Those of you who have followed my blog long enough know that I like to periodically spend time talking about mental health. As someone with depression and anxiety, it's important for me to find ways to relax my mind so I can heal and also focus on my writing. Most people also know that I suck at self care, and it's something I'm trying very hard to learn.
Recently, I started attending group therapy that focuses on the mind, body, and soul. I always thought I was awful at meditation (I still struggle with it), but the more I work at it, the more I realize how much it calms me. Sometimes I use my own writing as a form of meditation, typing out a stream of consciousness without any concerns about my language or where I'm going with it. I do that when I talk about my dreams, or if I'm having an episode where I just really need to get my emotions out. I generally call that my angry poetry phase.
But I digress.
Meditation is a habit that I think we can all benefit from, so I'd like to share a few things I've learned, and other kinds of meditation I do to ease my stress/anxiety.
Deep Breathing
This is probably one of the best and easiest ones to start out with. Whenever I get worked up (or wake up from nightmares like I did last night), I try to focus on deep breathing. Sit in a relaxed position and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. You want to focus on making your belly feel soft. My guide suggests that you whisper "soft" when you breathe in, and "belly" when you breathe out. Try to do this for awhile. Even 5 minutes of deep breathing meditation can really help. It certainly helps me get through a bad work day.
Here's a guided meditation that can help.
Music and Mindfulness
Once you have the breathing down, try to be mindful of your body. I like to put on soft music, usually water mixed with song or music that focuses on peaceful sleep. There are also a ton of apps on your phone that you can download that have guided meditation or songs. The app Calm is a great example.
Lie down (or sit) in a comfortable position and turn on the music. Then focus on feeling each part of your body. Your arms, your legs, your fingers and toes, your head. Loosen each muscle one at a time and focus on your breathing and relaxing your body. Guided meditation can help you focus. Make sure you think about your body and don't let your mind wander (easier said than done for us writers). If it does wander, that's okay. Just pull it back into the moment.
Only have a few minutes? Try a quick 5 minute meditation for things like anxiety.
Imagery Meditation
One of my favorite forms of meditation is something I didn't exactly realize I was doing until I talked with my therapist. Imagery meditation is essentially when you create an image in your head and focus on that. It could be imagining light coming down and wrapping around you. It could be picturing water or waves crashing against rocks. Maybe you see yourself on a beach or in a forest. Or, in my case, I imagine a garden that only I can enter. Focusing on each detail gives your mind something else to think about other than stresses or anything else that's bothering you.
Here's a guided video for example.
Animal Meditation
Okay, so this might be something that I made up, but I think animal lovers can understand where I'm coming from. There are moments when I pet my birds or preen them where all my stress just goes away. The same thing happens when Aladdin, my sun conure, sleeps on my chest. I can feel his breath and his little heartbeat and it calms me. I find myself relaxing and focusing on them and their happiness, and it makes me happy in return. Imagine doing that with a dog or a cat. I bet you wouldn't mind spending 10 or 15 minutes doting on them.
So what does this have to do with writing? Well, often a more peaceful mind helps with my writing. The ideas flow more freely without bundles of anxiety and depression distracting me or clouding my brain. I've been playing meditative musical tracks while writing, and I can feel my anxiety go down while I work.
Writing can also act as a prelude to meditation. If you're upset or filled with a bunch of emotion, write it out. Say everything you'd want to say without fear that someone is going to read it and judge you. Doing so can help you clear your mind and make you feel freer. It opens you up to meditation and writing your story.
To be honest, I usually find myself relaxing so much with the guided meditation, that I just fall asleep. As someone who struggles with sleep, I'm not going to complain about that. I'm quite new and rusty with it, but meditation has already started to help with my depression. I hope it helps you as well.
If you have any meditative practices you'd like to share, post them below!