Mental Health What are peoples long term experiences with meditation

[Nas47]

Never know the true meaning of this word.May be this is state of mind,that sometimes achieved with daily routines-work or in the process of creating like painting.....or playin music.for other maybe some kind of inner prayer,a peace of mind.It sometimes happen,but to incorporate this in way of life maybe seems meaningful

 

[Eligiu]

Meditation is one of those things that my therapist suggested way back in 2016 when I started going to see him. I did not engage. The thought of sitting silently with my own thoughts was too difficult to manage.

In 2018 when I did a CPT Trauma group run by my therapist at the practice, I got asked if I wanted to do extra sessions with a provisional psychologist, due to being the only one in the group who was still experiencing the trauma (i.e. for everyone else, the traumatic events were very much a thing of the past. Not so for me). I said yes, because extra support is extra support.

He again, suggested meditation. But to be honest, he was pretty out of his depth. I was still attending the outpatient intensive rehab at the practice, as well as the trauma group, and he really just had no clue what he was doing with me, it was pretty obvious.

However I tried. I did 5 minutes at a time using guided meditation. I use the headspace app. Over that period of time I struggled with it.

By 2020 I was doing it regularly, and managing to meditate for upwards of 30 min at a time, guided. I haven't managed to head off into unguided meditation.

I particularly enjoy the feeling straight after finishing up where I feel as though I am somehow more 'in tune' with everything around me. I do it lying down.

Another thing similar to meditation which I've found useful is 'worry time.' at first the concept of putting aside a 10 minute time period to worry about all my concerns in the evening felt awful, but the more I did it the more I realised that a bunch of the stuff I worried about throughout the day was needless. Now if something comes up I set it aside for my worry time and if I'm still concerned about it I know it needs addressing and if not, well I saved myself a bunch of anxiety.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Another thing similar to meditation which I've found useful is 'worry time.' at first the concept of putting aside a 10 minute time period to worry about all my concerns in the evening felt awful, but the more I did it the more I realised that a bunch of the stuff I worried about throughout the day was needless. Now if something comes up I set it aside for my worry time and if I'm still concerned about it I know it needs addressing and if not, well I saved myself a bunch of anxiety.

is this actually some sort of beneficial exercise someone suggested?

I have "worry time" normally throughout the day due to my anxiety issue lol. It's typically the worst when I try to fall asleep. I will just think about everything wrong in my life, my anxieties, the next day, etc.

I have to use breathing exercises and repeat ideas like "worrying is like solving a math problem by chewing bubble gum, useless" and it eventually tones down and I can sleep.

anyways, I love to meditate, helps a lot, but I struggle to do it regularly just due to discipline issues, and I often have some hypnagogic like hallucinations while I do it which can be just as distracting as dealing with intrusive thoughts

 

[Eligiu]

is this actually some sort of beneficial exercise someone suggested?

I have "worry time" normally throughout the day due to my anxiety issue lol. It's typically the worst when I try to fall asleep. I will just think about everything wrong in my life, my anxieties, the next day, etc.

I have to use breathing exercises and repeat ideas like "worrying is like solving a math problem by chewing bubble gum, useless" and it eventually tones down and I can sleep.

anyways, I love to meditate, helps a lot, but I struggle to do it regularly just due to discipline issues, and I often have some hypnagogic like hallucinations while I do it which can be just as distracting as dealing with intrusive thoughts

So the concept of 'worry time' is that you set aside a specific time frame in the day. For me it's between 7pm and 7:15pm and I'll sit down and allow myself to think about anything I brushed aside earlier in the day, or the night before.

I used to struggle a lot with racing thoughts in bed, but basically if it's something I can fix then and there (setting a reminder, alarm, doing XYZ) then I just tell myself 'i will worry about this tomorrow evening during worry time' because otherwise I just escalate in severity becoming anxiety ridden over things which need not take up that much of my attention.

I actually suggest trying it out if you are a frequent worrier. It may not work and you may not take to it, but I personally have found that it helps.