Meditation has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms, among other health advantages. The patterns of thought and action that keep a depressed person mired in their sadness may be broken via the practice of meditation, which promotes nonjudgmental awareness and mindfulness.

What Is Depression?

Depressed people typically experience negative self-talk, ruminating, challenging emotions, and unpleasant bodily sensations. Also, depression may heighten the weight of past mistakes and future uncertainties. Because of the time and effort spent worrying about the past and the future, living in the now may be a real challenge.

Suicide is the second greatest cause of mortality among those aged 15 to 29, claiming the lives of up to 800,000 people each year.7 Depression symptoms are a call for you to seek professional assistance.

As for meditation, focused concentration is the essence of meditation. The purpose of meditation is to rest the mind amid turmoil and achieve a calm state. Meditation is an effective aid for persons struggling with depression, both anecdotally and via scientific study.

Is Meditation Effective?

Meditation is just as beneficial as antidepressants for relieving depression, according to a scientific analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine 2014. In 2019, researchers found that meditating reduced depressive recurrence by 12%, with 60% of meditators reporting increased well-being.

Depressed people who regularly practiced mindfulness meditation had considerably lower stress markers. Regular meditation practice reduces Relapse risk at the cell level.

Meditation as a Therapeutic Modality

It's important to remember that starting a meditation practice isn't meant to replace other therapies for depression.

Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has been effective in treating depression. Still, its usage should be integrated into standard medical therapy under the supervision of a physician rather than serving as a replacement for it.

If you're struggling with depression, here's a primer on some of the most well-researched and widely used forms of meditation.

11 Types of Meditation For Depression

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation may be the origin of meditation. Mindfulness is the source of many meditations and may have the greatest scientific proof. Mindfulness meditation reduces sadness, anxiety, and stress, according to research. One review of over 3000 participants found that mindfulness-based interventions reduced anxiety in cancer patients up to six months after delivery compared to usual care, waitlist control, or no intervention.

Loving-kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness Meditation promotes self- and other-love. According to much research, this sort of meditation reduces sadness, bad emotions, and compassion.

Loving-kindness Meditation may also reduce self-criticism, which causes many mental health issues. One research demonstrated self-criticism decreases for three months following meditation. Compassion meditation emphasizes unconditional compassion and improves mood, and reduces negative sensations.

Cognitive mindfulness therapy

This kind of mindfulness meditation combines CBT with meditation. One of the most popular treatments for depression and other mental health issues, CBT modifies negative thinking and behavior. MBCT was first created to avoid relapses in recurrent depression patients, but subsequent research revealed it may also assist active depression patients.

Breath Awareness Meditation

Many types of meditation, including mindfulness, need breath awareness.

Mindfulness meditation trains the mind by focusing on the breath. Breath awareness meditation is conscious breathing. Focusing on breathing and exhaling for 15 minutes daily may improve mood and reduce emotional reactivity. Not that you need to focus on your breathing: Many individuals practice breath awareness throughout the day. It may be done sitting, standing, or lying down, eyes open or closed.

Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental meditation (TM) is popular globally. Instead of the breath, transcendental meditation utilizes audio or a particular mantra, usually one or two words. Teachers and employees at a residential school for kids with severe behavioral problems—people with high-stress jobs—found that transcendental meditation reduced stress, despair, and burnout for four months.

Walking Meditation

Walking is excellent for your body and mind. However, walking meditation may elevate you. One small research found that aerobic walking plus Buddhist meditation three times a week for 12 weeks decreased depression and enhanced flexibility and balance in older persons. Other studies found that younger persons with anxiety reduced anxiety by meditating for 10 minutes before or after walking.

Body Scan Meditation

Focusing on various body parts successively is body scan meditation. This may be done lying down, sitting, or in different positions with your eyes open or closed, like breathing awareness. Inhale and exhale deeply as you concentrate on various body areas. Body scanning improves observation of thoughts, emotions, and sensations and reduces stress.

Body scan meditation, among other mindfulness practices, reduced bipolar disorder depressive relapses in one research after weekly practice.

Yoga

Yoga is a practice that incorporates physical postures, breathing methods, and meditation, which may help with sadness and anxiety. Kundalini yoga, which includes chanting, has been shown to alleviate OCD. Kundalini yoga helps regulate fear, anger, and adverse emotions.

Recurrent Activity

Cleaning up may not be meditation, but consciously cleaning pots and pans may relax you. One research found that "mindful dishwashers" were more mindful and less anxious than non-mindful dishwashers. You're utilizing exercise or physical work to relax, concentrate, and eliminate the unnecessary thoughts most of us experience throughout the day.

Visualization

Many individuals achieve tranquility by concentrating on positive pictures. Another person may conduct visualization or guided visual meditation, or you can use one of many internet videos. Rescripting—imagining happy endings instead of such memories. Participants were encouraged to imagine revising previous events, seeing their emotions as symbols or animals, turning them positive, and replacing negative phrases and words with positive ones.