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Mindfulness

66Mustang
66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
Has anybody done mindfulness as part of their treatment?

I am doing it with the hope that it will help with my obsessive morbid thoughts, or at least reduce them a little bit.

However I am told the conditions it can help with are very diverse and include everything from OCD to pain conditions. Has anybody done mindfulness and how effective did you find it? Personally I am open to anything at this point and am looking forward to giving it a try, and I am interested to hear peoples experiences.

Thanks

Comments

  • leeCal
    leeCal Community member Posts: 7,550 Disability Gamechanger
    I posted this link a day or so ago re mindfulness,
    https://www.lionsroar.com/mindful-living-thich-nhat-hanh-on-the-practice-of-mindfulness-march-2010/

    Practising mindfulness requires focusing on the present moment, forgetfulness focuses on the past or projecting into the future. It should be therefore a distraction from thoughts about the past or future and could help to reduce the kind of thinking that you @66Mustang mention. I hope it helps, though it does require a modicum of persistence.

    “This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” 
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    I have not used it myself but think it is one of more commonly used new techniques seems to be the in thing 
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @66Mustang I have used it myself for pain and sucidial thoughts I think its realy good and worked for me 
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks for the replies everybody :)

    I will be giving it a try and reporting back after a few weeks
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    edited January 2021
    @leeCal just wondering what your opinion would be of practising mindfulness while driving?

    I won’t go into detail but I often have morbid thoughts while driving on the motorway. Is mindfulness something you can safely practise while driving? Or do you need to be doing something that is not requiring as much attention?
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    I've tried mindfulness but I just don't have the right mindset for it...I'm too impatient and 'irritable' for want of a better word.

    I don't think it's going to work while driving, but you can do it while walking.  I found I ended up with more worries by doing it though...focussing attention into body parts just drew my attention to aches, pains and oddities that I hadn't noticed before and may not even have been there!  It's worth a try though, just doesn't work for everyone, as with any sort of treatment.  :)
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks for sharing your experience @OverlyAnxious

    My therapist told me while driving to note down any body sensations I get when my obsessive thoughts come to a peak i.e. trembling hands, heart beat and doing that actually took my mind off the thoughts, only 10% or so but better than nothing, which is why they think mindfulness may work for me.
  • leeCal
    leeCal Community member Posts: 7,550 Disability Gamechanger
    edited January 2021
    @66Mustang mindfulness can be done whilst driving but we must remember that it’s not meditation in the sense of zoning out. Paying attention to the present moment and experiences should actually enhance your driving pleasure, ie appreciating as many of the five senses as possible whilst carrying out a task.
    Mindfulness is a form of meditation but it’s not the same as say sitting quietly in a relaxed state. Mindfulness should entail extracting detail from the present rather than ending in reverie which sometimes happens when driving, ie thinking about something other than driving to the extent that you suddenly realise that you’ve travelled several miles without paying much attention at all! I’m sure we’ve all done that at some time or other. 

    So yes, the idea is to pay attention to the present and to experience as many novel aspects of it as possible. Reading around the subject should help you define more clearly what mindfulness is, it’s actually quite subtle but simple really. Hope this helps.
    ?

    “This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” 
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    @leeCal thank you, that’s really helpful and makes perfect sense :)

    I have done a bit more reading into it and I read a piece about food and I think I have been practising it a little bit already with food without knowing. I really like my food, and rather than shovel it in, I try to experience all the sensations slowly with each mouthful and try to find new sensations. It says this is an example of mindfulness.

    I am looking forward to practicing it with other things, like when I go for a dog walk, and hopefully getting better at it.

    Thank you again :)

Brightness