Recovery Enthusiast/ Recovery for Women

 Meditation can be calming, but it can also be disturbing. A recent study confirmed what many practitioners already knew. Mindfulness creates a wide range of experiences.   More than 25% of adults who meditate regularly reported having an unpleasant experience related to their practice, according to research led by the University College London. Fearfulness and distorted emotions and thoughts were more common among men and participants who used a deconstructive approach.   Before you give up your cushion, it may help to compare meditation to therapy. You often feel worse before you make a breakthrough, but the process is still worthwhile.   To put it another way, you have to tear apart your kitchen to renovate it. In the same way, your mind might seem messier temporarily, but you’re still making progress.   Be prepared for the challenges on the path to mindfulness. Take a look at these common mental and physical obstacles to meditation and what to ...

  Meditation can be an effective way to reduce stress, achieve clarity, and attain a mentally calm state. It allows you to view the world from a perspective that isn’t tainted by your personal beliefs and past experiences.   Meditation is simple but challenging to do well. It wouldn’t hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve. There are several things you can do to enhance your meditation practice and receive greater benefits.   Try these ideas for ways to enhance your meditation practice:   Be consistent. Have a time and place where you meditate each day. If you want to maximize your skill at meditation, make it a permanent part of your schedule, like brushing your teeth. You always brush your teeth at the same time each day. Do the same with your meditation practice. ●       If possible, have a meditation-specific location where you meditate. This can be a spare room or a corner of the house ...

  We all experience stress, but it can be detrimental to our recovery to reduce the overwhelming stress. Here are several ways you can reduce stress in your life. 1.       Practice meditation . All you need is 5 minutes a day to start with your meditation practice. It's all about consistency. It's kind of like going to the gym. It is more beneficial to go to the gym several times a week and work out for half an hour than going once a week and working out for two hours. Meditation practice consists of anything from self-guided meditation to listening to music or listening to Mother Nature. It helps to focus on your breathing and allow yourself just to be. It is perfectly normal for your mind to wander. When it does, just gently and nonjudgmentally bring it back to your breath. That is the exercise. Meditation is the practice of your mind wandering, and you bringing it back to the present moment. When your mind is at ease, it is less likely to be stressed. ...

 You may have been advised to spend more time in the "present moment," but what does this really mean? Present moment thinking has been the concentration of eastern religions for thousands of years.  Religion And Philosophy   Some people are tempted to turn away immediately when Eastern philosophy is brought up just because they think it might threaten their core religious beliefs. There are no religious impositions, though; the present moment is available to everyone in every moment, no matter who you are. In fact, most religions, in one way or another, agree with the belief of living in the moment, not in the past or future.   Eastern Religions And The Present Moment   There are many different divisions of religion in the East, just like the West. Many of them differ with certain beliefs and philosophies, but many agree on the importance of the present moment.  In recent decades, the West has been picking up on these ancient philosophies, and ...

  Meditation is simple, cheap, and highly effective, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. And to be honest, it actually is pretty easy; it’s just not what people expect it to be.  Beginners have all sorts of challenges when meditating, but most of them aren’t really problems. The complaints beginners have are simply part of the meditation process.  Meditation can work for everyone that puts in the time and effort.   Are these challenges holding you back?   Your mind is too active. Of course, it’s active. It takes practice before the mind quiets down, and it’s rarely silent even after years of practice. It takes about 20 minutes for experienced meditators to notice a slowing down of the mind. ●       This isn’t really a problem. Part of the purpose of meditating is to learn how your mind operates. This is how it operates. ●       Just return your focus to your breath. ...