I’m Ross Edwards (Ananta), leader of The Meditation Tribe in West Sussex and Hampshire, and I’m meditating for 1000 consecutive days to raise awareness of meditation and mental health. I run classes both publicly and in institutions, such as The University of Chichester.
I reached 250 days on 12th April 2024, and will meditate every day until 1st May 2026.
Support my endeavour by donating £20 to West Sussex Mind to help them with their mental health-related activities in the local area.
My goal is to raise public awareness of meditation and encourage others to incorporate it into their daily lives, on and off the cushion. This is a firm public commitment to my meditation practice and ongoing advancement as a person.
Visit my JustGiving page to donate today
The Science
Meditation dates back thousands of years and is now a clinical tool used worldwide by the top institutions.
It’s proven to be as effective as medication for depression, anxiety and chronic pain, and is so because it offers patients direct insight into their mental patterns and shows them tools for how to effectively manage their inner world.
It’s powerful in a slew of other outcomes, like attention, physiology, emotion and compassion.
That said, meditation is also much more than a clinical tool. It’s a powerful tool to cultivate ongoing wellbeing and self-knowledge, and the more we do it, the deeper the benefits.
My Experience
Though I’ve been meditating for nearly a decade, and it has changed my life in so many ways, I wish I had discovered it a decade before I did.
In my teens and early twenties, I struggled with my mental health, and even slipped into episodes of major depression. Looking back, I had no tools for navigating those difficult periods. I was all at sea, hoping for someone else to come and give me a solution.
Meditation has given me my power back. No longer am I at the mercy of my wild mind. No longer do my thoughts and emotion spiral into permanent negative states and suck the life out of me. I can see my thoughts and realise they’re not mine, but just something I’m experiencing. I can deeply feel my emotions and keep my head well above their turbulent waters.
I have a lifelong tool that serves as a source of self-knowledge in normal times, and as a powerful antidote to strong unpleasant emotions during tricky times.
And the benefits for my mental health are just one part of everything I get from meditation.
My Students’ Experiences
In my short teaching career, my students have had a variety of insights and shifts through meditation, in areas like self-understanding, emotional regulation, thought management and behaviour change. Here’s just one example:
“rather than fighting with the thoughts, ignoring them or pushing them away – I let them in, give them all my attention and then I can see can (and feel) which emotions they are feeding off, and as I analyse that information their power weakens. I can control them, rather than them controlling me. My neurons are getting stronger, the magic is happening”
My Chosen Charity: West Sussex Mind
West Sussex Mind is an independent local charity that supports people with their mental health, provides specialist training and campaigns to improve services and promote understanding.
From their website:
“Our work is driven by the needs and experiences of people with mental health problems.
The advice and support we offer aims to improve people’s physical and mental well-being, strengthen self-esteem and confidence and promote strong relationships with family, friends and communities. We also help people get into education, training or work and achieve their personal and social goals.
Increasing understanding about mental health is a priority for us so we run a comprehensive training programme for parents, carers and professionals. Our experts provide specialist training to professionals such as to those in education, GP practices and leisure centres as well as bespoke training to staff and managers in other organisations and companies.
We also work in communities to raise awareness and to tackle the stigma which continues to affect the lives of people with mental health problems.”
Donate £20 to West Sussex Mind
I don’t handle the money – it goes directly to JustGiving and is periodically sent to West Sussex Mind.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them or send you unwanted emails.
Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate, and it saves time and cuts costs for the charity.