How to perform nonjudgmental meditation?

Hi, @aliali - thanks for bringing up this topic. Just wanted to be sure members have a little additional context for this discussion, if you don't mind sharing a bit more.

When you talk about meditation for the purpose of alleviating depression, was this something you read about or that someone mentioned to you? When you speak of nonjudgmental, do you mean focusing on something without making any judgements on it whatsoever?

I am reading a book which is supposed to help me fight depression and it recommended to learn the so-called nonjudgmental meditation. The book is not concerned with meditation so it didn’t discuss how to perform such meditation. I think what you mentioned about the definition of nonjudgmental is true; it teaches NOT to judge .

Hi, @aliali - I'd like to invite into this discussion @kbmayo @river19 @elained @uldiver @secretwhitepop @hopeful33250, who have all mentioned utilizing meditation as they cope with a variety of illnesses. Hoping they will have information and experiences to share with using non-judgmental meditation to ease depression or similar.

I'm guessing that non-judgmental meditation would be referring to the Mindfulness Meditation. You can Google to get information. The non-judgmental part is that when your mind wanders (as it will do) you bring your attention back to the breath non-judgmentally rather than thinking of it as "failing" meditation. Mindful Meditation has gone mainstream due to Jon Kabat-Zinn. He is professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (in 1995). He is also the founder (in 1979) of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and of UMass Medical Schools, world-renowned MBSR Clinic.He developed a form called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that is also used for those that want to meditate primarily for stress reduction. I first learned about Mindfulness from a "60-Minute" episode featuring Anderson Cooper's experience. After that I took a free course online from a man who was trained by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I was very skeptical, but I stuck with the course and realized that it did make a big difference in my health. (I will try to find the link to that course if you are interested.) There are also MANY apps to download that will guide you through mindful meditations. I started out with the Calm app ( https://www.calm.com)@aliali.

@that_girl Thank you for the spot on clarification of non judgmental meditation. Sometimes the most difficult concept is to have self-compassion. Another concept that resonates with me is to practice mindful speech. Just answer these three questions before you respond. 1. Is it kind? 2. Is it necessary? 3. Is it true? And so, our words, even to ourselves are compassionate and supportive. Be safe and free of suffering today. Chris

I am now off Effexor for 4 months now, which was for anxiety and depression. I now manage these maladies via mindfulness meditation, exercise and Buddhist Wisdom. Mindfulness meditation Controls brain chemistry just like SSRI’s do and it changes the brain structure and makes you more peaceful. Google this. Exercise increases endorphin production (feel good hormones). Changing negative thinking patterns changes the structure of your brain to better cope with the world. In my case I practice Buddhism. I think cognitive therapy will do the same however I have no experience with this myself. For me this multi-prong approach works well. If anyone has more questions please ask. Kind Regards Jeff

Thanks for inviting me in, Lisa. I'm trying to be consistent with mindfulness meditation; I know it helps because it helps me to see how transitory my thoughts are and how my ``monkey mind'' loves to jump from one thing to another and wants me to follow those jumps ad infinitum, which never takes me to a good place. I'm currently starting on ``The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety.'' Its approach is a bit different and I like it; it seems a little more realistic for me. I do find it helpful to try to stay in the present and to remind myself when scary or anxiety-inducing thoughts come into my head ``thinking . . . thinking . . . thinking'' and let them pass on out. (For me, anxiety is more of a problem than depression. Depression I really don't like, but I know what it is and it doesn't scare me, just bums me out. Anxiety can scare the hell out of me and send me into a seemingly endless thought loop that just gets scarier and scarier until I'm almost in phobia territory. It limits my world severely, so that's why I'm focusing on dealing with anxiety.) And exercise helps; so does intentionally shifting my mental focus away from navel-gazing to other things; watching my diet and being especially careful about sugar and caffeine. Low blood sugar in itself can bring on an anxiety attack and the symptoms of low blood sugar are very similar to those of an anxiety or panic attack.

@kbmayo I am more concerned with the anxiety than the depression also. The anxiety is so huge and so unrelenting and soooooo uncomfortable! I am eliminating extra sugars and caffeine from my diet as well. I think it is helping me some. Good luck on your journey and thank you for sharing your experiences.

And best of luck to you, too! Your description of the anxiety is spot-on in my experience.