Meditation to Ease Anxiety
I recently started attending a meditation class, which I've found to be really beneficial in easing my anxiety. I really enjoy using guided meditations (including the ones on 7 Cups!), but I find a lot of them are very short and have very similar content, although I did find Jason Stephenson's youtube channel which posts longer meditation videos.
I'd like to develop my interest in meditation, and I'm interested to hear other people's experiences with how meditating has affected their anxiety.
Have you ever tried meditating? If not, would you like to?
How long have you practiced meditation? How has the way you meditate changed since you started?
Did you feel it had any effect on your anxiety?
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
http://www.calm.com is an excellent site for guided meditations 2-20 minutes
What a great resource! Thanks for sharing this.
Guided sleep meditations on you tube I use a lot for getting to sleep without them the anxious thoughts just take over. Particularly like the ones by Jody Whitely
However through the day I try to practice mindfulness, which for me has been a great addition to my days.
I always find meditation really useful, particularly after a stressful day or a day when I have been feeling very anxious or panicked. One of my favourite ones is by Diana Parkinson on youtube. It's about 10 minutes long. I started doing meditation in counselling at university. I went every Friday morning for an hour and for about 20 minutes, my counsellor would do some meditation with me and recorded the sessions so I had a CD I could listen to. I also keep that in my draw, it helped me a lot when I was away from home and family last year. I would definitely advise any one to try meditation if they suffer from anxiety, there are many videos on youtube and it helps you to bring you out of your surroundings and just concentrate on your breathing or even something completely different.
Meditation played a major role in my recovery. Although I mainly sat with silence, I've found guided meditations by Gil Fronsdal and Jon Kabat-Zinn useful as well.
Over the years, I've found that having a regular practice is really important. Five minutes daily will probably be more beneficial than sitting for half an hour once a week. With regular practice, I was able to drop into a deeper state of relaxation much more readily.
If you'd like to develop your practice further, one avenue is to practice mindfulness in other areas of your life. For example, can you bring a similar quality of heightened awareness to everyday tasks such as washing the dishes, or brushing your teeth? Spreading tiny moments of mindfulness through your day can help cultivate the sense of calm you get in your meditation practice.
I'm so happy to hear that other people are finding this helpful! It's great to see these resources being shared.
@Clouder
For me meditatation is about getting back into a quiet mind, so rampant thoughts and emotions especially anxious ones are an impediment. So I usually "carry" this "first aid kit" wherever I go. It is not trying to change anything, just to be aware of breathing and counting silently to myself. When I focus on that it disrupts the unruly thoughts or emotions and with persistence will restore a sense of calm and relaxation.
Here are the simple instructions.
While breathing naturally, silently count one on the inhale. Two on the exhale, three on the inhale...continuing up to 10. Then start at one again. Allow the breath to be naturally but belly breathing can be more relaxing if that is natural.
meditation always helps me calm down
I have notes on chakra cleanses which is essentially focusing you energy on specific chakra points in your body through meditation and cleansing out the bad energy:
Root chakras
Color: red
Location: base of pelvic bone
Function: this chakra represents the physical, root, survival, security, your base
Sacral Chakra
Color: orange
Location: groin/lower abdomen
Function: sexual energy, creativity
Solar Plexus
Color: Yellow
Location: Stomach/gut
Function: personal power, control, freedom, mental energy
Heart Chakra
Color: Green
Location: heart and lung area
Function: love, compassion, empathy, healing
Throat Chakra
Color: Blue
Location: Throat
Function: communication, expression, speech
Third Eye
Color: Indigo/purple
Location: right between your eyebrows
Function: intuition, psychic abilities, clairvoyance
Crown Chakra
Color: white or violet
Location: top of the head
Function: consciousness, connection to the universal life energy
Hi, easing or relieving the anxiety is a bone to chew! But if people are meditating the right way, it can help them, first of all you need to choose the right meditation you need, be patience and get in to it otherwise it will not work for you [edited by Anomalia to remove product promotion]
@gentleJet9792. I began meditating recently. So far I really like it and does seem to help. I'm using a guided meditation app on my iPhone. It's called 10% Happier. There are videos with short explanations and then a short guided meditation. So far it's been really insightful. It does cost $10 a month and I'm sure there are other equally good guided meditations that can be found for free. But I'm enjoying it anyway.
And if I sleep on normal pattern, will it reduce my stress?
@gentleJet9792 Yes. Sleeping always helps. :)
Hi, I am new to meditation so if any of you has tried it, please tell me more about it, thanks in advance!
@Jasmin1234
meditation is hard for me.. But I have been able to use guided meditation to clear my mind, relax me and I fell asleep.. 3 times in the past week or so.
i started listening to guided meditation while having what I consider a severe anxiety attack... And it calmed me!
Hi, I am new to meditation so if any of you has tried it, please tell me more about it, thanks in advance!
