Has anyone tried meditation?

[Syriancel]

What was your experience like?

 

[Dot]

B4 currnt epsde slf usd 2 medit8 a lt

Thre r dffrnt knds of medtatn & u mght fnd a prefrnce

Sme ppl lke visualisatn of nce plces etc
Othrs fcus on bdy & brethng whch = Y Yga= populr
Slf prefrnce ws alwys bdy scannng bcse = tkes ppl out of thr hed & in2 thr senss s/ hlps wth stayng groundd

Thre r free medtatn clsses wth instructrs evry wk-dy onlne if wn2 try thm

Live Online Meditations | Oxford Mindfulness

oxfordmindfulness.org

 

[Tobacco]

I've been using meditation, before sleeping or while going for a walk to dissociate and forget about my pain for a little. But I fear that if I life goes on just putting pain over pain on me not even trying to distract myself would save me.

 

[trying ungracefully]

I'm on medication for bipolar and I've been doing pretty good. I still get depressed but it's a lot more manageable than if I was off medication and there is less suicidal ideation where it is a lot more momentary.

 

[TBONTB]

I'm on medication for bipolar and I've been doing pretty good. I still get depressed but it's a lot more manageable than if I was off medication and there is less suicidal ideation where it is a lot more momentary.

They asked about meditation :)

What was your experience like?

I took an "insight meditation" class this winter to try to calm my mind. I tried to follow the practices and to get in the swing of daily meditation periods. In theory this should be good for calming the mind. There's a lot of focus on letting the thoughts go through, noticing "that's just a thought". Some people really benefited. But my mind really wasn't willing to let go.

There's also lots of apps. In fact insight timer is one of them. It sure wouldn't hurt to try!!

 

[Lions303]

Good overall, would advise to start small and build of habit of doing it first. Tonne online to follow on YT and others. Not for everyone that's for sure, it works for a lot of people tho

 

[Adûnâi]

The issue I've had with it is that while I can do it (probably), coming back just means you're at square one again. And the idea of stopping all thinking for an hour feels like any other cope? After all, you can get distracted with a movie, too.

 

[Eyck-Head]

I really like meditation, I've had like 3 separate periods of my life where I meditated almost every day and that gave me a lot of peace. It's not a magic cure, at least not for me, but it can still be pretty transformative. I don't really understand why I fall out of practice and why I struggle so much to get back into it every time, but I'm once again hoping to start a regular practice.

I'd recommend Dr. K (HealthyGamerGG) on youtube, even though I'm not the biggest of fan of his content nowadays, his old meditation videos showed me a lot of different interesting methods.

You don't need to force yourself to a specific technique if you feel like it doesn't work for you, there are many different ones other than breath work, like sound meditation, chanting or visual, and many more I don't know about. Don't be afraid to experiment, and take your time.

 

[NamelessEntity]

I like to daydream and make stories up in my head 🖼 , but I find meditation a bit difficult. My ADHD brain just goes off on random tangents, and if it ever slows down, I end up focusing on my chronic pain. I do like sitting and thinking a lot tho, but I don't think that counts as meditation. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with it.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

I struggle to fall asleep, my brain just won't shut the fuck up. But guided sleep meditations help me a lot, my brain shuts off and I can sleep pretty quick.

 

[lachrymost]

Before being traumatized, I sometimes managed to meditate in a way that was calming. Now it just scares me, because meditating is (usually?) about focusing on your conscious experience itself, which is terrifying because I'm now scared of consciousness. Like omg I'm trapped in experience. I'm just meat experiencing shit... wtf... get me out of here!!

 

[Mynameisnotimportant]

After my first attempt in 2019 I got a abalify and later prozac didn't help much, I've been on 60 and briefly 90mg duloxetine and love it, it honestly felt like magic when I first noticed it's impact

 

[Remember]

Yes, meditation is incredibly good for you. I sometimes meditate when my emotions are too intense and it helps bring me back to reason, if you can cultivate a practice of meditation it basically has only benefits.

I will say though, not all "meditation" is equal, I've done research (like, in a university, with the intention to publish) on it and a lot of things things people call 'meditation' (especially just day dreaming for a bit with your eyes closed/letting your mind wander) will not give you the benefits of proper mentally disciplined meditation. Mindfulness meditation is a particular darling in the literature, and I encourage you to look into it and its benefits. I personally practice empty mind meditation, which is less popular with the general public and can be kind of difficult to get into. There's multiple valid paths for you; if you're interested I recommend trying meditation out right when you wake up before your brain is fully awake and your mind wants to wander.

 

[Pluto]