Mindfulness and meditation can worsen depression and anxiety

On the other hand, I met my now-wife in the depression ward, which in the "active" phase right before my admission I visualized and wished for quite often.

I don't regret the 2-3 months of active ego dissolution phase, life has never been more beautiful and strangely peaceful and jarring at the same time.

However, I did lose my job, my apartment and almost permanently lost my sanity as well, but now in hindsight it looks like it was all for the better.

Nevertheless I don't think you should force something like this (like I very much did), the consequences to internal and external reality can be absolutely dramatic and I've preferred to live in peaceful ignorance since then... save for the short moments of.. remembering. Everything and nothing at once.

It's a tool to discover the inner self, one of the first steps in self realization, as per Hindu scriptures.

It has been studied for millennia and it's methods fine tuned.

The reason for meditating is not to improve productivity, solve depression / anxiety issues, and all the issues related to modern living.

It is a first step towards God Realization.

But why is it used so widely for the above mentioned reasons?

- The initial stages of meditation bring about a calm and peace. Many people find health benefits to such a process. It might as well be true.

Meditation is supposed to be done and progressed under a realized guru. It's not a vocational course that someone takes and becomes an expert in it.It is not a tool to solve anxiety and depression. It is not a tool to improve the life we experience with this body. It is a tool to discover our true nature.

Of course you are going to get results that fall into a wide spectrum if you do it wrongly, under no proper guidance and with no clarity as to it's true purpose.

You cannot expect a person with depression and anxiety to sit alone in a room and meditate and not expect an aggravation in such thoughts.

To live a happy and healthy life, Hinduism promotes a way of life for the householder (one who is married and has a family)

- Get up early. - Exercise (This includes preliminary forms of Hatha Yoga) - Eat healthy food - Spend time with family - Teach your kids - Avoid vices - Have a healthy sex life - Spend some time contemplating the true nature of the world. Just thinking, no meditation, no process, no nothing. - Sleep well - Have a good circle of friends and keep good relations with extended family, to share your joys and sorrows.

In India, for every one of the above activity, there are a myriad of books, anecdotes, stories, proverbs, etc. A householder is never told to do meditation or try to be in peace by such methods. To glue the society together, there are festivals, rituals, cultural activities that are to be followed both by the individual and the society. Some by men, some by women, some by rulers, some by priests, etc.

Meditation and other related yogic methods are only taught to a person who has developed a certain aversion to the ways of this world and wants to advance spiritually. That too, a qualified guru will test him in all aspects and only then start training in meditation and yoga. Until then, no such methods are taught.

Western nations have misused and misconstrued everything about Yoga and Meditation, and then put out such articles.

Unfortunate.

I used the guided sessions from the free Oak app and a lot of the beginner stuff is about just sitting and focusing on one thing (usually the breath). An early skill is to recognize when a distracting thought enters your mind. You acknowledge it and return to focusing on the breath. I use this when I'm working. If I suddenly remember that I'm supposed to do something later in the week or start to wonder if the SR-71 could ever achieve a trajectory with escape velocity, I write it down and come back to it later.