Day 6 benefit of meditation

[George]

The body-scan meditation following the journaling exercise seemed to be a good way to connect the emotional to the physical, and also allow some space and time for the energy to settle. As my mind was scanning the parts of my body that were holding tension or discomfort, I spoke the phrase "I am at peace with my emotions." Images and thoughts came into my consciousness and I acknowledged them and then let them go. The process of journaling combined with meditation seems to be creating a conscious relationship between the body tension and emotion.

 

[Stella]

I love meditation. It has been one of the many benefits I have found since I started this program. I use the deep belly breathing. I count to 8 in and 8 out which really slows my breathing way down. Since meditating I am now so in tune with when my anxiety level increases.

You are right. Meditating connects the emotion with the body tension.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I find it hard to meditate consistently because I continue to find excuses to put it off (always have something else that needs doing sooner) but in fact, the folks with the best recoveries usually report that they meditate.

 

[Gigi]

I originally came to meditation through a religious practice called Centering Prayer that's used to calm mind and body. I've retained my 15-20 minutes of meditation as a way to start my day off right. Years ago I found that I could eliminate my back pain by doing this. I'm looking forward to trying new ways to meditate and see if I can identify my stressors as my headaches start gearing up.

 

[Gigi]

As my mind was scanning the parts of my body that were holding tension or discomfort, I spoke the phrase "I am at peace with my emotions." Images and thoughts came into my consciousness and I acknowledged them and then let them go. The process of journaling combined with meditation seems to be creating a conscious relationship between the body tension and emotion.

Good for you, George, for being able to do this. I've been trying to discover the message my body is trying to send me when I get my horrible headaches. I had noticed that on yoga nights I tend to get headaches, and was wondering if my subC was trying to subvert my efforts to be healthy. Well tonight, during yoga, I had a moment of awareness. I realized that the strain of some of the advanced poses was located in the part of my head where headaches begin. So I'm pleased to know that it's just muscle strain. I tried Claire Weekes's method of "floating" through the pain rather than getting wrapped up in the headache and reinforcing it, and it worked. No headache. One small victory, but I'm celebrating it!

 

[Leslie]

I hope to realize increasing benefits from meditation. I try it (although like Jan I find it difficult to be consistent) but I find myself spending more time reminding myself to stay present and not be be frustrated with myself for not being able to clear my thoughts for more than a few seconds at a time. Even then, my thoughts aren't really clear, I've just changed the focus from the churning clutter in my mind to "inhale 1,2,3, etc exhale 1,2,3". My heart rate responds nicely to the deep breathing but when I do the body scan, mostly what I discover in each area is a feeling of an electric current, or a tingling, like my nervous system is in overdrive everywhere.

 

[Forest]

I love the idea of saying "I am at peace with my emotions" while your meditate. So much of TMS is caused by our inability to accept that we have powerful emotions. Saying affirmations like this may go a long way in helping us become more allowing.

Like Jan, I have always had difficulty meditating. Part of it is telling myself to take 10-15 minutes and do it, and the other part is trying to stay focused. If journaling and meditating works for you, then keep doing it.