Your experience and opinions on meditation

[heyheyhey]

Hi everyone :)!

What are your experiences with meditation? And what are your opinions on it? I've read conflicting information and know that sometimes meditation can push people far too deeply into traumatic material that they are not ready to face/shouldn't face without a therapist.

I'm conflicted about whether or not I should start a regular practice, I have done meditation on and off and enjoy it and find it beneficial, but worry about it's potential danger for taking me down the trauma rabbit hole.

What are your experiences/opinions on the practice :)?

 

[Heather]

My experience... Doesn't help and its a big waste of time but that's just me.

Others swear by it

 

[EveHarrington]

I've found it to be extremely helpful.

I know there are different types of meditation and I've found what works for me.

There's no law that says you must meditate in a specific way. I think it's ok to tweak your methods to find a type of meditation that works best for you.

I know that many types of meditation have you close your eyes. Well this doesn't work for me and actually makes things worse. I'm better off with my eyes open------I think because while on one hand I am "visually hypervigilant", on the other hand I can block everything out visually (if I so desire), even if my eyes are open. (Thanks, PTSD!) I'm guessing this isn't a super common skill?

It's weird, because I can block out every other sense if I can "block" my vision.

I think you should give it a try. Who knows, it could end up being a great skill for you. And if not, you at least know you tried.

Oh, but to add, it took me months of practice before I felt any benefit. Months of practice, trying new things, and tweaking to get it just right.

:hug:

 

[Sandstone]

My opinion is changing. A few years ago, I tried very hard to learn Mindfulness meditation, and the best I got to was failure. The worst was the times it allowed things I need to keep blocked out to come to the surface. I was convinced that this all indicated I was a failure.

Now I'm trying again with things that are more loosely meditation, and getting on better. I agree with @EveHarrington that you have to follow what suits you. I need to focus on something, rather than removing myself, so I use a visual image of slow breathing, or do a safe place visualisation using each sense in turn, or focus on naming each sound I can hear. I'm also learning Qi Gong in a group and at home, and like the slow meditative movement.

I think we need to find out what works for us, and be prepared to modify things as needed. Have you had any bad experiences with your meditation, or are you just being cautious about the potential?

 

[Bloomy]

What helps I assume is diferent for us all. Guided meditation Ive found useful. Unguided not really. In total - oh well. I do yoga and that for sure helps. Do I discovdered that sometimes I just cant cause I need to protect myself. But on a whole its good.
Also want to say that meditation doesnt only have to be sitting down on oum zoom stuff, but can be done walking in nature and or running. That I absolutely find very useful and wouldnt be here today without it. Sometimes walks ment walks for hour or more to walk it out, but so glad I discovered this possiblity for healing when going gets rough as it all to often has.

 

[Mim28]

I found using a guided meditation helpful.

 

[One step at a time]

For a long time, what I thought was meditation was actually me sitting down and dissociating very deeply. From the outside, it looked to people like I was just really good at meditating. Eventually I realized that meditating is about becoming present and sitting with the world as it is, and I was doing the opposite - retreating into my head and blocking out the world. I asked T (who I trust a lot) whether I should stop. And she asked me whether it was hurting me or others. And I said I guessed not. And she said that it was therefore up to me.

So I continued whenever I felt like it, which sometimes meant I didn't try for months at a time. And in the meantime I got better at grounding myself, and learned more about the things I'd blocked. And one day, I sat down, and I was grounded. And I continued to be. And I just breathed and remained present and released my thoughts and voila! I may not be "good at" meditation, but I can meditate now. And I do. And it helps.

You are free to draw your own conclusions. I guess my conclusion is that actual meditation involves being very grounded, and the whole point is that for some of us, being grounded is unsafe. So I would not push it until you are successfully able to ground in less intense ways over the course of your normal day. In the meantime, having a daily relaxation-and-breathing-peacefully practice, that may or may not involve listening to guided imagery and so on, could be less overwhelming and very helpful in its own right.

 

[ducati45]

I find there can be really bad times to go into one's body and mind and block out the world, particularly if you are prone to flashbacks that feel like there are happening right now in terms of physical sensations. But if you are in a space you feel safe and have not been triggered recently it can be good for lowering your baseline anxiety a tad, or recognising where you are at least. I like the headspace app. A lot of it is just accepting that you can feel anxiety or upset or numb and all of that is okay and doesn't reflect badly upon you. It's a tool that should be used only in the right circumstances I think.

 

[Fadeaway]

Before this last year I was dead set against it. That was until I learned there were more than a dozen different types of meditation. Trying to clear your mind? it just doesn't work for me.

What works for me is having an object or a picture. I study it. Then I close my eyes and focus on my breath. After several breaths, I start trying to picture all the different details in the object in my mind. If it is an object i focus on the textures. I started out with a leaf and then I worked up to more complicated images. You want to try and engage as many of your 5 senses as you can.

This is just one of many methods. My mind still wanders a bit and still have to work on bringing my mind back, but I was told that the fact I notice my mind has wandered is actually huge in and of it's self.

 

[Deleted member 29920]

I haven't read the entire thread, but I can say meditation has helped me, I visualise a calm place, nice beach or tropical rainforest and I don't find any negative effects. I feel more relaxed afterwards too, which is great.