Mindfulness for Anxiety

[horseflye]

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to do a quick introduction.

I suffer from General Anxiety Disorder and thought that mindfulness and meditation might help. My fiancé introduced me to a guided mediation app called Headspace, which I've only just started using. My problem is that I tend to get discouraged; my anxious mind often uses meditation as an opportunity to agonize over minutia.

Should I just stick it out? Does it really help?

[Peter]

Welcome HorseFlye,
You should definitely stick with it! Mindfulness takes a lot of time. You have to be very patient. Mindfulness has been a great remedy for lots of people with anxiety disorders. I wouldn't recommend getting into mindfulness with an app though. I'd recommend doing an 8-week course. Preferably with a teacher, or otherwise via a good self help book. A book we tend to recommend here is: 'Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world'
Good luck!
Peter

[horseflye]

Thanks, Peter. I will definitely check it out!

[Happyogababe]

Welcome to the forum Horseflye,

I hope you can experience the benefits that come with the practice. I've recently done the Mark Williams book (that Peter mentioned) and I found it really helpful, it comes with a CD that has guided meditations.

Good luck.

[Gareth]

Everyone is different, and different methods of learning work for different people. Like Peter says, I thinking the safest way to learn mindfulness is through the 8-wk course with the experience of a teacher.

Good luck!

[JonW]

Hi there, Horseflye.
I can only echo what Peter has said. It's important to ground yourself in this practice if you want it to make a difference to your life. An app might be enough but I very much doubt it.
Any teachers in your area?
All good things,
Jon

[horseflye]

I'm sure there are plenty of coaches in the San Francisco area. Will definitely look into it. Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone!