SIMPLE -The Benefits of Meditation

I"m into meditation myself, and have found myself in some great states when I really get into it; you can really journey into your deeper self if you give it a chance.

Rebecca

Funny, the same thought about mediCation went through my mind as I typed it.
As you said though, that's a whole different article. Have a good one!

Ellen

It is a great state of mind if you can stay with it. With our tendency to want things that make us feel better "right now," sometimes it's hard for people to really give it a chance. Sounds like you're doing it, glad it's working for you.

Sometimes I think I've gotten somewhere with meditation, most times not, but the good effects seem to still happen over time.

ChrisJerri,

So true, and I never know when I sit down which it's going to be. I think one misconception some people have is that they it's not working if they don't have an out of body experience or reach the mountaintop.

Back in the 1970s, during my "Year of the Never-Ending Migraine", I taught myself to meditate. I was pretty close to the end of my rope, receiving minimal pain meds and in such severe and constant pain that I often wished I had the guts to kill myself. But I didn't, so I learned to meditate instead.

I'd taught myself a form of yoga breathing from a book at the age of 11 (an earlier attempt to deal with fibromyalgia pain, years before fibro had a name or Dx criteria), and had read something about "Progressive Relaxation", so those were my starting points. I started out trying to breathe, while relaxing my feet, then my calves, thighs and so on, whenever I was in bed trying to stay warm, while in pain. This turned out to be most of every day, so I figured I had lots of time to practice and learn.

At first, it was frustrating. I'd get my feet and ankles relaxed, but they'd tense right back up again as soon as my mind moved to my calves. Eventually I learned to keep everything relaxed while breathing. I was still in pain, but my mind was occupied with something besides the misery.

Within a few months, I could relax my entire body and go into a pain-free place simply by taking three deep breaths. While I was in the pain-free floaty place, the pain wasn't a problem, although it returned as soon as I came back to full awareness.

For the next fifteen years, I used my ability to drop into total relaxation (and usually right into sleep) to cope with migraines and severe fibro pain. I often seem to be one of the few people with fibromyalgia who does NOT have problems getting to sleep, although sometimes I wake up after 3 or 4 hours.

Meditation works very well for me. The only problem is that I have to be horizontal, and it takes concentration to maintain the Pain-Free zone. So although it has given me some relief, it hasn't helped me return to work, and my house is total chaos!

A combination of meditation and medication is what finally enabled me to be a bit more productive.

Cindy

Thanks for this comment. I think it should be very helpful for a lot of people. Meditation can be frustrating and as you point out, it can take a few months to begin to see real benefits.

Managing your pain is an important goal, regardless of whether you can get your housework done!

I don't know anything about meditation. The relaxation that Cindy R mentioned sounds kind of like self-hypnosis...is it the same or similar? Or are they completely different? I've always assumed that I was too attention-deficit for meditation, but I use hypnosis recordings with some measure of success.

Meditation is such an incredible way to connect with the self and the world around you. I found that in my own personal experience when I slack off in my meditations I am more irritable and less focused. Great article!!

I'm not really into meditation but when I do get the chance I enjoy the calming effects it has on me.

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