As I said in my post about washing machine brain, I started meditating regularly last summer. I thought I’d tell you how I started, give you a few pointers to things that worked for me and an update, almost a year on, of the difference it has made.
Getting Started
I needed a simple way to get started meditating, I looked around at the blogs posted by many successful people describing their experiences and decided I needed to start small. In my state of anxiety I often didn’t feel I had the time to ‘waste’ on this, despite my determination to do it.
To meet this need I started looking at apps on the Google Store (yes, I’m android not iOS). Many people had mentioned the Headspace app and so I decided this would be a good place to start. The Headspace app gives access to a set of starter meditations for free, these introduce the basics of meditation and at only 10 minutes long do not feel too difficult to fit into your day. They are interspersed by updates from Andy Puddicombe explaining to you and reassuring you of the fact the process will take time.
At this point I can confirm that this is entirely true, for the first 7 days of this program I felt a bit of a fraud – I followed the instructions but wondered if I was doing the right thing, got irritated because the instructions weren’t clear and generally blamed the app. However, I was determined, and around the 8th or 9th day I started to feel a little better after each session. Looking back my frustration had little to do with the quality of the app or meditation, it was more to do with my anxiety and lack of patience. As I meditated more I was able to reach a zone of relative peacefulness which allowed me some ‘space’ in the day. this translated (in time) into a more relaxed attitude – I was driven less by my anxiety and could take a step back and see what I was doing with some perspective.
I continued by replaying the meditations from Headspace for some time until I decided that I would try out the full version of the app using one of their offers. ( I can’t remember what the offer was but I think it was a lower fixed price for 3 months or something similar.)
The wider range of meditations available on the paid headspace subscription is impressive however I couldn’t find something that quite worked for me long term. The course on reducing stress did have some initial effects but because I was doing a course I found the differences between each meditation distracting. I wanted something familiar that could be reused to minimise the distraction and allow me to immerse myself in the meditation more easily.
Fortunately I’d been researching wellbeing constantly since my anxiety diagnosis and had run into Tara Brach in one of Tim Ferriss‘ podcasts. I tried a few of her meditations and quickly came up with a favourite. I could use this meditation over and over and the familiarity allowed me to drop into a meditative state quickly once it was familiar.
The Effects
What I was looking for with meditation was a relief from the unconcious spinning of wheels in my head, potentially to reduce the anxiety and a better overall mental tone.
The actual effects came in stages. First of all I had to overcome that fraudulent feeling with the first free headspace meditations. After this these short meditations left me with a more balanced outlook on any given day. I was more sure of myself and feeling that little bit more resilient.
Later as I became more confident in the meditation and more ‘skilled’ at breaking away from my thoughts I found the wheels in my head spun less – there were things that could set them off but a few deep breaths could bring me back on track.
Once I had my tried and tested, familiar meditations in place I found it was very easy to switch my mind into a more positive place. The anxiety reduced significantly and I felt more prepared to face the world. I was not ‘fixed’ but I felt much, much better.
Is meditation for you?
Personally I think meditation is for everyone, the improvement in mental ‘tone’ – just feeling better and giving yourself a place free from worry is a significant achievement. However, if you do want to do this I think there are a few pitfalls to avoid and a few points to keep in mind.
- Meditation is not a quick fix, it may not even be a fix, but it should deliver you some benefits.
- When you start be prepared to dedicate a few weeks of 10 – 20 minute sessions before you feel benefits.
- Don’t get annoyed with yourself if you don’t manage all the targweted sessions. The benefits appear to be cumulative.
- Once you’ve reached the point you have a comfortable practice use it when you need it. It should be regular but not necessarily daily or twice daily.
I hope these thoughts help, please let me know your experiences!