Meditation for Anxiety and Depression
The practice of meditation has become popular and many people are interested in it, not as a spiritual practice, but to help with psychological problems, including anxiety an depression. While meditation can be very helpful, it is only one tool to use and is not a substitute for the help and advice of a doctor. I hope my instruction on meditation can help you, but please do not use it by itself, See a doctor if your problems are serious.
There are two parts to the explanation of meditation. The first is how to place your body and the second is how to place your mind. You need to put your body in a position that is comfortable, but alert. This is because there are two opposite problems you face when you meditate. These are agitation and drowsiness. If your body is not in a comfortable position; if you are in pain, your mind will be agitated. But if you are too comfortable and relaxed, your mind will become drowsy and you may even fall asleep.
When you meditate you can either sit in a chair or on the floor. I will explain how to sit in a chair first, as many people cannot sit on the floor comfortably. You should sit in a chair and put your feet flat on the floor without crossing them. The chair should not be so tall that your feet dangle or so short that you need to cross your legs. The chair should be stable and not wobble or have wheels under it. The chair may have a cushion, but it should not be so soft that you sink into the cushion. Place your hands on your legs or fold them in your lap, whichever is most comfortable to you. Keep your back straight and don't slump. Don't use the support of the back of the chair if you can do so comfortably. Keep your eyes open and look downwards two meters in front of you. All these instructions are intended to provide the proper balance of comfort and alertness, but you can alter the instructions if you need to.
It is better to sit on the floor if you can because your center of gravity is lower and this gives you a more stable position. A stable position helps give you a stable mind. Sit on the floor in any comfortable cross legged position. Do not sit directly on a hard floor, put a carpet or blanket underneath you. To have the proper balance your rear end should be as high as or slightly higher than your knees. You can do this with a folded blanket or a cushion if it does not have too much give. All the other instructions are the same as for sitting in a chair. Place your hands comfortably, keep your back straight, your eyes open, and look downwards.
The second part of the instructions are how to place your mind. Meditation is divided into two parts, concentration and investigation. When you are meditating for its psychological benefits the emphasis is more on concentration, but all meditation involves both parts. Concentration requires an object to focus on. This object can either be a thought, a mental image, or a physical object. The object that is most often taught and used is the breath. This is because it simple to observe and benefits the widest range of people. To concentrate on the breath, simply watch it go in and out. Don't try to alter the breath by making it long or short, deep or shallow. Simply observe it as it is without trying to change it.
This is especially important for people who have a problem with anxiety, because they easily hyperventilate. If you have a problem with anxiety, learn its signs and if you find yourself doing it, calm your breathing to a normal pattern. The signs of hyperventilation include dizziness or light-headedness, shortness of breath, and tingling in your arms and hands.
While you watch your breathing, count the number of times you breath out. Start at one and count up to twenty one. When you get to twenty one, stop and take a break. The break can be as long or as short as you wish. During the break, sit quietly, not doing anything. Just as with your posture, the two parts of the practice provide a balance between agitation and dullness. Counting reduces dullness and sitting quietly reduces agitation. You will often find yourself losing count before getting to twenty one. If that happens, simply start the count over at one. Meditation is not a contest and you do not get a prize for getting to twenty one. So do not be bothered if you do lose the count. Simply continue patiently doing the practice.
While you meditate many thoughts will come up. These thoughts come in different sizes. Small thoughts do not interrupt counting the breath. These thoughts should be ignored. Medium thoughts interrupt the count. Usually these are not single thoughts, but chains of thoughts, one following the other. You should handle medium thoughts in the way I have described, by starting to count your breaths again from one. Large thoughts take a hold of your mind and won't let go. Usually these thoughts have some emotion connected with them. Sometimes they will seem to be entirely emotion. For example, a nameless fear, arising for no obvious reason. You may want to stop the meditation because the emotion is so strong.
There are four ways for dealing with strong thoughts and emotions, described by the word RAIN. The 'R' stands for recognize. The first step for dealing with strong thoughts is to recognize them. The same thought or emotion keeps coming up in your practice, but you have not paid it much attention. Stop, and recognize it for what it is. It probably has a name, so name it. Say to yourself, "I am thinking about X," or "I am feeling Y." The 'A' stands for accept. Do not try to increase or decrease the thought. Simply let it be as it is. Allow it to last as long as it wants to last. Just look at it. The 'I' stands for investigate. How exactly does it affect my body? Have I tightened my muscles or changed my breathing? How do I feel right now? How does noticing the thought change it? The 'N' stands for neutral observer. As far as possible, look at the thought or emotion as if it is happening to another person. Don't add to it by blaming yourself or getting angry at yourself. No thought or emotion is good or bad from the standpoint of meditation. It is simply another thing to be observed.
Meditation teaches you how to stay in the present moment. Most of your unpleasant emotions are connected with the past or the future. Either you are regretting something you did or worrying about the future. The strength of your unpleasant emotions will diminish as you develop the habit of staying in the present. They will not disappear entirely, but these emotions have a purpose. There is a time and a reason to be afraid and to be sad. The problem is that they have grown out of all proportion because you apply them to an imaginary future or to a past that you can no longer change.
You will also learn more about yourself when you meditate. Many people are in denial about their emotions. They believe they are not angry when they are and say they are not worried when they are. Recognizing your emotions is the first step to dealing with them. Emotions have a way of growing when we ignore them and diminishing when we pay attention to them. Simply being able to say to yourself, 'I am getting worried now' is a help. With time you will find your ability to observe your emotions and not get caught in them increases.
Finally, meditation teaches you how to distinguish between your mind and thoughts. Mind is like the sky and thoughts are like clouds. Clouds are in the sky, but they do not change the sky. Clouds constantly change, but the sky remains the same. Sometimes clouds are so thick that they completely hide the sky. In the same way, thoughts constantly change, but they are so fast and thick that you cannot see the mind which has them. Your mind slows down during meditation practice to the point that there are gaps between your thoughts. These gaps are like gaps in the clouds where you can see the sky. Seeing the mind shows you that you are not your thoughts. You are not depressed, there is a sad thought in your mind. Seeing that distance between you and your thoughts, seeing the mind, will teach you not to identify with your thoughts. Your thoughts are guests in your mind, they are not you. They are like clouds passing through the sky.
I recommend meditating every day. Find a convenient time for you and make it a part of your daily schedule. Start with a short meditation, from five to ten minutes, and gradually increase the amount of time as you get comfortable with the practice. The rule is to try to end your meditation before it becomes uncomfortable. You want your meditation to be something you look forward to and not something you struggle with. As much as possible, you should do your meditation with a joyful, happy mind. But this will not always be the case. Even on days when it feels like a struggle, you should do your meditation. But it should not feel like a struggle every day. If it does, read these instructions again and relax. Meditation is not a contest that you need to win. It is a way to learn more about yourself. And understanding comes in its own time. You cannot force it.
I wish you success with your meditation practice and all the problems you face in life. I have found great value in the practice of meditation and I hope you do as well.