicing bringing your attention back to what’s happening right now, and at the same time letting go of any judgments you may have about what’s happening.

When you tune into the present moment in this way, you give your mind a chance to get quiet - and your body, too.

One of the most powerful aspects of meditation is how it activates the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest and digest”), giving your body permission to relax.

Since so many mental health challenges are related to stress and anxiety - two ways our minds spin themselves up - practicing meditation can be a very helpful way to counter them.

While meditation is what you do when you’re sitting still and paying attention to the present moment, mindfulness is meditation in action - being deeply aware while you’re doing whatever you’re doing. Mindfulness can be particularly helpful with managing emotions. For example, when you can feel yourself becoming angry before you explode, you have the chance to intervene and decrease your reactivity.

Mindfulness is also a gateway to other practices that help support a sense of purpose and meaning in life, such as gratitude. Meditation and mindfulness go hand in hand in supporting your mental health.

At WITHIN Meditation, we’ve been offering live meditation guidance since 2017 - in public classes, in private 1-on-1 sessions, and in companies. When we first started, it was a little edgy to claim that meditation and mindfulness could help reduce anxiety, increase your focus, or build your resiliency. But with twenty plus years of scientific research behind them, those ideas are much more accepted now that they used to be.

Meditation is not a panacea - it won’t cure all your mental health challenges. But if you practice it on a regular basis, with support and inspiration from a teacher and a community, you’re much more likely to reap its benefits.

The good news is that you can find that support and inspiration in many different forms, and you don’t have to believe anything in order to do it. While meditation is a part of many ancient religions, you can practice it without joining a religious community.

You also don’t have to do it alone. Meditation apps can be great for when you need a quick breather, but without the live connection with a group and a teacher, you’ll only get so far.

One of the things we love about meditating in community is that everyone in the room (whether it’s live online or in person) develops compassion for one another, and for themselves. When you hear what other people are struggling with, and share your own struggles - even briefly - it reminds you that you’re not alone. And that’s so key for getting unstuck, whatever challenge you may be facing.

When we take the time to ask and learn about the full spectrum of mental health for ourselves and others, we connect on a deeply human level with one another and within ourselves. That sense of acceptance and connection opens the door to getting the kind of support and practice we need to improve our mental health.

World Mental Health Day (October 10th) was established to help us do just that: to bring awareness to mental health issues, and to destigmatize them. This year, WITHIN Meditation is proud to offer three ways you can observe World Mental Health Day by supporting your own mental health:

1) Join our 28-Day Online Meditation Challenge - for free. If you’re curious about how practicing meditation and mindfulness can make a difference in how you feel every day, this challenge is for you. Not only will you get daily inspiration in your inbox, you’ll also have access to all of our live online meditation classes. Join as many classes as you like every week of the 4-week challenge, and watch your meditation practice become a cornerstone of your wellbeing. Learn more and register here (enter promo code WORLDMENTALHEALTH to join the challenge for free anytime in October!)

2) Come to your first live online class with us for free. You’ll experience first hand how meditating live with a group and a teacher can inspire you to make it a regular part of supporting your mental health. On October 10th (World Mental Health Day), we have two classes:

Join either one (or any class this month) for free with promo code WORLDMENTALHEALTH - just be sure to select “First Online Class” at checkout.

3) Bring meditation to your workplace. We offer live guided meditation sessions and wellness workshops to companies across the United States, in Europe and in Australia. Our teachers excel at making meditation and mindfulness accessible and appropriate for the workplace, whether we hold the event online via video conference or join your team in person.

Learn more about our offerings and get a quote here; mention WORLDMENTALHEALTH and we’ll give your company a special discounted rate on your first engagement!

Hannah Knappmindfulness, meditationComment