Posted by chujoe on May 5, 2010, at 22:52:51
In reply to Re: I've Tried Everything, posted by tonyz on May 5, 2010, at 13:45:15
It's basic Zen meditation. I had been circling around Buddhism for a decade and finally this last time I tipped over into anxiety, along with meds and psychotherapy, I got serious about Buddhist meditation. There are a lot of good books out there for beginners and the audio guided meditations by John Kabbet-Zinn are really helpful. I can list a few titles if you're interested. Perhaps I'll put something over on the Alternative board tomorrow.
I find that meditation gives my meds a chance to work -- it clears out the static in my head, at least sometimes. I try to sit & meditate twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening for 20 to 30 minutes. The meditation itself involves sitting quietly with eyes open and concentrating on the breath. Some teachers say to count your breaths from one to ten and then repeat, some just say to watch your breath and focus on it to the exclusion of other things. It's natural for thoughts to come up while you're doing this, but one is told to just let them drift by like clouds, to not get involved with them. It's harder than you think it will be and it takes practice and patience, but I've found it very helpful.
I'll post something more coherent tomorrow over on the Alternative board. Thanks for asking.
poster:chujoe
thread:944143
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100504/msgs/946502.html