Meditation for anxiety

My current yoga classes offer no Eastern Philosophy. There are many choices for all levels--Gentle stretching, core-strength, restorative yoga. All classes encourage modifying each exercise based on ability and preference. I do plan on attending a class on meditation at a Buddhist center which I imagine will have a focus on Buddhist philosophy. While all of my current classes include a period for meditation, the time allowed for this is short. It has taken me several years to achieve the ability to sustain the relaxation response in meditation and I hope to bee able to bring more of this into my daily life to help with coping with the drugs I need to take since my liver transplant. I am approaching this with an open mind.

@veronicat I am including a link here that may answer questions that you have
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/advice-on-using-hrt-please/
Please let us know by posting into that discussion, if you get the answers you seek! Have you recently had a hysterectomy?
Ginger

From my experience using meditation to address anxiety, initially meditation might actually worsen your anxiety because it makes you more acutely aware of it. However, becoming more aware of it and learning to understand why you feel anxious is the only way, as far as I can tell, to really rid yourself of your anxiety. Trying to ignore anxiety didn't work at all for me; my anxiety would just start coming out in unexpected ways.

In the long run, meditation has helped me greatly reduce my anxiety as well as my anger issues. It's well worth it just be aware it's not a panacea; you have to work for it and most importantly have patience with yourself (it's invaluable and I'm personally awful at it.)

I often have trouble turning my brain off, and will lie in bed until I either get up or get focused enough on prayer and/or thinking about what I read in my Bible when I got into bed.

Meditation means different things to different people. Some advocate emptying the mind and practice mindfulness, which I do to begin my meditation, but I don't want to leave it there because lying with an empty mind precludes refilling it at some point, whether the refill is voluntary and purposeful or involuntary and uncontrolled. I prefer to be in control of what I allow into my consciousness.

So my meditation consists of purging my thoughts of negative, harmful topics, and replace them with positive, healthy, holy ones. Sometimes more quickly successful than others. But it's pretty much the only thing that has helped.

There are many websites and books that approach the subject, from numerous perspectives. I hope we can each find something that will work for us.

Jim

Hi Anne and Group,

Meditation is a powerful tool for managing and alleviating symptoms of depression. It offers a holistic approach to mental well-being by addressing the root causes of depressive thoughts and emotions. Through regular practice, meditation cultivates a state of mindfulness and awareness, allowing individuals to observe their thoughts and feelings without judgment. This non-reactive stance helps break the cycle of negative thinking patterns and promotes a more positive and compassionate mindset.

One of the key benefits of meditation for depression is its ability to reduce stress and anxiety levels. Deep breathing techniques and focused attention during meditation activate the body's relaxation response, leading to a decrease in cortisol levels and an overall sense of calmness. This can be particularly helpful for individuals with depression, as excessive stress and anxiety often exacerbate symptoms and contribute to a downward spiral of negative thoughts.

Moreover, meditation encourages self-compassion and self-acceptance, which are crucial elements in managing depression. By developing a non-judgmental attitude towards oneself, individuals can cultivate a sense of kindness and understanding, counteracting the self-critical tendencies often associated with depression. This practice helps individuals build resilience and fosters a more positive self-image, promoting a greater sense of overall well-being.

Meditation offers a valuable approach to managing depression by addressing its underlying causes and promoting a more positive and compassionate mindset. Through cultivating mindfulness and relaxation, meditation reduces stress and anxiety levels, contributing to improved mental health. By fostering self-compassion and self-acceptance, it helps individuals break free from negative thinking patterns and build resilience in the face of depression.

When I feel an anxiety bolt coming up, I focus on my breathing, it took a couple of years before it really had a good (noticeable) effect, but now sometimes I find myself without noticing doing some deep breath at work, when the stress levels start coming up.

There are great resources online, specially on Youtube, note for the purposes of using for meditation I suggest try for a couple of months the premium option (I got lucky and when I bought my Samsung phone in 2019, it came with one Year of Free Premiun YT), without ads, there is a fee, but no interruptions, I noted that some meditation channels only place ads at the beginning of the tracks, but my best experiences with that site were sleeping with 6-8 hours tracks, without ads.

Life will throw you some curve balls, and as we learn to take a deep breath and be 99% in the present moment, before be able to do daily meditation, I experimented a lot of some passive alternatives, like playing subliminal music all the time, at one point I had someone mix a subliminal track on the back of some 2 hour dance music track I like to play while doing errands.

I grew up watching Superman, and the concept of the "Fortress of Solitude", always got my attention, so I also brought some crystals into my daily meditation, each person has a different energy field, but for me Rose Crystal (learning to love myself and say NO) helped a lot. And I just started experimenting meditation with Selenite (before I only used to clean other crystals) and there something to this crystal...

Namasteh

Francisco

Some online options:
... links removed but you can search on Youtube for "abraham meditation" and the other link was "10 Minute Meditation for Anxiety"

Welcome, @fzangerolame. I noticed that you wished to post URLs to videos with your post. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe. Clearly the links you wanted to post are not spam. Please allow me to post them for you.

10-Minute Meditation For Anxiety
https://youtu.be/O-6f5wQXSu8

@fzangerolame, I notice in your profile bio, you have also recovered from stroke. I'd like to hear more about your recovery journey. Your story and encouragement would be welcome in the
- Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases Support Group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/cerebrovascular-diseases/

And given your interest in meditation, you might be interested in this blog:
- Health & Mindfulness Blog https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/mindfulness-in-health/

Yes mindfulness is wonderful.
Calm is a paid app
insight timer is free or paid. I use free and find lots I like
Calm is great.

Thank you so much

Thanks Colleen @colleenyoung ring from the stroke was a life changing experience, learning to walk, speak, all the physiotherapy involved, the most important lessons I learned, I treat sleep like a medicine today, I learned to turn off my phone 2-3 hours before bed time, same with TV, I was always interested into meditation.

But I started the daily meditation after the stroke, and I notice it helped a lot. One meditation tool I use 2-3 times a week is a Meditation App called Tripp, and I run the app inside the 3D device called Oculus.

There are two kinds of Tripps (there so a lot more inside) that I use the most
Focus Tripps and Relaxing Tripps, the Focus trips are amazing.

If you already own the Oculus device, try the Tripp app for free, and if you like, I suggest getting the lifetime one time payment option.

I tried in 2020, I loved it...I signed up for the month to month, but after month 2 it was clear I was hooked,,, and at least in 2020, there was not easy way to switch from month to month to Lifetime...so I had to cancel and signup again.

Also on the latest App Update, a new feature was introduced, something call Elysium??? not 100% on the spelling, but basically the more you use the app, they give you some amazing virtual objects, that you can place in your virtual meditation room, which you create and overlay over the space you are using the app, so image an amazing candle (the timer) burning on the top of you real table....then some colorful butterflies....will stop here not to spoil.

There are some other meditation apps available, but this one is my favorite, my daily routine still focus on a regular meditation session < 20 minutes, but when time allows I have an amazing Oculus Tripp right after the meditation.

Yes there is a learning curve, I had to learn the Oculus Device first (lots of Youtube videos about) then the Tripp App, I use in recline mode, so if a fall sleep, the weight of the device will not hurt your neck.

I will check the other 2 threads you mentioned.