mind
Meditation
Returning, again and again, to now.
Practices that train the attention without forcing the system.
We favour soft, trauma-sensitive approaches — open awareness, body-scan, loving-kindness — over rigid concentration practices that can backfire on a depleted system.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is one of the most-studied interventions in integrative medicine, with effects comparable to first-line treatments for anxiety.
What the evidence says
Strong evidenceMeta-analyses show MBSR and MBCT produce moderate effect sizes for anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. A 2022 JAMA Psychiatry trial found MBSR non-inferior to escitalopram for adults with anxiety disorders. Trauma-sensitive adaptations are important: standard meditation can occasionally worsen symptoms in PTSD.
References
- [1]Hoge, E. A. et al. (2022). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Escitalopram for the Treatment of Adults with Anxiety Disorders. JAMA Psychiatry, 80(1), 13–21. Link ↗
- [2]Goldberg, S. B. et al. (2018). Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 52–60. Link ↗
Quick reset — Meditation
Guided care_links
Exercises
Practical, paced ways into meditation. Start with whichever one feels least effortful — capacity returns through small, repeated doses, not heroic ones.
- 01
10–15 minutes
Trauma-Sensitive Open Awareness
Why it works · Anchoring attention to external sensory experience rather than internal body sensation offers a gentler entry point for those whose nervous system finds inward focus activating; it trains the same attentional circuits as breath-focused practice.
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Take care
- If you have a trauma history, closed-eye practice is not required and should not be forced. Open-eyed practice is equally valid.
- If you become dissociated or distressed, open your eyes, press your feet into the floor, and look around the room slowly. Stop the practice for that session.
- 02
20–30 minutes
Body Scan
Why it works · Systematic attention to body regions activates interoceptive pathways and, practised regularly, appears to improve emotional regulation by increasing the granularity of body-based feeling states.
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Take care
- For those with trauma held somatically, this practice can surface distress. Begin with a five-minute version and increase duration gradually. Stop if you become overwhelmed.
- Keep eyes open and practice shorter segments if body-awareness feels destabilising.
- 03
15–20 minutes
Loving-Kindness (Metta) Meditation
Why it works · Repeated generation of warmth toward self and others strengthens circuits associated with positive affect and compassion, and has been shown to reduce self-criticism and social anxiety with consistent practice.
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Take care
- Self-directed phrases can surface grief or self-criticism rather than warmth. This is common and does not mean the practice is not working. Be patient and reduce session length if needed.
- 04
15–30 minutes
Walking Meditation
Why it works · Walking meditation combines rhythmic bilateral movement — which supports emotional processing — with deliberate attentional training; it offers an accessible entry point for those who find stillness activating or frustrating.
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- 05
10–20 minutes
Noting Practice
Why it works · Labelling mental events ('thinking', 'planning', 'remembering') in real time engages the prefrontal cortex and appears to reduce the subjective intensity of those events, interrupting the default-mode narrative loop.
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- 06
10–20 minutes
RAIN — Recognise, Allow, Investigate, Nurture
Why it works · RAIN is a structured self-compassion process that interrupts emotional avoidance; each stage has a distinct psychological function — recognition reduces suppression, allowance prevents secondary reactivity, investigation activates interoception, and nurture counters self-criticism.
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Take care
- If investigating a feeling pulls you into an overwhelming state, step back to Allow and rest there. Do not force Investigate.
- RAIN is not a substitute for trauma therapy when distress is severe or persistent.
- 07
5–15 minutes
Breath Counting
Why it works · Counting breaths provides a concrete anchor for attention that is easier to hold than open breath awareness alone; the simple cognitive task of tracking a number reduces the bandwidth available for ruminative thought.
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- 08
15–25 minutes
Choiceless Awareness
Why it works · In choiceless awareness, attention follows whatever is most vivid without being directed; this trains a receptive, non-reactive mode of attention associated with reduced rumination and increased psychological flexibility.
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Take care
- This is an advanced practice that can feel unmooring for those with trauma or dissociation history. Begin with anchored practices such as breath counting or noting, and move to choiceless awareness only once you feel stable.
