Meditation to calm the mind

[milk]

Hello,

I have been a pretty anxious person all my life, but it started manifesting itself physically about 6 years ago (short breath, tight chest, anger). I have been taking Paxil for a few months now, and it has relieved me of said symptoms. I want to have a child in the next couple of years and will take myself off of paxil and i expect anxiety will rush back. Since i do not want to be medicated i believe trying to calm my mind and have more control over my thoughts via meditation is a good path to follow.

I have tried a few brief sessions so far, simply focusing on breath, and observing where my mind goes. i do find it calming, and feel that with practice and discipline i will reach a place where anxiety cannot.

This post is simply a recommendation to others, and please share your experiences with meditation.

[gfyourself]

Thanks for posting. I have taken courses for meditation but not have implemented in my daily life. I would like to, its just I... haven't. No excuse, just lack of discipline or something like that.
I would like know how its going as you get further in!

[RationalMuse]

I have done mediation before and found the idea of emptying my mind the opposite of relaxing. I've tried the technique where you imagine concerns filling up balloons and watching them float away. My brain is more like a lazy Susan cupboard - put things away in containers and spin the shelves until there is something I can open and deal with in a manageable way. I have done bio-feedback to help stop and control migraines that I started having when I was around 4 years old. Now I just end up falling asleep when I do those types of relaxation/mediation sessions.

[calvinfoster874]

Meditation is the great and best technique to calm the mind. Meditation is the technique by which we empty our mind and feel very fresh and happy. For the best meditation result always do mediation in the morning session and after mediation your whole days goes very refreshing and full of confidence. Meditation classes in Sydney where i learn the best technique of mediation that are very helpful and beneficial to whole my life.

[Horace]

I've only been meditating for a few months, but it really does help a lot. It's healing to let yourself think and feel anything without judgment.

[donkarp]

As a meditator and former mental patient, my experience is that meditation can be very helpful.
But you'd be best to be with a teacher when starting for several reasons.
Meditation alone can be isolating. In my opinion problems must be dealt with in the world, with others and with life situations, not just in the isolation of meditation.
Also, states achieved during meditation can be frightful, so its good to have a trusted and experienced teacher.

Have you also considered hypnosis? This would have similar relaxing effects, but again, I'd suggest a trained hypnotist before going into self-hypnosis.
There are a lot of good programs available on the web for self-hypnosis.

Enjoy your pregnancy and baby!

[Batman]

I've been meditation with varying degrees of consistency the past two years and it's helped me tremendously to easy my anxiety. You don't really need to take a course, there are great apps to help you get started. My favorite one is Insight Timer, available for both IOS and Iphone. Me and my girlfriend use it all the time. One which is more popular which you might want to check out is Headspace. The 10 day challenge is perfect to get you started, and I would actually recommend anybody who never meditated to start with that. But if you want to continue, you have to pay for the app. Insight Timer has a free version and there are loads of guided meditations on there too from lots of different teachers. In the beginning I found it easier to meditate with guided meditations, but now I mostly just sit in silence.

I would also strongly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindful-Way-T ... 1593851286

Another book which I've heard nothing but great things about is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Acceptanc ... 0553380990 I haven't read this one myself so I can't personally vouch for it, but Tara Brach is one of my favorite guided meditation teachers - you'll find lots of guided meditations by her on Insight Timer. She also has a podcast which I wholeheartedly recommend.

One final thing I'd mention about meditation is that it will take a week or two or maybe even longer before you will feel any changes in your mental state. In the beginning it might even be uncomfortable, but just hang on there and don't give up if you feel that "it's not working", because if you keep doing it consistently it will change your life. Guaranteed. But it takes practice to learn how to still our thoughts and learn to be present. Good luck!