Mindfulness Meditation

[Hope33]

I read somewhere that this type of therapy is available on the NHS.
Has anyone heard of it?
Thanks

[Mystical]

Quick answer - no! But I teach other kinds of meditation and have done since my days in London in the early 70's - when it was all Maharishi Yoga and the Beatles that fuelled the interest.

Mindfulness is not the state you usually seek in meditiation - because the ego gets involved and that makes the process far more difficult.

There are many opportunities to join meditation groups - online or in London.

But as for mindfulness meditation - sorry to say - not one I've come across in my 50 years of spiritual seeking.

Namastay - may love and peace enter your heart there to remain.

[thetube82]

some CBT therapists have a keen interest and practice this in sessions if appropriate, pot luck if you find one with an interest though..........

thetube82

[Hope33]

Thank you for your replies.
I will keep on looking.

[graham58]

I think you have to be lucky with your medical practice. I have a friend who suffers from depression and his practice gave him a CD or DVD about meditation and chanting.

Things are changing though and more doctors are getting interested in meditation etc.

[Fuzzy_Logic]

I read somewhere that this type of therapy is available on the NHS.
Has anyone heard of it?
Thanks
I've heard of this and am waiting to go on a course to learn it, this is available on the NHS via my CMHT.

[mhari]

Have had courses in this from PMHC team, I practice the 3 minute and half hour meditation every day. there is a CD of Meditations I would be happy to zip and mail to you if you feel it would be helpful?

[gail]

i do mindfullness as part of a dbt mental health support group i go via my cpn. It helps a lot, if you like i can ask the guy in charge if he can recommend any books about it

[Megan73]

Try reading the following book if you have no luck getting with a therapist

Mindful Way Through Depression by Mark Williams a good insight into mindfulness and there is also a good webpage with links

www.getselfhelp.co.uk/mindfulness.htm

and

http://www.mbct.co.uk/

[mhari]

Folks just wanted to say that after 8 weeks of practice, coupled with talk and drug therapy, I am really looking at life differently and feeling more myself. I am far from an expert, but if you are interested in a different way of looking at life (I think mindfullness could be particularly helpful for anxieties in modern life) it may well be worth a go.

[trooper]

The best way to learn is to go to a buddhist mindfulness class. If you're based in London there are loads, the one I go to is the London buddhist centre, which is close to Bethnal Green tube. If not, there are a few movies on youtube, they're not that great, but better than nothing. I have pasted some below for you.

http://www.lbc.org.uk/Meditationclass.htm

The firsts thing is to find a comfortabel sitting position, normally you want to sit on a cusion, sometimes at the start its best to stradle a cussion so your almost on your knees as it takes time to get used to the proper position.

Then you start to become aware of your body, so you focus your attention starting with your head, becoming aware of the sensations you can feel. Might be the tempreture of your skin, a breese in your hair. Then moving down to each part of your body very slowly paying attention to sensations. How your clothes feel on your skin etc.

Then moving onto what you can hear, the noises outisde the room, just noticing them, right now I can here rain on the window, the general noise of traffic. Then you listen to the noise direclty around you. I can hear the gentle hum of my water heater, some soft nosies of people talking near by. Then the noises in your body. The sound of your breath, maybe you can hear your heart.

Even going through this process of becoming aware of your surroundings is calming, it takes your mind out of the cycles of whatever you've been focusing on and forces you to just be in the moment. Stop thinking about what happened in the day, or what might happen in the future and just purely being conscious of what is happening around you.

Then the mindfulness starts with breathing. You might start to follow the whole breathing, noticing the sensation as the air hits your noise, how it feels going down your wind passage. How it feels as your chest stretches out the fabric on your bothing. The sound of the air coming in and going out. And taking some time to be aware of this process.

Then you focus on one point. Could be your chest going up and down. I normally focus on the sensation at the end of my nose. And you focus on that and nothing else. Your mind will constantly wonder, as its not trained to focus on one thing.

It can be frustrating, if you're agitated it might be hard to keep yourself focused and it may not have an immediate affect on stopping anxious feelings.

But over time it can have a very profound affect.

There are also so really nice videos on youtube. This chap takes a different view on how to medidate than I was taught at the buddhist centre, but its essentially the same thing.

It does take commitment though, but its a very rewarding thing to peservere at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH2sEqrCza4

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E

This guy is awesome, he has written a really good book about happiness which is worth reading.

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

And:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_30JzRGDHI

Finally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7d-KozmokQ

That should be enough to get you started. :)

[graham58]

Try reading the following book if you have no luck getting with a therapist

Mindful Way Through Depression by Mark Williams a good insight into mindfulness and there is also a good webpage with links

www.getselfhelp.co.uk/mindfulness.htm (http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/mindfulness.htm)

and

http://www.mbct.co.uk/

Thanks for the links, I'm looking at them now.


Graham .

[graham58]

The best way to learn is to go to a buddhist mindfulness class. If you're based in London there are loads, the one I go to is the London buddhist centre, which is close to Bethnal Green tube. If not, there are a few movies on youtube, they're not that great, but better than nothing. I have pasted some below for you.

http://www.lbc.org.uk/Meditationclass.htm

The firsts thing is to find a comfortabel sitting position, normally you want to sit on a cusion, sometimes at the start its best to stradle a cussion so your almost on your knees as it takes time to get used to the proper position.

Then you start to become aware of your body, so you focus your attention starting with your head, becoming aware of the sensations you can feel. Might be the tempreture of your skin, a breese in your hair. Then moving down to each part of your body very slowly paying attention to sensations. How your clothes feel on your skin etc.

Then moving onto what you can hear, the noises outisde the room, just noticing them, right now I can here rain on the window, the general noise of traffic. Then you listen to the noise direclty around you. I can hear the gentle hum of my water heater, some soft nosies of people talking near by. Then the noises in your body. The sound of your breath, maybe you can hear your heart.

Even going through this process of becoming aware of your surroundings is calming, it takes your mind out of the cycles of whatever you've been focusing on and forces you to just be in the moment. Stop thinking about what happened in the day, or what might happen in the future and just purely being conscious of what is happening around you.

Then the mindfulness starts with breathing. You might start to follow the whole breathing, noticing the sensation as the air hits your noise, how it feels going down your wind passage. How it feels as your chest stretches out the fabric on your bothing. The sound of the air coming in and going out. And taking some time to be aware of this process.

Then you focus on one point. Could be your chest going up and down. I normally focus on the sensation at the end of my nose. And you focus on that and nothing else. Your mind will constantly wonder, as its not trained to focus on one thing.

It can be frustrating, if you're agitated it might be hard to keep yourself focused and it may not have an immediate affect on stopping anxious feelings.

But over time it can have a very profound affect.

There are also so really nice videos on youtube. This chap takes a different view on how to medidate than I was taught at the buddhist centre, but its essentially the same thing.

It does take commitment though, but its a very rewarding thing to peservere at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH2sEqrCza4

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E

This guy is awesome, he has written a really good book about happiness which is worth reading.

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

And:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_30JzRGDHI

Finally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7d-KozmokQ

That should be enough to get you started. :)

Good post, and thanks for the video links; I'll take a look when I'm on a system which has access to broadband.

Graham .

[~glowly worm~]

Hi there,
I attended mindfulness groups for a whole yr and it has helped me immensely with the panic. Takes a lot of work, is not a miracle cure :( and can be very odd at first - ie; they get you to observe things like the taste of a sweet without putting any labels on it or even watching bubbles float past and letting anxieties pop with them ;) By the end i actually found myself waking up and automatically feeling the bed to ground myself (sounds od but really helped with the waking up panicky thing). Also learned to mindfully make a cup of tea- very soothing. It isnt widely offered on NHS but if you get it offered its well worth a shot, also if it isnt offered to you its worth doing some research to see if there IS a group or pracittioner near you (as many are training in it now) and ask for a refferral.
As well as therapeutic it can also be fun and id recommend anyone give it a go x

[~glowly worm~]

http://behavioraltech.org/index.cfm?CFID=33524945&CFTOKEN=61733763

this website was recommended to me by a practitioner also, hope it gives u a bit more info altho its more about dbt than mindfulness , mindflness is a key part of DBT ;)

[trooper]

http://www.breathingspacelondon.org.uk/

[wane]

yes my doctor gave me a cd with it on. Despite practising for 40 minutes a day for 3 months last year i didnt really find it did much for me to be honest. Having said that i believe it is the number 1 therapy (besides cbt) believed or approved by professionals to help reduce stress/anxiety.

[Martin Burridge]

When I did my CBT training least year I was taught mindfulness for Panic Disorder and Depression so it is becoming more common.
CBT is available on the NHS but whether the therapist they send you to has also trained in mindfulness is going to be pot luck really.

[Primula]

I've been learning mindfulness since last May, and it really has made a big difference to how I feel and how I see life. There are a lot of good books you can buy online on the subject. The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris is a good one. It's helped with my health anxiety no end. Instead of the traditional replacing negative thought with positive, I feel it uses a more realistic way of looking at problems. Eg, when I have the thought that I might have cancer, mindfulness teaches you to accept that thought and gently thank your mind for the thought, and then carry on with whatever you were doing. It doesn't mean that I wont ever go to the doctor if I think I'm ill, but it makes me think more rationally. It's difficult to explain, but if you have a look at websites on Mindfullness you will be better able to understand what to do.

It is starting to come into the NHS but not in all areas as yet. Have a look at this website http://www.bemindful.co.uk/ it gives details of courses in your area and good books to read.

[Kitarist]

Gonna try this :)

[HarrogateChris]

Mindfulness has been a fantastic help to me.

Chris

[rainshower]

I find mindfulness meditation amazing! :)

[PUGLETMUM]

:yesyes:yes mindfullness meditation can help a great deal - practising being in the present and accepting things as they are is a big help - as depression can be caused by struggling with what is and with a constant desire to be 'happy' - i got into it through the mark williams book and through jon kabat zinn - from what ive read about the subject, this will eventually be how the nhs delivers help for depression as its very cost effective - the ppl who are pioneeering it are all doctors and professors at universites around the world, they do want to help, and it does help, bit like anything its early days :yesyes: there is one place down south - dorset i think that is linked to jon kabat zin where you can do retreats - it is a hope of mine that i will go there one day:shades:

[Hope33]

Sorry for not replying to all of your messages. Been absent for a long time.
I truly appreciate all of your replies.
Thank you all so much! :hugs:

---------- Post added at 23:06 ---------- Previous post was at 23:01 ----------


Have had courses in this from PMHC team, I practice the 3 minute and half hour meditation every day. there is a CD of Meditations I would be happy to zip and mail to you if you feel it would be helpful?

Would love it if you could send me a copy! :hugs:

---------- Post added at 23:09 ---------- Previous post was at 23:06 ----------


The best way to learn is to go to a buddhist mindfulness class. If you're based in London there are loads, the one I go to is the London buddhist centre, which is close to Bethnal Green tube. If not, there are a few movies on youtube, they're not that great, but better than nothing. I have pasted some below for you.

http://www.lbc.org.uk/Meditationclass.htm

The firsts thing is to find a comfortabel sitting position, normally you want to sit on a cusion, sometimes at the start its best to stradle a cussion so your almost on your knees as it takes time to get used to the proper position.

Then you start to become aware of your body, so you focus your attention starting with your head, becoming aware of the sensations you can feel. Might be the tempreture of your skin, a breese in your hair. Then moving down to each part of your body very slowly paying attention to sensations. How your clothes feel on your skin etc.

Then moving onto what you can hear, the noises outisde the room, just noticing them, right now I can here rain on the window, the general noise of traffic. Then you listen to the noise direclty around you. I can hear the gentle hum of my water heater, some soft nosies of people talking near by. Then the noises in your body. The sound of your breath, maybe you can hear your heart.

Even going through this process of becoming aware of your surroundings is calming, it takes your mind out of the cycles of whatever you've been focusing on and forces you to just be in the moment. Stop thinking about what happened in the day, or what might happen in the future and just purely being conscious of what is happening around you.

Then the mindfulness starts with breathing. You might start to follow the whole breathing, noticing the sensation as the air hits your noise, how it feels going down your wind passage. How it feels as your chest stretches out the fabric on your bothing. The sound of the air coming in and going out. And taking some time to be aware of this process.

Then you focus on one point. Could be your chest going up and down. I normally focus on the sensation at the end of my nose. And you focus on that and nothing else. Your mind will constantly wonder, as its not trained to focus on one thing.

It can be frustrating, if you're agitated it might be hard to keep yourself focused and it may not have an immediate affect on stopping anxious feelings.

But over time it can have a very profound affect.

There are also so really nice videos on youtube. This chap takes a different view on how to medidate than I was taught at the buddhist centre, but its essentially the same thing.

It does take commitment though, but its a very rewarding thing to peservere at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH2sEqrCza4

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E

This guy is awesome, he has written a really good book about happiness which is worth reading.

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

And:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_30JzRGDHI

Finally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7d-KozmokQ

That should be enough to get you started. :)


Thank you so much for all the web links! :hugs: