YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

My anxiety has been really bad lately. I've been toying with the idea of meditation, because I know that it's something that helps a lot of people. However, finding a meditation guide/primer without any religion or spirituality attached to it is giving me trouble. I don't want god. I don't want to be one with the universe. I just want to be able to calm the fuck down, even slightly.

If anyone has any books/apps/websites for woo-free meditation, I'd very much appreciate it.


(Yes, I should probably be seeing a therapist/taking meds, but that's a different topic of discussion, and one that really triggers my anxiety, so I'd rather not get into it here).

I just started subscribing to a podcast called 10% Happier with Dan Harris, and noticed there is also a meditation app on itunes called Meditation for Skeptics by 10% Happier.

This past year I was searching for a therapist and I'm a bit appalled at how much pseudo-science is included in the therapy that is covered by my insurance. I sometimes wish they had a "woo-free" designation and a "faith-free" designation that therapists could self-identify with in my insurance provider directory in the same way they can self-identify as "faith-based".

Thank you. That looks like pretty much exactly what I'm after.

You're welcome, E., hope it helps.

Hey E, please let us know how it goes! I'm trying to get into meditation as well, and am struggling a bit. (Though a lot of that is just me not doing it, which is obviously a "me" problem.)

I spoke to a friend about it the other day, and I told him I'd been trying unguided meditation on my own. He told me that that was like "hard mode" and I thought he had a point. He recommended the Headspace app. I tried the first session in the free pack yesterday. I thought it went pretty well and, at least in that session, there wasn't any spirituality. There are specific meditation packs for things like depression, and anxiety, but it looks like most of the content is paid. I was going to go through the free content and then see if I thought the paid might be worth it.

Didn't mean to sound as though I'm anti-religion, anti-spirituality, or anti-alternative medicine. Just my personal preference due to heavily fundamentalist religious background not to feel comfortable with faith-based counseling and even some of the more out there new age stuff that I've encountered in therapy (including astrology). Also not opposed to alternative medicine but when it is a technique that has been studied and shown to be ineffective then I don't want to waste my time & money.

I'm at the same place as you are, Murphy, trying to start meditating more regularly (after resisting it for years!) I'm trying out the Calm app that was recommended on MIHH. Doing the free parts right now. Also sometimes use a free guided meditation podcast called Meditation Oasis. Maybe a bit more spirituality than I was looking for but the woman's voice is so soothing that I keep going back to it. And I signed up for a day-long "introduction to meditation" retreat next month.

I use a free app called Calm, and it's helping me squeeze in meditation in my day.

I'm not a beginner (but not a guru either) but I feel confident a beginner could start out on this too!

When I remember to make meditation a priority, it really helps my anxiety (agoraphobia).

Also, check out the ProjectMeditation YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/projectmeditation/videos
These are guided meditations, that I used a lot when I started out. Very easy to approach, they don't require any experience with meditation.

Hope you find a good start to meditation, it's really one of those free things that can do a world of good.

Murphy wrote:I spoke to a friend about it the other day, and I told him I'd been trying unguided meditation on my own. He told me that that was like "hard mode" and I thought he had a point.

Hi Murphy. I just wanted to let you know, that I am totally with your friend on this one. Unguided meditation is a lot more difficult, and if you're struggling to make it work for you, I'd really recommend getting an app like Calm or Headspace and use that. This being said, once you get the hang of it, you can totally meditate without any aid.. Just don't doze off

Thanks. I'm slowly going through the free pack now...need to get better about doing it every day. But it has been helpful so far.

I do 20 minutes a day.