Men's health blog

MEDITATION FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS TREATMENT: THE MEDITATION PROCESS
While the meditation process produces a feeling of quiet, don’t expect it to happen. Just let the meditation process happen naturally and easily. If we expect it to happen, it doesn’t. If we expect it to happen we spend the whole meditation session not meditating, but looking for the quiet and wondering when it will happen. When we are meditating correctly our meditation will lead us effortlessly and naturally to the full meditative state. Don’t fight thoughts, feelings or emotions. Let them come and let them go. Don’t become involved with them by hooking into them. Meditation is not a process of trying to eliminate all thoughts or feelings. Nor is it a process of trying to think of nothing, which is a contradiction in itself. The ‘no-thinking’ will happen naturally as we move into the deeper stages. The rising and falling of our thoughts are part of the whole process. They will slow down and finally cease naturally as we enter the full meditative state.
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MEDITATION FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS TREATMENT: BREATHING TECHNIQUES
The breathing techniques I will discuss are based on the Buddhist mindfulness meditation, which focuses, not on a word or mantra, but on the breath. This can be frightening for some people because of their inability to take a deep breath. While this technique does not involve deep breathing, it may be more advisable for these people to use the word technique instead.
There are two ways the breathing technique can be used. The first is being ‘mindful’ of our breathing-watching the breathing process, watching the rise and fall of our breath, as we inhale and exhale. The act of watching the breath becomes the focus. Simple!
The second way is to count each breath. Counting each breath becomes the technique. As we begin to meditate, the first breath we take is counted as ‘one’, the second ‘two’ and so on until breath number five. After breath number five the count begins again at ‘one’, and so on.
Sometimes people use both a word and the first breathing technique. This will not cause any problems and if it feels right, then use them both. At this stage, however, remember it is better to decide on which technique to use and then stay with it.
Many people find having a piece of meditation or classical music playing in the background quite beneficial as it helps to block out any distracting sounds and helps them to let go more easily.
It is best not to use the word, mantra or breathing technique during our normal daily life when we are anxious or having an attack. As our technique becomes linked to the meditative state, the last thing we need is to find we have begun to associate it with anxiety and attacks. Some people have a ‘stand by’ word or phrase they use in times of great distress, which they find can be quite beneficial. They leave their main word or mantra for their regular practice of meditation.
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MEDIATION FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS: THE BACKGROUND OF MEDITATION
Meditation is an integral part of Eastern religions and forms the basis of some Christian traditions. This gives rise to the many myths surrounding meditation. As a consequence some people are unsure of meditation and are concerned about practising it. Therefore it is important for these issues to be discussed. If we have doubts about meditation because of our religious background, we need to speak to our minister or priest and be guided by our own feelings of what is right for us.
Meditation is like so many of the other Eastern techniques and disciplines we have adopted, such as various martial arts, tai chi and yoga. In India the word ‘yoga’ is a generic name for a multitude of meditation disciplines. The word ‘yoga’ was originally defined as ‘the way to go’, but more recently it has been defined simply as ‘union’.
We associate yoga with the practice of gentle physical and breathing exercises. This form of yoga is derived from a very strict meditation discipline called ‘hatha yoga’. The West has adapted hatha yoga to its needs by stripping it of all its religious and ascetic practices. This form of yoga is now an accepted part of our Western lifestyle.
Other forms of meditation from the Eastern traditions have also been adapted. The comprehensive and intricate visualisations of various deities have been replaced with images of beaches or forests, the devotional ‘gazing’ has been replaced with flowers or candles, and the sacred mantras have been replaced with everyday words.
There is nothing mysterious in these techniques. The strict adherence and disciplines required for their religious and philosophical aspects have been stripped away, leaving their bare essence, techniques for relaxation. Learning to meditate does not mean we have to change our religion, our lifestyle or our diet. The only thing which will change will be our response to stress and anxiety.
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MEDITATION FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS TREATMENT: BREATHING DURING MEDITATION
As the meditation process unfolds, some people become anxious when they notice their breathing slowing down. Sometimes it feels as if you are hardly breathing at all. This can be disconcerting at first, especially for people who have this fear. There is nothing to worry about. The slowing down of our breathing indicates we are beginning to relax deeply. It is a positive sign that the meditation session is going well. If you are using a word or mantra technique to meditate don’t worry when the technique becomes distorted or disappears altogether in the course of your meditation. This is another indication of successful meditation.
Some people find they go to sleep during meditation. Although most meditation teachers advise their students to remain alert and not go to sleep, I feel somewhat differently about it in the case of anxiety disorders. Firstly, it is a good sign that the practice is going well. If we can let go and relax enough to sleep, then in the beginning this is all that matters. In this instance, meditation is being used as a relaxation technique. Many people with the disorder have difficulty in sleeping. If meditation means people are able to catch up on sleep, then the practice is successful. Most people who do go to sleep during meditation find they do so for about forty-five minutes, and on awakening they feel the benefits. Take it as it comes. In time we all reach the stage when we actually meditate instead of going to sleep.
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ANXIETY DISORDERS AND MEDITATION: WHY?
Why meditation?
As I have been discussing throughout the book, our recovery depends upon learning to manage our anxiety and attacks ourselves. Understanding and accepting our disorder are the first two steps to taking the power back. Learning to manage the attacks and anxiety are the third and fourth step.
This chapter will look at meditation; what it is and why it works. In the next chapter two different meditation techniques will be described.
Managing them means we need to follow a disciplined approach to a formal relaxation program. At first glance some people hesitate. Although they want to recover they don’t like the idea of having to become disciplined in their approach to relaxation.
Meditation can become a superior relaxation technique if it is practised daily. In one way, ‘having to relax’ is a contradiction to the practice itself, but many of us find we reach the stage where we do it because we want to, not because we have to.
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MEDITATION FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS TREATMENT: LEARNING ABOUT OURSELVES
Another positive aspect of the dynamics of meditation is that it can teach us even more about ourselves. Over a period of time and with continued practice, meditation begins to work on many subtle levels. The quiet of meditation gives us the chance to integrate many aspects of ourselves. This happens subconsciously and we don’t become aware of this process straight away. Slowly and subtly the integration breaks through into our consciousness. We begin to see changes in how we perceive and react to the various day-to-day situations which arise.
A helpful analogy is using the ‘sort’ command on a database. The database contains a lot of data which needs be sorted into alphabetical order. The computer operator presses the ‘sort’ key, and the computer sorts and rearranges the information into strict alphabetical order.
Meditation works something like this. It helps to process all the information we are holding in our ‘database’. It begins to sort everything into a more ordered view. Sometimes the process of meditation will ‘throw out a file’ for us to look at, other times it gets on with what it has to do without any reference to us. Just like a computer! The result is a changed and more ordered perception of ourselves and our environment.
This is part of the reason why meditation and psychotherapy ‘complement’ one another. One study of meditation states that ‘meditation may facilitate the psychotherapeutic process’ (Task Force on Meditation 1977).
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