Mindfulness Instructor Has Panic Attack During Guided Meditation

Certified mindfulness instructor Luna Presence experienced a full panic attack during a guided meditation session she was leading for forty corporate employees, an event triggered by what she described as 'achieving too much awareness of my own cardiovascular system.' 'I was guiding the body scan,' Presence said, still breathing into a paper bag thirty minutes after the incident. 'I said notice your heartbeat without judgment. And I noticed my heartbeat. And it seemed fast. And then I judged it. And then it got faster because I was judging it. And then I thought I was having a heart attack, which I was not, but by that point my body didn't know the difference.' The forty participants, employees of a tech company attending a mandatory wellness seminar, initially believed the instructor's rapid breathing and visible distress were part of the meditation exercise. 'She was saying observe the sensations in your body and then she started hyperventilating,' said attendee Marcus Slack. 'I thought it was a demonstration. I tried to match her breathing. That was a mistake.' Three additional participants experienced sympathetic anxiety responses before someone realized the instructor was in genuine distress and called the company's on-site nurse. 'I've been teaching mindfulness for twelve years,' Presence said. 'I have guided thousands of people through body scans without incident. The problem is that mindfulness works. It worked too well. I became so present with my heartbeat that my heartbeat became the only thing in the universe, and that is apparently terrifying.' The incident has been cited by mindfulness critics as evidence that 'forced awareness of bodily functions can trigger anxiety in susceptible individuals, including, apparently, the people teaching it.' Presence has resumed teaching but has modified her body scan instructions. 'I now say notice your heartbeat, but not too much. Acknowledge it and move on. Do not get into a staring contest with your own pulse. You will lose.' The corporate wellness program has replaced the mindfulness seminar with a pottery class.