When I was in a support group each of us did a check in each week. Maybe not with the same regularity but sporadically I want to do a check in with the participants here at this forum. I am on medication but have stopped therapy because the therapist who is the only one available to me on my medical plan was not right for me. Because I'm retired my life is my own and in order to accommodate the depression I have simplified it down to a few very pleasurable basics. I do not envy anyone who is still in the work force because that takes quite a toll on a person with depression. I know from experience. I have recently begun working with a mantra while having my morning coffee and the results are sometimes great and sometimes meh ! When I had what I would call a spectacular meditation the other day, it was followed by a really bizarre and intense release of all kinds of anger and angry thoughts and a kind of rehearsing of everything in my life that I'm angry about. I'm not looking at that as a bad thing however but rather as a 'cleansing' or processing. Because of my faith, my spirits seem to 'rise to the top' automatically which is a wonderful thing for a depressed person to be blessed with. I woke up this morning with an inflammation of an old injury in both feet which can be potentially debilitating but I'm staying positive about this, doing everything I know to do to heal it up and leaving the rest in god's hands. I have high hopes that this board will become a very active one and I'm grateful to all who post here regularly. I'm hoping others will join me in doing this 'check in' as it will help to get things going. Dont post only once. Post often !
What a fine suggestion. It helps to talk to others who have been down this road.
How did you learn to meditate? I can’t seem keep my mind from wandering.
Hi Nancy,
A wandering mind is part of the meditation when you use a mantra. When you notice your mind is wandering you simply start repeating the mantra again.
I experiment until I find a mantra sound that feels comfortable for me and it even changes while I’m sitting there doing it; but I hope to arrive at one sound that works all the time.
The mantra can be one syllable or one alphabet letter even - whatever is the most comfortable and easiest sound for you to repeat to yourself.
Just sit back or lie down and relax, take a couple deep breaths if you can and gently begin saying the mantra to yourself at whatever speed is comfortable from fast to slow and you can change the speed as often as you like and you can change the sound as often as you like.
Then, when you notice your mind has been wandering, just gently resume the most recent mantra sound that you’ve been using.
It does take experimenting in order to get comfortable with it so be patient with yourself.
examples of mantra sounds - - - uh . . . ah . . . muh . . . mah . . . puh . . . pah . . . sha . . . la . . . fah . . . or any old thing you want !!! it can be two syllables also. whatever works for you personally.
“om” is the classic one if you want to try that.
say it to yourself or say it out loud or do a little of both.
as you can see there’s a lot of possibilities and your mantra can be whatever one you come up with.
Don’t listen to those new age types who say it has to be a certain way . . . they dont get it !