Meditation

[Nogodsnomasters]

Has anyone found that meditation has actually changed their life or their mental health? I have meditated for about 4yrs now, guided meditations and yoga nidra. I find that while I'm doing it for the 5-20 minutes it helps and feels good and I relax but it doesn't seem to have any impact other than in the moment itself. It's not decreased my overall anxiety. Anyone else?

Anyone?

I've tried meditation, it only works for the moment. Sometimes I do breathing exercises in the moments of overwhelm. Are you currently using any apps for your meditations?

No, it’s not something that works for me

Do you find them via youtube then?

I have changed my life by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo which roughly translates "I dedicate my life to the Mystic Law as expounded in the Lotus Sutra". The Lotus Sutra is the last sutra of Shakamuni Buddha. Chanting and studying the Lotus Sutra with other local Buddhists has massively transformed my life for the better in the last 12 years. You can find more info on SGI-UK website

Yes, helpful to an extent. Not mindfulness medications, but I meditate on the thing that I am working on or worrying about. So I might search 'meditation on family relationships' or 'mediation on catastrophising' They I try to revisit the bits I found powerful throughout the day

It's a mix of things that can help and who knows, perhaps your wellbeing would be worse if it wasn't for the meditation.

Here's a link to a good short podcast.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zoe-science-nutrition/id1611216298?i=1000644626247

Sorry forgot link

Mindful meditation regularly practiced will eventually lead you to mindlessness.

As meditation is practiced and thoughts are observed, the practitioner will eventually come to the realisation that all thoughts are unreal and that which observes the thoughts is real.

When that shift occurs, that which is real will be constant 24/7 and that which is unreal fades.

In essence the meditative state is one's natural state which occurs whilst one is practicing meditation therefore the knowing of the natural state is being witnessed.

Intrusive thoughts return once the meditation is complete because the person has come out of the natural state.

My advice is keep meditating with an experienced guide who can show you how to stop judging, opinionating and attaching to thoughts.

There will be at some stage the realisation that thoughts are occurring but occurring for no-one.

What caused you to feel the way you do? Recognising and dealing with that is the key to good mental health.

@Eyesopenwideawake hmmmmmm !

" what caused you to feel the way you do"?

How can you find the answer to this?

Isn't this the opposite of meditating- to release our thoughts, judgements and opinions?

I really appreciate your contributions.

When you were a baby you didn't feel anxious. Crawl butt naked into a room of mum's friends? No problem. Throw food around because it's funny? Of course! Sing and dance like you're auditioning for Boyzone (check out their Late Late show debut if you don't know what I'm talking about!)? Hell yeah!

Children are only born with two fears; being dropped and loud noises. Anything else is learn along the way, as are habits and ways of thinking. Dad bites his nails? I want to be like him so I'll do the same. Granny screams when she sees a spider? Tick (never mind that yesterday I was eating them!).

I see SO many clients who are stuck in child-like thought patterns or behaviours simply because they accepted them as truths during the crucial period between about 18 months and 10 years, when the conscious part of the mind starts to develop and you begin questioning if what you're being told is actually true. I'm not talking about abuse, just those traits that get passed from generation to generation without question. Or those 'throw away' remark from an aunt (or a stranger) when you were 8 "Oh, she looks like a boy/she's chubby/she's blushes a lot." Etc, etc.

The good news is that anything the mind can learn, it can unlearn. That's why it's so important to try and find the root cause that sowed the seed of a way of thinking or behaving that's now not adding to our happiness.

Sorry for the essay!!

Yes, I feel it has positively helped me. My mental health is generally poor, but for the past year I have meditated every day between 5-20 minutes. I have found I am soo much more patient and considered especially with the kids (I home educate so this is very helpful )

Where do you find meditations? any recommendations? xx

This is true tbh it could well be and I wouldn't be surprised

I already recognize the cause of my anxiety, I am diagnosed with health anxiety and PTSD along with a few related phobias. I have had counselling before and am currently just beginning another round of counselling. The knowing and understanding hasn't helped me unfortunately.

Yes.. I use the balance app. Free for first year, but I paid for a lifetime membership when they offered me a deal. I really rate it

I use insight timer app, the dare app by Barry mcdonagh (the author) and I also use some from YouTube especially for guided yoga nidra. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy the relaxation it provides me in the moment and that's why I continue it but as I say it's not had any long term effects that I can see nor decreased my overall mental health problems.

I suffer from repetitive intrusive thoughts. Mediation helps a lot. They really wind down after a while. But otherwise, not really in terms of feeling less stressed.

Have you tried hypnotherapy? It has been recognised by the British Medical Association since 1965. I used it for a specific anxiety, the results far exceeded my expectations as I was rather skeptical to start with (I tried hypnotherapy of desperation. It was the best £300 I ever spent). Like with any therapy the key is probably finding a therapist you can click with. I spoke to a few of hypnotherapists the phone before setting up a face to face session.

No I have never tried hypnotherapy, how many sessions did you need to notice a difference?

Meditation alongside other methods have changed my life.

Guided meditations tend not to work for me, I don’t get to a meditative state with them. I looked into other ways to meditate and found ones that worked for me. Now I use a combination of methods.

Working on my thoughts, noticing when I’m in an overthinking negative spiral and consistently acting on it - either using mindfulness (easier with daily meditation), finding things to lift my mood even a little bit, making time to do things that make me happy and writing it all down, and practicing gratitude every day has made a huge difference.

Stopping myself from thinking unhelpful stuff was difficult at the start, but definitely worth it.

Yes, yoga and meditation is amazing. But what really worked for my mental health was housing security (got a council house after 11 years on the list).
Therapy witha trauna informed psychotherapist and being awarded pip,esa and a carer.

Thanks, I also practice gratitude daily using an app which also gives daily affirmations. The gratitude helps a smidge. I know I've got a decent amount to be thankful for but I've also had a pretty shitty life with a lot of trauma too. I had a first counselling session today and the counsellor actually shed a tear when I told her what I'd endured in life...

I did 5 one to one sessions in late pregnancy. I was sure I couldn't cope with labour pain and I didn't want an epidural. I remember being very skeptical but desperate enough to try anything. The first session we just talked. The rest of the sessions I was hypnotised under some gentle music. I was given the copy of the music. I listened to it in labour and I was so incredibly relaxed. I hardly felt any pain and progressed very quickly. My midwife said she had never seen anything like this before. I had a perfectly natural birth. I went back to the same lady a few years later as I used to have a bad habit of talking too much when stressed. I think we had about 10 sessions altogether. We would start by a chat abiut my specific triggers, she would suggest strategies, then she would hypnotised me for about 40 minutes (each session was 1.5 hours long). I would say her sessions really worked. She was very intuitive, I think one has to be in this line of work. I always felt very comfortable with her