Practicing mindfulness safely

It’s May, 2017, and I’m climbing the granite stairs to the second floor of a brownstone office building on Water Street in Vancouver’s Gastown.

One of the offices was a meditation service, a place for people to mentally unwind.

Just past reception is the meditation hall, neatly spaced with white cushions, with small bits of zen-like decor, inviting a sense of calm for all attending the guided meditations.

The large banner on the back wall assures “You can’t do this wrong.”

Warmed by the idea, I agreed that everyone’s style is different and totally appropriate for them.

However, today, with four more years of MBSR training and practical experience teaching mindfulness, I’m learning that, indeed, you very definitely can do it wrong.

Recent evidence is affirming exactly that.

“Not all experience is something practitioners should dive into headlong.

Not all discomfort, such as trauma, is safe to re-experience in meditation.”

A study from the University of Waterloo, published in November, 2021, indicates that a watered down interpretation of mindfulness has permeated the West, having many people confusing acceptance with passivity.

"Scientific understanding of mindfulness goes beyond mere stress-relief and requires a willingness to engage with stressors," says Igor Grossmann, corresponding author of the project and a professor of social psychology at Waterloo. "It is, in fact, the engagement with stressors that ultimately results in stress relief. More specifically, mindfulness includes two main dimensions: awareness and acceptance."

As anyone who has taken our MBSR course will attest, mindfulness is not a passive exercise. It’s not about pretending mental discomfort doesn’t exist. Conversely, it’s about turning attention directly toward that experience and investigating it without judgment (acceptance).

The practice can be exhausting, but this attention training is also extremely healing, particularly for stress-related disorders, including anxiety, depression, substance misuse and trauma, to name a few.

Most of these, particularly trauma, must be handled deftly.

Not all experience is something practitioners should dive into headlong.

Not all discomfort, such as trauma, is safe to re-experience in meditation.

A May, 2019 study out of the University College of London revealed that between 25 and 32 per cent of meditators had particularly unpleasant experiences they thought were caused by meditation. They reported experiencing fear, panic attacks and periods of dissociation.

To be clear, the problem is not the meditation, but the way it’s being practiced.

Ancient Buddhist techniques advise practitioners to “simply observe” whatever experience is arising. This is ill-advised for someone who may be re-traumatized by a past event.

In 2013, when I started teaching mindfulness, one of my students experienced panic. Intuitively, I knew to advise her to open her eyes and know she was safe.

This happened often enough that I sought trauma certification through the Justice Institute of BC. The training was enough to allow me to recognize trauma and respond to it safely.

But I wanted more to help prevent it from happening in the first place.

I began to study Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness through the leading expert in the field, David Treleaven.

Treleaven had experienced a panic attack while on an extended retreat in Massachusetts in 2006.

He says the advice of “just observe” is poor counsel.

“I believe it’s our responsibility to adapt mindfulness to meet the specific needs of our trauma survivors, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to us,” Treleaven writes in his landmark book “Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness.”

Treleaven also double underlines the importance of mindfulness in helping overcome trauma, which requires an educated approach in delivery.

Still Here has had great success working alongside therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists in helping people work through their difficult emotions, anxiety, depression and trauma.

In October, 2020, we ran a Mindfulness Resiliency Pilot with Surrey Fire Service. Over the eight-week pilot, firefighters reported a 37 per cent increase in sleep quality, a 25 per cent reduction in reactivity and an overall increase in their sense of wellbeing.

So, yes, when meditating, you can do it more effectively. Doing it right results in great increases in emotional stability and overall mental wellbeing.

To learn it in safety, seek out a professional educated in Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness for the safest and most effective approach.