Mindfulness meditation...or not?

[Snookiebookie2]

Hi guys

One of the self help remedies that I come across is mindfulness meditation.   I've tried this periodically.  I understand the concept, that I just focus on my breath and if my mind wanders, come back to my breathing.   I understand that it's supposed to slowly train your brain to be able to redirect your attention to the here and now.

I've also read that it's not always the best thing for a trauma survivor to do.  It can be triggering and heightened the feelings of being unsafe.

It wasn't a miracle cure for me, I didn't see much difference.   I found many times where I felt just as anxious afterwards as when I stated.   It also gave me an opportunity to overthink - which felt demoralising at times.  What I did like was it was 10 minutes of silence in my day, of time for me.

At my best I was doing 10 minutes a day for about 3-4 months. Sometimes I'd use guided meditations, sometimes I'd just set a timer and focus on my breathing.

I find the concept of mindfulness itself useful.   For the last couple of weeks I've been mindful of my negative thoughts.  When they occur I imagine a pop up blocker (remember those on the internet?).  I say to myself that I don't need to experience those feelings and try to ground myself where I am.  This kind of mindfulness helps, but I'm not sure if the meditation is for me. But then I worry I'm dismissing it out of hand.

What has your experiences been?  Do you recommend it? Anything you'd recommend instead?

[marta1234]

Hey Snookie, I've tried guided meditation twice, and "just meditation" a couple of times. It hasn't worked for me, as you said, because I felt scared and not good (overthinking very much too). Haven't tried any other mindfulness techniques, but I do tend to listen to slow piano (playlist for studying) on repeat all day with whatever I'm doing, so that's kind of my way of "meditating" in my bubble. Although for this, I would advise getting headphones for the sound to be better when at home.

Don't know if any of this helps, but hopefully something will  Sending you a hug  and support