In The Daily Collegian column published March 11 titled “Stressed? Turn off the devices, tune in to meditation,” the writer contests that it is our technology that has caused an increased amount of stress in our society.
He also asserts that meditation is the way to demolish this trend. Although I do agree that meditation is an excellent way to relieve stress, and have benefited from it through Tai Chi, I don’t believe meditation is for everyone, or could even be of use to everyone. He goes on about this issue using false senses of authority indicating that many celebrities benefit from this, but how does that indicate it will benefit you or me?
Meditation, as I learned in Tai Chi, is supposed to allow one to clear their mind, as you literally focus on nothing. This is much easier to perform when you aren’t stressed, as your mind constantly wanders when you are, as mine did. For some it may simply be a waste of time, if you aren’t able to fully devote your focus to complete concentration. I believe that stress management is more about knowing yourself, and which method works best for you.
For some it might be a run, weightlifting or simply talking about your problems with a friend. The columnist oversimplifies stress and makes it seem as though meditation is the cure to dealing with your stress. However, everybody is different, and for some this simply doesn’t work.
Just because it works for Oprah doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.
Michael Small
junior-biology
