Mindfulness teacher says long COVID reversed decades of meditation gains

A single COVID infection can still wipe out decades of meditation gains, a blunt reminder that mindfulness is not a shield against long COVID. A mindfulness teacher with 25 years of practice said the illness reversed benefits built over years, even as Columbia University studies whether structured practice can help people already living with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC.

At Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, the LONG-CALM trial is testing an 8-week online mindfulness program in 400 participants, with recorded sessions ranging from 2 to 20 minutes so people with fatigue can keep up. The setup reflects the reality of long COVID, where some patients also face disbelief from family members, adding social isolation to symptoms like exhaustion and cognitive problems.

The science is still early. A 2022 review said mindfulness meditation interventions for Long COVID and ME/CFS remain an emerging area of evidence, not a settled treatment, and later studies have stayed small and symptom-focused. One 2023 randomized trial in France tested a neuro-meditation program in 34 Long COVID patients, while another study examined a mindfulness-based intervention for depression and anxiety in Long COVID patients, showing interest in whether the practice can ease distress, fatigue and mental fog rather than erase the syndrome itself.

That distinction matters for readers who see wellness claims outpace data. Mindfulness may still have a role in helping people manage anxiety, depression and the strain of living with a chronic post-viral condition, but the available studies do not show that years of meditation can prevent infection, stop long COVID from developing or restore every lost function after the fact.

The personal account also fits a wider pattern in COVID-era care. In a 2023 WHYY story, cardiologist Boon Lim turned to meditation after infection in hopes of preventing Long COVID, a sign that clinicians and patients have been looking to mindfulness both before and after illness. For a practice often sold as resilience in a bottle, the harder truth is more useful: mindfulness may help some people cope with long COVID, but it cannot be treated as a cure for what the virus has already taken.