No where to turn - Is Meditation the answer ??

[mayday]

I am at my wits end. I won't go into the details but I feel really stressed and low.
A friend advised me to pracitice meditation. Are there different sorts ? WIll it help ? Do I have to go on a course ? WIll it take ages to learn ?
Thank you

I practise Transcendental Meditation, have done for 20 years and it's a great stress reliever. It takes a week and I think it's quite pricey unless you are on benefits.

Website www.t-m.org.uk

I have never tried any other sorts of med so can't comment on them

Hope you feel better soon (())

If you're broke, try and find a local church that is open during the day, and sit there quietly. Even if you don't have any particular faith the peace and quiet and the silence will help calm you. If you do have a faith half an hours quiet prayer time would be a great relaxer. When I was having a very bad time I had counselling, and although it was something that i had riduculed a bit in the past I did have to eat my words as I found it very helpful to put my problems right in my mind. I got that free as we have a workplace cousellour. Hope that you are soon feeling a bit better, Mumsnetters are really good at helping out when people have a problem, I'm sure someone will be a bit more use on the meditation thing than me!

Mayday, I am sorry that you are feeling low and stressed. I agree with your friend that meditation can help. You can attend meditation classes and sometimes it is practised as part of a yoga or t'ai chi class (both really good stress busters). However, it is most beneficial practised on a daily basis (even as little as 10 mins). Just set aside 10 mins a day when you will not be disturbed & take the phone off the hook. To begin I would suggest using a meditation CD or cassette, as it can be quite difficult to learn to switch off. I would recommend The Joy of Meditating by Sally Merrill Redfield. Once it has become a habit you may find you can meditate at any time without the need of audio. Personally, whilst there are many books on the subject, I've found them really unhelpful as I am not interested in the theory just the practice. HTH. Winnie

Hi Mayday...
Sorry to hear that you are feeling so low... I have found meditation to be of help when I had really bad patches. I learned it with a yoga teacher, it was 8 weeks at £3 a go.... so very cheap. I don't practice it much anymore (and I should) but DH has NOT stopped and he has changed quite a bit.... far more secure, happy within himself, quite striking actually.

Hi Mayday, sorry you're feeling so bad. Thought I'd add my two pennyworth on relaxation - which isn't strictly speaking meditation - but you can do this now, and for free !!!

OK - find a quiet place - ideally somewhere you like such as the garden, in the sun, in the bath (with lavender oil & candles burning), in bed - or anywhere really !! I've even done it in the car before interviews/meetings etc...

Close your eyes, inhale deeply through your nose (mouth closed) whilst slowly counting to 5, hold the breath for another count of 5 then exhale slowly through your mouth (counting to 5 again, empty your lungs - so keep breathing out even when you think you're done. Repeat several times and you should feel calmer if not karma.

Hope that helps a bit anyway, keep posting.

Mayday, would second yoga as a wonderful, calming stress-buster. Try and find a hatha yoga class rather than ashtanga which is more of an aerobic workout. Scatterbrain and Winnie's suggestions sound good, amongst others, hope they help you.