Meditation has many virtues, including reducing stress and fighting depression. But that might not be the case for all followers according to a recent study, the first to address the differences between men and women who engage in the practice. And these gentlemen may be disappointed, since only women would really benefit from the virtues of the activity:researchers at the prestigious Brown University, in the United States, have discovered that the main teaching of meditation - which consists in focusing on the present moment – would put men in a worse state of mind than when they started. To arrive at such surprising conclusions, the scientists analyzed university students, 36 women and 41 men, whom they asked to participate for 12 weeks in courses including “meditation laboratories” which each last an hour. Levels of "awareness" and self-empathy before and after class were measured, and while women's mood increased by 11.6% at the end of the 3 months, men's decreased by 3.7%.
These results suggest that meditation is more in line with how women generally deal with emotions than it is with men. Willoughby Britton, professor of psychiatry and specialist in human behavior at Brown University explains to the site Futurity :“Stereotypically, women “ruminate” on emotions when men turn away from them. […] Thus, people who are inclined to confront difficulty are helped by meditation. For others who avoid facing difficulty in general, suddenly focusing on their obstacles can be counterproductive ". He adds that facing your own difficulties and accepting your emotions is beneficial on a global scale, but that does not take into account the different cultural expectations of men and women regarding emotionality. However, these results should be qualified, because it is impossible to say that all men react in the same way to the practice of meditation, and the same goes for women. But broadly, the solution would be to encourage men to feel comfortable with their emotions, so that they can more easily overcome their little worries.
Is that noted, gentlemen?
