Meditation, mindfulness and acceptance works.

[ankietyjoe]

Just wanted to share my feelings on these techniques.

To cut a long story short, 10 years of anxiety whilst under astronomical amounts of stress. Hospitalised several times with uncontrolled tachycardia, persistent anxiety/panic and eventual virtual recluse due to fears of exercise causing tachycardia again.

Had CBT 10 years ago which helped, but always refused again by GP who just wanted me to take anti depressants. I always refused.

Over the last couple of years I've really delved into the thoughts behind meditation and mindfulness. The notion that accepting where you are right now is ok, and not trying to change it. Just observing the sensations and letting them be.

It takes practice, but for me at least it works. It's akin to using exercise to lose weight. You see accumulative change over time.

Often if I meditate I'm able to take a deep, full relaxing breath. Something which eludes me at most other times in the day!

It's not a religious activity, it's not about 'finding yourself'. It's just about training your brain not to automatically react to stimulus.

I still feel stress, and I have become incredibly unfit over the last few years due to inactivity. I still wake up in the mornings feeling like crap sometimes and I still jolt awake at night with my heart pounding from time to time, but the crucial thing is I can just let these moments pass now. I can calmly lay back down again, try and take some slow deep breaths and wait for the physiological reaction to pass, which it always does.

Most importantly, I very rarely feel scared of anxiety any more, no matter how hard it tries to make me react.

For me it was the antidote to using medication, and over time it has worked wonders.

[iwarzon]

Most importantly, I very rarely feel scared of anxiety any more, no matter how hard it tries to make me react.
For me it was the antidote to using medication, and over time it has worked wonders.

I am using this currently also and believe it has been very useful

[snowghost57]

Just wanted to share my feelings on these techniques.


Had CBT 10 years ago which helped, but always refused again by GP who just wanted me to take anti depressants. I always refused.

Over the last couple of years I've really delved into the thoughts behind meditation and mindfulness. The notion that accepting where you are right now is ok, and not trying to change it. Just observing the sensations and letting them be.

It takes practice, but for me at least it works. It's akin to using exercise to lose weight. You see accumulative change over time.

Often if I meditate I'm able to take a deep, full relaxing breath. Something which eludes me at most other times in the day!

It's not a religious activity, it's not about 'finding yourself'. It's just about training your brain not to automatically react to stimulus.

I still feel stress, and I have become incredibly unfit over the last few years due to inactivity. I still wake up in the mornings feeling like crap sometimes and I still jolt awake at night with my heart pounding from time to time, but the crucial thing is I can just let these moments pass now. I can calmly lay back down again, try and take some slow deep breaths and wait for the physiological reaction to pass, which it always does.

Most importantly, I very rarely feel scared of anxiety any more, no matter how hard it tries to make me react.

For me it was the antidote to using medication, and over time it has worked wonders.

Could you go into more detail about how to train your brain not to react?

[ankietyjoe]

Could you go into more detail about how to train your brain not to react?

It's just the practice of meditation that trains the brain.

For breathing meditation (for example) you gently focus your attention on your breath. There are other forms of meditation too, but breath meditation is one of the easiest to begin with.

My experience was that I didn't realise how much mental 'noise' there was, until I tried to focus on one thing. A mistake I made early on was that I believed that if I couldn't focus on my breath successfully and my mind wandered, then the meditation wasn't working, but that's not the case at all. That's part of the training.

It's a little bit like exercising to lose weight. You go for a brisk walk and look the same when you come home, so it's pointless, right? Well, no! It's cumulative!

All you need to do is focus on the breath and then gently refocus every time your mind wanders, and it will wander....a lot! You simply 'observe' the thoughts, bodily sensations, noises, smells etc. Each time something takes you away from the breath, you gently refocus.

Eventually I found that I could apply this very successfully to panic attacks. I would feel one coming on, but I could remain detached from it. It's still not a pleasant feeling by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't 'take off' any more.

I would recommend no more than about 5-10 minutes per day (twice if you feel like it) at the same time each day. Guided meditations can be useful to get you started off, but as long as you're in a quiet space and are sitting comfortably, it should reap rewards over time.

[akb]

Personally I find guided meditation better because Im not looking at the clock all the time. I get too bored doing it alone.

Currently Im using a free app called Aware with 21 day foundation course, worth a bash to get you going

[ankietyjoe]

Personally I find guided meditation better because Im not looking at the clock all the time. I get too bored doing it alone.

Currently Im using a free app called Aware with 21 day foundation course, worth a bash to get you going

Guided meditations are very useful once you find one that works for you.

For the record, I find it better to set an alarm (I usually set one for 10 minutes) rather than looking at the clock. You don't have to think about it then.

Also, I would just observe the boredom as part of the meditation and try and re-focus on the breath, or whatever your meditation focus is. Boredom is just a distraction to react to like everything else.

[akb]

Hi AJ

I appreciate your expertise on the subject.

What still confuses me is whether to breath out of nose or mouth, and whether to hold breathe 2 seconds etc. there seems no consistent opinion

---------- Post added at 11:13 ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 ----------

a couple more questions

is it good to have a blank mind as much as possible, or better to have thoughts to observe

when anxiety is raging, is it better to observe symptoms or seek distraction?

is there an optimum length of time for meditation? some say 20 minutes better than 10

[ankietyjoe]

Hi AJ

I appreciate your expertise on the subject.

What still confuses me is whether to breath out of nose or mouth, and whether to hold breathe 2 seconds etc. there seems no consistent opinion

---------- Post added at 11:13 ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 ----------

a couple more questions

is it good to have a blank mind as much as possible, or better to have thoughts to observe

when anxiety is raging, is it better to observe symptoms or seek distraction?

is there an optimum length of time for meditation? some say 20 minutes better than 10

According to everything I've read, there is no real point in trying to alter the way you breathe. I believe some guided relaxation 'meditations' use this technique of counting in and out breaths is to kinda force people to slow down their breathing, but for normal breathing meditation you just breath normally.

There is no such thing as a blank mind (as you'll find out when you start to meditate! ). You're not trying to change the thoughts that come in and out of your mind, and you're not trying to stop them (that's impossible). You're simply observing them, mindfully. If they're happy thoughts, that's fine. If they're scary or dark thoughts, that's fine.

Personally I try and just observe anxiety symptoms too, although if I'm in the middle of a bad anxiety attack I would rather just breath slowly whilst uttering my mantras - 'this will pass', 'I'm in no danger' etc etc. I could do this for 5-10 minutes before starting to meditate.

As for length, I think anything you can manage is fine, even if it's just 2-3 minutes. My own personal guide right now is 10 minutes, which I set an alarm for.

My experience recently is that for the first 5-7 minutes my mind will be racing, thoughts come and go very quickly (10-20 a minute usually) and sometimes I'll get stuck on a thought for a little while before I realise that's what I'm doing and guide myself back to the breath. Then I feel a slight change, I can feel the mind slowing down a bit. I find it easier to focus on the breath (but remember, even recognising that it's getting easier is just a thought to be observed!).

I once read a book that gave the analogy that the mind is like a cup of liquid that's been agitated. Even if you sit down and try and relax, the thoughts in the mind (the liquid) can still slosh around for a while. Mediation is the act of creating the conditions of stillness that allow the thoughts (the liquid in the cup) to naturally settle. That act of refocusing the mind on the breath and not reacting to every thought is just that. With practice, you will feel the 'noise' start to dissipate.

I realise I say quite a lot on the subject, but it's taken me a long time to gain the knowledge that I have now and I've always wanted to find an answer without medication.

The key thing to remember is that if you're trying to meditate and your mind is racing, if you feel like your trying to focus on the breath isn't working, that's fine. It's the act of trying and practising that will net you results. It doesn't have to feel like it's working to actually be working, just like jogging to lose weight.

[Hollow]

Hi Ankietyjoe

I have also been practicing the mindfulness Meditations, in particular the 8 week Mbct practices. How long did it take you to notice that it was was making a difference? And are there any signs or changes that you begin to notice when it is working.

Thanks

[snowghost57]

According to everything I've read, there is no real point in trying to alter the way you breathe. I believe some guided relaxation 'meditations' use this technique of counting in and out breaths is to kinda force people to slow down their breathing, but for normal breathing meditation you just breath normally.

There is no such thing as a blank mind (as you'll find out when you start to meditate! ). You're not trying to change the thoughts that come in and out of your mind, and you're not trying to stop them (that's impossible). You're simply observing them, mindfully. If they're happy thoughts, that's fine. If they're scary or dark thoughts, that's fine.

Personally I try and just observe anxiety symptoms too, although if I'm in the middle of a bad anxiety attack I would rather just breath slowly whilst uttering my mantras - 'this will pass', 'I'm in no danger' etc etc. I could do this for 5-10 minutes before starting to meditate.

As for length, I think anything you can manage is fine, even if it's just 2-3 minutes. My own personal guide right now is 10 minutes, which I set an alarm for.

My experience recently is that for the first 5-7 minutes my mind will be racing, thoughts come and go very quickly (10-20 a minute usually) and sometimes I'll get stuck on a thought for a little while before I realise that's what I'm doing and guide myself back to the breath. Then I feel a slight change, I can feel the mind slowing down a bit. I find it easier to focus on the breath (but remember, even recognising that it's getting easier is just a thought to be observed!).

I once read a book that gave the analogy that the mind is like a cup of liquid that's been agitated. Even if you sit down and try and relax, the thoughts in the mind (the liquid) can still slosh around for a while. Mediation is the act of creating the conditions of stillness that allow the thoughts (the liquid in the cup) to naturally settle. That act of refocusing the mind on the breath and not reacting to every thought is just that. With practice, you will feel the 'noise' start to dissipate.

I realise I say quite a lot on the subject, but it's taken me a long time to gain the knowledge that I have now and I've always wanted to find an answer without medication.

The key thing to remember is that if you're trying to meditate and your mind is racing, if you feel like your trying to focus on the breath isn't working, that's fine. It's the act of trying and practising that will net you results. It doesn't have to feel like it's working to actually be working, just like jogging to lose weight.

Great advice, I missed your response. With the time difference keeps it difficult to keep up with postings.

I too read a book about anxiety and the author described it as this, "our bodies are like a rain barrel, when we let it overflow with water "anxious thoughts" the barrel our thoughts over flow. (anxiety and/or panic attack) He recommends meditating as well, I tried, but can't corral my thoughts to stay in one place. I will copy your suggestions and give it another try!