New to this! Need some pointers...

[Suzzyg]

Hi all!

I've just been sent this way from the mindfulness twitter account and already from reading through some posts on the forum I can see that this is exactly what I need! I have severe anxiety with very bad physical symptoms - mainly bad dizziness. I am currently have ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) so this mindfulness meditation fits in so well with what I'm already trying to do! The trouble is, I have NO idea where to start with it... And to be honest, I'm not even entirely sure what it is! I do a relaxation cd every day for 20mins but I find it almost impossible to stay focused on it and my mind constantly wanders! I literally can't stop my mind from working over time... I also cant stop focussing on my physical symptoms, ie the dizziness and my therapist has been trying to get me to just acknowledge the symptoms/thoughts but not dwell on them etc. I find this impossible! If I feel dizzy - which is almost 24/7, then it is ALL I can focus on. Which I'm sure only makes it worse! So if anyone can give me some good starter points or has any advice etc I'd be so grateful! I think this could really work for me and stop me from dwelling on the dizziness and anxiety if I can master it! Thanks for reading! X

[Gareth]

Welcome to the forum, great to have you here!

I came to mindfulness through chronic illness, and it turned my life around. I hope that it can help you too. I will offer you all the advice that I can, but I have no experience of teaching mindfulness, and little experience of mindfulness in relation to health difficulties of the mind. Before I say something that is wrong, I will ask a proper mindfulness teacher to give you some advice. Luckily, we have some mindfulness teachers registered on the forum, I'll canvas some of them for a reply to your post.

Hope you are well,

Gareth

[OliDoyle]

Hi Suzzy,

welcome to mindfulness! It's pretty cool, but most of us have a few hiccups at the start! My advice would be to find some resources (books, videos, whatever works), which make sense to you, and once you feel clear (ish), what to do, just practise, practise, practise! I have a few resources on my website: http://www.peacethroughmindfulness.com.au which are pretty simple and straightforward. I also have a nice cheap little online course, but check the website first to see if my style works for you.

Good luck!

Oli Doyle

[Suzzyg]

Hi guys,

Thank you both so much for getting back to me! I will definitely take a look at your website and look at the resources you have and do a little bit of research... Will try and find some video clips on YouTube too maybe! And like you say, If it looks like its for me then I will definitely check out the online course too! I'm quite excited at the prospect of this. Really think it could be great for me!
Thanks again!
X

[rara]

Hi Suzzy,

Good to meet you I was just saying to Gareth today that the book "Teach Yourself to Meditate" by Eric Harrison is great for everyone. It helps people to understand themselves more and very quickly, when you say "I can't", I'm preeeeety confident you'll soon be saying "I can".

In addition, there are some pretty decent guided meditations that you may find either on Youtube, or perhaps even a class you could go to. have a background of severe anxiety and insomnia and for me, it was about having several guides to mentor me and help me through.

Drop me a private message if you want me to get some suggestions to you. Otherwise, feel free to just join in anything here and learn along the way

Dave

[mindfulnessforall]

Hi Suzzy,

It might sound strange or annoying for me to say this right now but your dizziness and anxiety could be your best teacher. You can use them as fuel rather than them being a burden. However, it's all about small steps so don't worry if it takes a while to find what works... and ACT is a great start!

I could write forever about techniques you could try but I'd suggest you do an 8 week mindfulness course that combines MBRS and MBCT. Then you can work out what works best for you : )

I can also recommend two (non mindfulness based) CDs you could experiment with if approaching the dizziness seems too much to take on at the moment.

This is a good visualization CD aimed a stress reduction - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anxiety-Relief- ... 935&sr=1-1

This has some good breathing techniques - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Andre ... 091&sr=8-1

Don't worry if these technique don't have the desired affect. Most of all, try to let go of expectations and turn anything you try as a little experiment with no particular goal. Just allow whatever happens to be as it is - whether if seems good or bad. Not easy I know but give it your best shot.

Best of luck and be kind to yourself with whatever you do.

Andy

[Suzzyg]

Thank you so much Dave and andy for taking the time to reply and help me out! I am going to look at every suggestion that has been put to me - and have already started to find some great info and tips out there! And Andy, I think you're right - although it's very hard to actually put into practise, I think maybe I can use the dizziness etc as 'fuel'! I do need to get my breathing under control as that is part of what's causing the dizziness so definitely going to look at the breathing exercises CD you suggest!

Thanks again both of you for being so helpful! X