Lachlan Brown
Meditation has officially gone mainstream. But there is more to it than a cultural trend.
In recent years, meditation has been wrapped into everything from productivity hacks and self-care routines to corporate wellness initiatives.
You’ll find CEOs swearing by it, influencers glamorizing it, and health apps turning it into a gamified streak you’re supposed to never break. But as all of this unfolds, I’ve noticed a curious tension—between what people expect meditation to do and what it actually transforms.
What sparked this article wasn’t just a personal insight, but a series of scientific findings that I came across while reading about equanimity.
Those findings gave me a clearer sense of what meditation might cultivate beneath the surface.
In Buddhist psychology, equanimity describes a balanced way of meeting experience. Many people cultivate it through meditation, although the practice affects everyone differently.
Let’s begin by asking the obvious question: If meditation is so effective, why do so many people give it up?
The numbers that reveal a silent struggle
According to NCCIH’s summary of National Health Interview Survey data, the percentage of US adults reporting meditation rose from 7.5 percent in 2002 to 17.3 percent in 2022.
But here’s the part no one talks about: many people who start meditating don’t stick with it.
Why? Because they were promised stress relief, mental clarity, or even spiritual highs—and instead, they got… boredom, agitation, restlessness.
Meditation is not always calming. Some people experience ordinary boredom or mild restlessness; others report worsening anxiety, depression, panic, dissociation, or traumatic memories.
Mild discomfort doesn’t mean you’re failing. Intense, worsening, or persistent symptoms are reasons to stop or modify the practice and seek qualified support.
A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis by Jake Linardon in Behaviour Research and Therapy included 70 randomized controlled trials of mindfulness apps and estimated attrition of 24.7 percent among 9,258 participants assigned to apps. In larger studies, the estimate rose to 38.7 percent.
What meditation actually changes (and why it’s not what you think)
Let me ask you something: Have you ever noticed how most self-help promises are about achieving a state? Happiness. Confidence. Focus. Meditation, too, often gets pitched this way.
But in my experience, what it really enhances is not a state, but a skill.
A small study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging compared 16 people completing an eight-week MBSR programme with 17 wait-list controls and reported changes in grey-matter density in several regions.
A 2025 review of fMRI research discussed reported connectivity differences involving attention- and regulation-related regions. These are early, varied findings. For me, though, the point of practice isn’t achieving peace. It’s training the mind to relate to difficult moments differently.
In Buddhist psychology, this is equanimity: the ability to remain centered and balanced regardless of circumstances. Not passive. Not indifferent. Just present—without being yanked around by craving or aversion.
It’s not sexy. It doesn’t market well. But it’s what creates lasting change.
A lesson from the monastery: where silence teaches more than slogans
Monastic life points to something important: equanimity is less about escape than about staying with present experience.
Walking meditation illustrates the idea well. By feeling each step without immediately narrating or judging it, we practise tolerating the full texture of the present moment.
Equanimity is born in that space: the pause between reaction and response. And in a culture addicted to stimulation, that’s revolutionary.
The cultural moment: why equanimity is more needed than ever
Newsfeeds, notifications, economic instability, and climate anxiety can pull attention in many directions.
The American Psychological Association’s 2023 Work in America Survey paints a picture of workplace stress and its effects on psychological wellbeing.
A small 2024 trial assigned 33 healthcare workers to an eight-week MBSR programme or a wait-list group. Some mindfulness questionnaire scores changed, but the between-group results for burnout and compassion fatigue were not statistically significant, and the study reported only pre- and post-programme measurements.
Mindfulness, in other words, is no guaranteed shield against burnout. Equanimity is a skill to practise, not a promise.
Beyond calm: how equanimity reshapes your identity
With long-term practice, you begin to notice how many of your thoughts are not yours. How many emotional reactions are echoes of old patterns. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, you create space between experience and identity.
This is the heart of both Buddhist and psychological transformation: the move from identification to observation. In modern terms, it’s emotional regulation. In Dharma terms, it’s non-attachment.
Either way, the result is the same: you stop getting dragged. You start responding instead of reacting. And that subtle shift changes everything.
A small practice with big impact
If you want to start cultivating equanimity—not just mindfulness—I recommend a practice that has worked for me for years:
Sit for 10 minutes. Focus on the breath. And every time a strong thought or emotion arises, silently say to yourself: “This too.”
Not “this is good” or “this is bad.” Just “this too.”
For me, the phrase “This too” is a reminder to notice an experience without immediately judging it.
This is equanimity—not detachment, not withdrawal. But strength that doesn’t need to shout.
The deeper promise of meditation isn’t escape. It’s freedom.
We’ve over-glamorized meditation into a productivity tool or spiritual badge. But at its core, it’s a training in how to be fully alive, without needing life to be perfect.
Equanimity doesn’t look impressive. But it feels like clarity. It feels like a body that doesn’t immediately contract in fear. It feels like not needing to control every outcome in order to feel okay.
Ancient texts offer a rich account of equanimity. The science so far is narrower, and individual experiences vary.
If sitting in silence brings mild boredom or restlessness, you can choose whether to continue, shorten the session, change the focus, or stop. You don’t need to push through discomfort for the practice to count.
If meditation brings worsening anxiety or depression, panic, dissociation, traumatic memories, or impaired functioning, stop or modify the practice and seek help from a qualified health professional. Meditation should not replace or delay appropriate care.
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