What do holidays and meditation have in common? We think that both are good for relieving stress and promoting good health. But is the effect of these two ways of spending time the same?
A group of psychologists from the University of Groningen (Netherlands), led by Dr. Chris J. May, decided to figure out how the practice of mindfulness affects a person’s life and whether this effect is comparable to the sensations that a vacation brings. Psychologists observed the volunteers for eight weeks, trying to understand how much in common between meditation and vacation, and whether one can replace the other.
The study involved 40 people: they were first-year university students studying to be psychologists, and people from their environment. None of them had practiced meditation before. The average age of the volunteers was 23,7 years, 70% of them were female. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks and consisted of four two-week stages codenamed A1, B1, A2, B2.
During phases A1 and A2, participants did not meditate, and during phases B1 and B2, on the contrary, they meditated. During each stage, volunteers filled out questionnaires every day that assessed their well-being, level of awareness and attentiveness.
They also went on vacation according to the plan, as if they were not taking part in the study. On days when participants practiced meditation, they reported experiencing fewer negative emotions (such as irritation) and more positive ones (such as gratitude). They also felt more calm and relaxed. They scored higher on the dimensions of mindfulness and mindfulness.
The effect of meditation decreases if we stop practicing or do it less often.
In particular, volunteers were more likely to agree with statements like: “I paid attention to sounds: ticking clocks, birds chirping, passing cars” or “I observed my feelings without getting confused by them,” and rarely agreed with statements like “It was hard for me to find words to describe what I was thinking.”
A comparison of the sizes of the vacation effect and the effect of meditation showed the following results. It turned out that a 15-minute meditation increases the level of awareness in the same way as a day spent on vacation. However, a full-fledged long vacation still has a better effect on our well-being and reduces the level of negative emotions more strongly.
Meditation leads to similar results, but in much less “concentration”. “If you are short on time, sit on a meditation cushion. If you have a little more time, lie down on a sun lounger, ”the authors of the study give such funny advice to tired citizens.
It is curious that one of the experimenters himself taught volunteers the practice of meditation. They were taught to first focus on bodily sensations. Participants were then asked to monitor their breathing. Each time the volunteers noticed that their minds were “wandering”—that is, they were simply distracted—they had to carefully return their attention to their inhalations and exhalations.
To make it easier to concentrate, they were given recordings of special relaxing music. No known study has explored more deeply the similarities and differences between vacation and meditation, the authors say. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the difference between the structure of the day of a vacationer and the schedule of someone who simply practices meditation is undeniable.
The day when we meditate can be quite stressful in general (because there is still work, shopping, household chores). And when we are on vacation, we have little chance of facing stress. We should also not forget that mindfulness practice encourages people to be open to all experiences in general, not only positive ones, but also negative ones. On vacation, things may be a little different.
It should be noted that all these effects are short-lived. The pleasant “aftertaste” of the holiday disappears within a few weeks. In the same way, the effect of meditation decreases if we stop practicing or do it less often. True, for beginners and for those who rarely meditate, it is the temporary, momentary relief of a stressful state that is much more important – while the long and regular practice of mindfulness exercises leads to much deeper results.
Psychologists plan to continue their research on this topic. They believe that it is necessary to study more deeply the similarities between the sensations that different types of relaxation and meditation bring. After all, one thing is a hiking trip, and another is a quiet pastime dedicated to a hobby or working on some of your projects. Therefore, their effects may also differ.