Meditation Practice For Anxiety And Depression

 

Hi, welcome to the MindfulTinnitusRelief.com program.

Today we're going to start with a meditation practice for anxiety and depression for the person with bothersome tinnitus.

So let's start out by finding a comfortable place to sit, a place to lie down. And once you've found that place, gently close your eyes as we begin to move inwards.

And so, let's start off by congratulating yourself for taking the time to do this radical self-care.

And so let's check in with your body as a whole, starting maybe with the head or the toes and working your way up through the body, and just noticing whatever there is to be felt.

You might find pleasant sensations in the body. You might find unpleasant sensations in the body. And you certainly might find neutral sensations, and likely all three at the same time.

And just scanning your body from head to toe, or toe to head, and perhaps noticing if you're holding tension in a place where it's not serving you.

Maybe you feel that your shoulders are higher than they need to be. Maybe your jaw is clenched.

And so allowing gravity to do what gravity does, and just pull you down into the chair, the couch, floor, or the bed.

And now let's shift our awareness to waves of air that bring a sound. And we're going to start with waves of air from a bell, listening most closely to the waves of air as they hit your ears in those last few moments, until you can't hear the sound of the bell anymore.

And now, with curiosity and openness, acceptance and compassion for yourself, shifting your awareness away from waves of air that bring you sound to waves of air that bring you breath.

Riding the waves of the breath.

Maybe placing your attention on where you feel the breath the most. Maybe it's as you bring air through your nose, as it hits the back of your throat, or you notice the rise and the fall, rise and the fall, of your belly.

Landing your awareness on where you feel the breath the most, with curiosity, openness to whatever comes, acceptance, and compassion for yourself.

Riding the waves of the breath.

After a while, it can even feel like you're floating in the water, just going up and down, up and down, up and down, with each inhalation and exhalation.

Riding the waves of the breath.

And if you're like most people, you might notice that the mind leaves the breath. Your attention is taken away to someplace else.

Perhaps it's to a feeling. Maybe you're feeling a sensation of anxiety, maybe fear, maybe sadness, maybe calmness.

And so, when your mind notices that it's left the breath, that's an opportunity. That's an opportunity to catch where the mind has gone.

Note where the mind has gone, but then simply let it go and come back to the breath.

Noting, letting go, and coming back to the breath.

Maybe you notice a thought that takes you away from the breath. Note the thought, but then let it go and come right back to the breath.

Moment by moment by moment, and breath by breath by breath, riding the waves with a nonjudgmental awareness.

Noting whatever comes up. Maybe it's an emotion that pulls you away, a thought, a judgment, a comparison thought, a plan for the future.

Whatever it is, note where the mind has gone, and with compassion, let go of where the mind has gone and come right back to your anchor, to your tuning fork, to your breath.

And if the mind should leave the breath one hundred times in the next few minutes, that's one hundred opportunities to be compassionate with yourself.

Just moment by moment by moment by moment.

So now let's shift our attention to waves of tinnitus.

See if you can place your curiosity, openness, acceptance, and compassion the same way you welcome in the breath with nonjudgmental awareness.

Let's see if you can place that same openness and curiosity on waves of tinnitus that come and go, moment by moment by moment.

And notice if something comes up.

Perhaps you feel an emotion that comes up. Maybe a sensation in your body that isn't related to tinnitus. Maybe you notice a tightening.

Perhaps a thought comes up, a story, a judgment.

And challenge yourself to see if you can note where the mind has gone, but then, just as gently, placing your attention right back on this wave of tinnitus.

Moment by moment by moment, compassionately placing your attention right back on this wave of tinnitus.

In this moment, letting go of stories, letting go of thoughts, letting go of judgments, letting go of emotions, and just simply riding the wave of tinnitus.

And this can be very challenging.

And you can always come back to the breath. You can always come back to your anchor, to your tuning fork, to the breath, and ride the waves.

And so we're going to end today's exercise for working with anxiety, depression, and tinnitus with the poem:

To everything there is a season,
and a time for all things under the sun.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time to work and a time to play.

A time to be with and a time to be without.

A time to receive and a time to let go.

A time to do and a time to be.

A time for war and a time for peace.

To everything there is a season,
and a time for all things under the sun.

And when you're ready, gently opening your eyes, just noticing all that's there to be felt—pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral.

Knowing that in this moment, you can handle whatever is there to be felt.

So stay with the moment.