7 Types of Meditation That Can Help Treat Depression [2024]

Depression has become very common nowadays. It is typically a mood disorder that causes you to feel dull and lose interest in things that you once enjoyed.

This loss of interest causes you to have an inactive lifestyle. You lose motivation to do the simplest day-to-day things, like eating and sleeping.

This is mostly seen in people in early adulthood but it can be seen in any age group.

There are certain methods to reduce and overcome it.

You can visit meditation centers such as California Rehab Center, as they provide total care to individuals, like evidence-based care, emotional support, and many other resources.

You may visit other recovery centers that provide similar resources as well.

Medications or antidepressants are known to provide relief from depression. However, the concern related to these antidepressants is that they do have side effects.

The side effects could be as simple as drowsiness, dry mouth, laziness, etc., or even as severe as sexual problems.

So the antidepressants must be taken only after consultation with the doctor while taking precautions.

To remain unaffected by the side effects of antidepressants, meditation can help.

 

This Is What You Need To Know About Meditation

Meditation is a practice performed that focuses on the workings of the body and mind, which helps to ease the stress on the mind and enhance the overall health of an individual. It is known to positively affect the state of mind of any individual.

If the individual succeeds in finding the meditation that suits him or her, it can help treat depression to a large extent.

You can try the meditations given in this article, which have been known to benefit people with depression.

 

You Might Also Enjoy: What Are The Challenges Of Living With A Person Who Has Depression

 

7 Types of Meditation That Can Help Treat Depression

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

This meditation was originally developed to treat depression.

This is a type of psychotherapy. It involves cognitive-behavioral therapy, meditation, and helping people make decisions without making a judgment and having present-oriented thoughts.

In simple words, people tend to consciously pay attention to their thoughts without placing any judgment on them.

 

Mindfulness Meditation

This meditation is known to stem from various types of meditation nowadays. It may have the best scientific evidence to show its effectiveness in treating depression.

This meditation is done by focusing on your breathing and bringing your attention to the present moment, which helps in making cognitive-based decisions that are biased.

 

Loving-Kindness Meditation

This meditation aims to nurture the feeling of love within that individual, not only towards himself or herself but also towards others.

Those who practice Loving Kindness Meditation regularly have an increased forgiveness attitude, form better relations with others, and have more self-acceptance.

This also helps in overcoming self-criticism, which could be the cause of depression.

 

Breath Awareness Meditation

It is the meditation that focuses on breathing, which results in improved concentration, reduced anxiety, and experiencing the surroundings in a still position.

It is amazing to find that the simple act of concentrated breathing for just as long as 15 minutes can clear our minds of any anxiety or depression.

You don’t always need to take time and space for meditation.

This meditation can be done while lying on a bed or sitting on a chair with closed eyes.

 

Visualization Meditation

This is the meditation where you create an image or an imaginary scenario, mostly in a peaceful environment, in your brain, which helps you take some time off from your busy lifestyle.

It is not just creating the image but also feeling, smelling, and hearing it.

You fully immersed yourself in that environment. Creating positive visuals rather than negative ones has helped treat depression in various cases.

 

Walking Meditation

Walking is the most simple task that everyone does.

When you do walking meditation, you become aware of the rhythm of every step, the path you are walking on, and your surroundings like never before.

This meditation can be done anytime you are walking, like on your way home, to the grocery store, to the office, etc. This meditation has reduced anger and anxiety issues in teenagers.

 

Yoga

Yoga combines different types of meditation, like breathing and walking meditation, to gain control over every part of our body.

The combination of breathing techniques with the right body postures has treated numerous cases of depression.

Meditation has been practiced for a long time.

But you shouldn’t stop taking the medications you are on while practicing different types of meditation.