Everyday Mindfulness

With the difficult situation meditation I find focus on any thoughts difficult, as they just vanish if I'm trying this focus on them. I have a feeling that it is something to do with my depression/anxiety and it will eventually sort itself out. As for meditation on views coming from a Christian myst...

I've been doing zazen for over 30 yrs off and on. As I suffer from depression I can tell you that the experience is the spiritual equivalent of climbing Mt Everest. I cant speak for mindfulness done as simply a secular practice but with any serious meditation you are bound to come up against some v...

The choice of the word intrusive was deliberate to contrast the ease with which thinking happens when anchoring on breathing compared with the blankness when I'm trying to practice "focusing on thoughts". More the geological term intrusion as in a thing being present rather than a value ju...

I'm struggling with the element of meditation. The element of being aware of my thoughts. Once I get to that point, my brain goes blank...
I'm amused because if I'm focusing on hearing or breathing or my whole body, the thoughts quite happily jump into my head and be intrusive.
Any tips?

Hi Daisy, no worries - we are all different :-) Recently I heard Mark Williams in a pod cast about the people who had the best outcomes from mindfulness practice in depression, were those who did their practice regularly even when they don't enjoy the process of practice and learning. It really hit ...

I'm aware that my low muscle tone (neurological from birth) means I need to focus on good posture. I've found some of the core muscle techniques from tai chi and pilates help

mudlotus I'm hoping that over time I can learn to ride with the anxiety driven judgment that has been such a big feature of my head since this episode.
I figure it will take time...

Hey Mudlotus, good question. I have a number of very pronounced risk factors for depression including previous history, family history, predisposition to SAD (seasonal affective disorder), and a lot of change in my life these last 2 years. That and doing a change of medication finally tipped me over...

Cool.
I've removed a lot of things off my phone in the last few months but have found that I can do a "light" session of practice on the bus if it is guided so I have tracks preloaded. Also I'm tracking my progress on doing practice using goal setter

Daisy, I started mindfulness practice just at the start of an acute depression with added anxiety for extra interest. I'm 9 weeks on and just progressing beyond the body scan in any meaningful way now. The body scan was a good anchor during a horrible experience. I'm still getting my medication full...