A general thought to help...

[JAug]

Think about the following and how it applies to you.

"Ever notice how when you think or look for the symptoms, they are there?"

[Beautiful Disaster]

Story of my life. I've been getting better over the past month or so and it seems like I only have issues when I stop to think about how I'm feeling. "Am I anxious?" "Are these symptoms going to come on again?"

Do you have an effective way to stop yourself form thinking about this???

[JAug]

Yes. I've found the best method is to train your mind to change focus.

I've been mediating for about 6 months now for 20 minutes, twice per day. The focus has been to put all attention to any background noise. So, when I feel anxious or catch myself having looping thoughts and weird feelings, i use my training to redirect my focus to any background noise. This method is beneficial because there's ALWAYS a background noise, even if it is the sound of your own breathe.


(btw, i'm a huge 311 fan if that's what your username means!)

[Beautiful Disaster]

How did you get started effectively meditating? I've been trying to use some guided audios that I downloaded on my phone. They are pretty calming, but I don't necessarily feel like I'm "meditating." You've trained your brain to only focus on the background noise?? Your thoughts don't wander??? I'm impressed!

And no, it's actually not a 311 reference! It seems to be a popular name for a song, because there's 2 other songs I like with the same title (one by Kelly Clarkson and the other by a not as popular band, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers).

[JAug]

How did you get started effectively meditating? I've been trying to use some guided audios that I downloaded on my phone. They are pretty calming, but I don't necessarily feel like I'm "meditating." You've trained your brain to only focus on the background noise?? Your thoughts don't wander??? I'm impressed!

And no, it's actually not a 311 reference! It seems to be a popular name for a song, because there's 2 other songs I like with the same title (one by Kelly Clarkson and the other by a not as popular band, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers).

It takes time. To me, the goal of mediating is to essentially put the body to sleep while keeping the mind alert. At first your mind is going to wander in a million diffferent directions, but overtime your mind begins to clear and you'll find it easier to clear your mind, or at least direct it to a place that is not negative.

When you're meditating you're creating a custom thought process. Overtime, this thought process becomes easier and (to some extent) automatic.

In terms of wandering thoughts: The answer is, yes my thoughts still wander, but in terms of how much of my focus is on those wandering thoughts, the percentage has decreased. When I first began mediating my focus on the matra (what you focus on during meditating) was maybe 10%, while 90% of my focus was on my negative/wandering/looping thoughts. Fast forward 6 months of meditating twice a day for 20 minutes and now my focus is about 60-70% mantra. And, i have no doubt that with more time that number will increase.