By: Chirya Risely
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2701/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: July 12th, 2025

Loneliness is considered to be one of the largest public health challenges we face. In 2022, a study in the UK showed that almost half the adult population (49.63 per cent) reported feeling lonely from time to time. How fortunate are those who do not fear solitude; who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge.  

Loneliness is not just a feeling; it can actually affect our health. When feeling lonely, people often adopt behaviours that detrimentally impact their health. Lonely people are more likely to start, or increase, a smoking habit, and often loneliness can have symptoms similar to mild depression, which makes people less likely to engage in any physical activity. Long-term loneliness can lead to a gradual decline in mental health, due to having more time to ruminate on worries and negative thoughts. The more time is spent in this way, the more likely the person is to lose their confidence, self-esteem, and ability to socialise. 

Long-term loneliness can decrease life expectancy by 25 per cent, increase coronary heart disease by 29 per cent, increase the risk of stroke and high blood pressure, and reduce immunity against infection. 

Living alone, spending long hours alone, does not mean that you necessarily feel lonely. It depends on how much of a healthy relationship one has with one’s own mind. In fact, to know the self well, so that all the strengths can be appreciated and the weaknesses minimised through a healthy and honest assessment, literally requires time spent alone. It is a necessity.

When I am alone in the silence of inner quietness, my mind also quiets down, and my ability to think clearly and make decisions, increases. It is a time for refreshing the mind.  ‘Listening in’ to check and change our thoughts from negative to positive, from worry and anxiety to hopefulness and courage, helps to create constant pure feelings for the self and others. Spending time alone helps us not to attach to or be dependent on others, but to grow a deeper sense of self-reliance, self-trust, and self-esteem. 

“Learn to like yourself since you must spend so much time with yourself, you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.” - Norman Vincent Peale.

Loneliness is possible even in a crowd, because it is based on the feeling of not being heard, and of a perceived sense of isolation. Even if social contact is suddenly limited for one reason or another, if we are able to enjoy the company of our own mind, then we do not feel lonely.

Being alone helps us to explore our true identity; an eternal spiritual being, radiating light. Contemplating this truth opens the lines of communication with the Supreme Being, God. It is impossible to feel lonely when in connection with that Being. 

Meditation is a powerful way to keep our mind healthy and positive, and a mind linked with the Supreme Mind never feels alone.

Chirya Risely is a Rajyoga meditation 
teacher based at the Brahma Kumaris Peace Village Retreat Center, USA.