Over the past few days, two British newspapers have picked up on how meditation is scientifically proven to beat depression. The Sun’s Kate Wighton highlights how meditation can beat the blues ^[1] and that depression is rife in January. We all now that when Christmas is over with; we are waiting for what seems like an eternity till we get our monthly paycheck towards the end of January having been paid early in December and some of us may have overspent our budget. Debt is probably one of the major depression triggers and funny enough the number of people in debt rises in January too.

Also in the Guardian this week, Ed Halliwell comments on how Buddhism beats depression ^[2]. The Buddhist practice of mindful meditation or mindfulness-based-cognitive therapy (MCBT) as the courses are called are endorsed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Mindful meditation isn’t a miracle cure but once people have mastered the techniques it does encourage us to focus on our present experience which means we have a shift away from any recurrent, negative thought patterns.

I am heartened to read this news about meditation going mainstream and that it is no longer considered by sceptics as a practice taken up by namby pamby incense swinging people. True institutions may be careful to leave out any reference to Buddhism but at least the practice of mindful meditation is being taken seriously as a way to combat depression without medication.

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