The first question people face when they decide to try meditation is: Which kind should I practice? Some forms involve counting breaths; others ask, “Who am I?” A research team led by Céline Stinus of the University of Navarra in Spain and Professor Sophie Berjot of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne in France put these two approaches side by side. The results showed that both reduced depressive symptoms in just four weeks, but through different pathways. The study was published in the journal Mindfulness and covered by the U.S. psychology news outlet PsyPost on October 17.
147 people split into three groups for a four-week trial: 20 minutes a day, five days a week
The researchers recruited 147 adults in France with little to no meditation experience. People taking psychiatric medication or with a history of a psychiatric diagnosis, including depression, were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first practiced focused attention meditation, concentrating on a single object, such as the breath, and returning to it whenever their minds wandered. The second practiced self-inquiry meditation, examining their thoughts, beliefs and sense of self. It was a secular program that excluded Buddhist doctrine. The third group was placed on a waitlist and would learn to meditate after the study ended.
Over four weeks, participants in the two meditation groups attended five 60-minute online group classes and practiced on their own for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. They did not know which type of meditation they had been assigned to. The researchers expected self-inquiry meditation to have a stronger effect because it directly engages the mind in examining the self.
Focused attention meditation helped people distance themselves from their thoughts, while self-inquiry strengthened connection to people and nature
The results differed from the researchers’ expectations. Both meditation groups saw greater reductions in depressive symptoms and identity threat than the waitlist group, with no clear difference between the two types of meditation. Identity threat refers to the degree to which people feel their sense of who they are is shaken. Rigid beliefs that lead people to be hard on themselves declined only in the focused attention group.
The difference emerged in how the changes occurred. In the focused attention group, depressive symptoms fell as participants became better able to see thoughts as passing mental events, rather than as the self. In psychology, this ability is called decentering. In the self-inquiry group, feelings of connectedness to humanity and nature increased from before the meditation program, and greater connectedness to humanity was associated with a partial reduction in identity threat. However, the change in connectedness was not statistically clear compared with the waitlist group, and the researchers said it should be interpreted cautiously because the analysis was exploratory. The study’s measures did not identify what explained the reduction in depression in the self-inquiry group. The researchers concluded that the two forms of meditation had similar effects on depression but worked through “partially different mechanisms.”
Twenty people left the waitlist group, compared with four or five in each meditation group: the limitations behind the numbers
There are several points to keep in mind when reading the study. Twenty people dropped out of the waitlist group, compared with four or five in each meditation group. Participants in the waitlist group knew they were receiving nothing during the study. Participants did not have diagnosed depression, and their depression scores remained within the normal range. This means the same results cannot be assumed to apply to people with depression.
The study’s first author personally taught both programs, so the instructor’s influence may have played a role. All outcomes were measured by self-report, the study protocol was not preregistered, and there was no long-term follow-up. Most participants were women, and they had volunteered for a meditation study, so they may already have been favorably disposed toward meditation.
For people with busy minds and those who feel lonely, the same meditation may not be right for everyone
The study offers a clear message to people choosing a meditation practice: Rather than looking for a single right answer about which type is better, start by asking what kind of change you need. For someone whose day passes in a swirl of thoughts, focused attention meditation, which directs attention to the breath, may help create space between the self and those thoughts. For someone whose sense of identity feels shaken or who feels disconnected from others, a practice that turns inward may help restore a sense of connection.
Practices that ask “Who am I?” are deeply rooted in Korean meditation, with Seon practice centered on hwadu koans such as “What is this?” serving as a prominent example. The self-inquiry meditation in this study was a secular program, but the fact that Western researchers have begun scientifically testing a practice of examining the idea of the self is broadening the points of connection through which K-meditation can engage with the world.
Beginners may do better to try both approaches rather than treating one as the only right answer. If sitting and focusing on the breath feels uncomfortable, they could start with focused attention meditation that follows the body’s rhythm, such as walking meditation. Spending time writing down thoughts and asking questions about the self can also be a small first step toward self-inquiry. Meditation is not a substitute for treatment for depression, and anyone experiencing prolonged low mood should seek professional help first.
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