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Hello everybody and welcome again to the Every day Meditation with me meditation trainer Paul Harrison. At this time I’m going to be discussing methods to use meditation while you’re feeling depressed, while you’re down, while you’re unhappy, while you’re feeling blue.
Can I be trustworthy with you? The explanation that I’m doing this at present is as a result of I’m feeling unhappy truly, to be trustworthy with you. Yeah, feeling unhappy. A number of stuff go on in my life lately. And so I’ve been feeling unhappy and depressed.
However you recognize what? That’s effective. It’s effective to really feel unhappy and depressed. Feeling unhappy, feeling depressed, is a totally regular a part of life. It’s a pure and wholesome human emotion to really feel depressed, to really feel unhappy, to really feel down, and I simply actually need to placed on the desk, you recognize, that we have to simply settle for that we have now moments after we really feel unhappy. We’ve got moments after we really feel down. It doesn’t imply that we’re weak. It doesn’t imply that something notably is mistaken. Often it’s simply because we have now a warped perspective on one thing quickly. However I do need to simply say that feeling unhappy will not be mistaken.
Nonetheless , you may need to cease it, as a result of clearly feeling unhappy will not be a really optimistic emotion. It makes you’re feeling unhealthy, and so that you in all probability may like to make use of meditation to cease your self from feeling unhappy. And that brings us to the subject for a day, which is how do you employ meditation while you’re feeling down, while you’re feeling unhappy.
By the top of this episode I’m gonna arm you with some actually priceless info and a few nice strategies that you need to use the subsequent time that you simply’re feeling unhappy subsequent time you’re feeling depressed [Read: Meditation for depression] So by the top of this episode, you should have armed your self with some good instruments for the subsequent time you’re down.
So let’s get into it. How do you employ meditation to cease your self from feeling unhappy?
Properly, initially. The first manner through which you need to use meditation to cease your felt self from feeling unhappy is solely to cut back the impact that that emotion is having on you.
Oftentimes in life we expertise detrimental feelings. It could possibly be disappointment, could possibly be anger. It could possibly be, you recognize, any of these fantastic detrimental feelings that all of us expertise. Once you expertise a detrimental emotion resembling disappointment, typically your thoughts will get sort of sunk into it. Generally you get misplaced in that unhappy emotion. Possibly you ruminate on it and you actually make issues worse for your self as a result of, OK, you’re experiencing the emotion, however not solely are you experiencing it, you’re actually sinking into it, you recognize. And I believe you in all probability know what I imply. I believe that that’s one thing that we’ve all finished after we’re feeling blue and as an alternative of simply saying, yeah, OK, I’m feeling a bit down at present, we correct sink into it and get utterly misplaced in it.
So the first manner through which we will use meditation to cease us from feeling unhappy is sort of to drag the thoughts out of the emotion.
Now, to try this we use two types of meditation, that are the Buddhist strategies Anapanasati and Vipassana. So anapanasati is your fundamental conventional sitting and specializing in respiratory. That’s a very good technique to start to cease feeling so down. I’m going to undergo loads of highly effective strategies on this which can be going to be simpler for Disappointment. However aware respiratory is all the time going to assist as a result of it can chill out your thoughts and it’ll simply offer you a bit extra consciousness and a bit more room in order that as an alternative of being utterly misplaced in all that emotion, you’re capable of simply, you recognize, step away from it and simply say, OK, effective, I really feel like crap, however I’m simply going to let myself sit right here. I’m simply going to let myself chill and simply chill out and simply be OK, and while you do aware respiratory, that’s what it provides you. It sort of provides you this sense of house, the sense of freedom, and it reduces the impact that emotion has on you.
Scientifically talking, we will say that it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and balances a bunch of neurochemicals resembling serotonin and noradrenaline. However you recognize, science apart, aware respiratory is solely going to assist us to chill out and to get somewhat little bit of house after we’re feeling blue.
And in order that’s the primary meditation that I wish to point out right here, and undoubtedly place to begin with aware respiratory.
Nonetheless, whereas aware respiratory is sweet fo simply normal rest and for lowering the impact the emotion has on you, it received’t truly change your emotion. So after, let’s say you you you’re feeling unhappy, you meditate for 20 minutes, you’re feeling good for like a couple of hours, however ultimately if issues don’t change in your life or in your thoughts, ultimately you’re going to begin to really feel unhappy once more. So what do you do about that? How do you not simply get momentary reduction from disappointment while you meditate? How do you employ meditation to alter your thoughts about no matter it’s that you simply’re considering of that’s making you upset.
So fortunately there are numerous methods to try this.
Among the best methods to make use of meditation for lowering disappointment is to do what is named a little bit of analytical meditation. So analytical meditation is sort of like a cognitive behavioral remedy. I additionally do have an episode on right here, that’s totally about analytical meditation, so that you may like to take a look at.
So basically, analytical meditation means to sit down and to look at the thoughts and to sort of simply take a observe of what we’re considering, you recognize, all of the detrimental power that you simply’re experiencing.
For example, I’ve been considering, “Properly, I’m getting outdated, to be trustworthy. Outdated ish. I’m 41 subsequent month, so I’m getting a bit outdated and I haven’t actually completed the issues that I needed to perform in my life and that’s getting me down.” Proper. In order that’s the thought that I’ve been experiencing.
Once I sit in analytical meditation and I observe that thought, I say OK, so I’ve this thought that’s routinely going via my thoughts that’s saying I’m getting older and I haven’t completed my ambitions and that’s making me unhappy. So now that you recognize the thought that you simply’re experiencing, that’s making you unhappy, you’re gonna say nicely, OK, how do I flip that thought in order that it’s much less detrimental? So as an illustration, I can say, “Sure, I there are desires and ambitions that I’ve not completed in my life that I needed to perform, however I don’t have to consider that in a detrimental. I can merely flip that thought and say to myself, nicely, I nonetheless have the chance to realize the desires that I set out for myself after I was younger.”
Discover how that’s a lot extra optimistic. As an alternative of considering, nicely, I’m getting older than I’m achieved what I needed to realize. So I’m gonna be actually unhappy and act depressing. As an alternative of considering that, you simply assume, “Properly, I nonetheless have a chance in my life to realize the ambitions that I despatched for myself after I was youthful.”
Simply altering that thought, it nonetheless says truly the identical issues, it nonetheless says the stuff I haven’t achieved proper and I’m getting older, however as an alternative of placing it in a detrimental, I’m placing it in a optimistic. And in order that’s what you do with analytical meditation. You merely observe what’s occurring in your thoughts, what ideas you’re experiencing, after which flip them on their head. You don’t ignore the thought, which is one thing that self-help books inform you to do on a regular basis and is the dumbest factor of like ever. Don’t ignore your ideas as a result of they’re necessary and so they inform you necessary info. So acknowledge the thought. Say sure, I’m having no matter sort of detrimental thought it’s I’m having that thought, however I’m going to spin it and put it right into a optimistic gentle.
So to this point we’ve gone over 2 meditations that may assist with disappointment. The primary is simply your normal anapanasati aware respiratory which goes that will help you to chill out and to get simply the little bit of house while you’re feeling sunk in all that emotional gunk you recognize. After which the second is analytical meditation, the place you sit and observe the ideas which can be going via your thoughts after which use somewhat little bit of CBT, cognitive behavioral remedy to twist the thought and to show it. Into one thing a bit extra optimistic. So these are two choices.
However there’s a lot extra and I actually assume that you must know the opposite choices as a result of truthfully, let’s face it, we’re going to really feel unhappy once more. You’re going to really feel unhappy once more, and by realizing these meditations, it’s actually going that will help you the subsequent time you’re feeling unhappy to say, OK, effective, I do know what to do about this.
One other manner through which we get unhappy is after we’re sort of like. Oh, life simply sucks you recognize? I hate my life… blah blag blah.
Once you expertise ideas like that, that you must go to gratitude. You actually do, as a result of inevitably while you assume that the whole lot on the earth and the whole lot in your life is mistaken, nicely, that’s simply bonkers, isn’t it, actually? And it signifies that you’re not conscious of all of the issues that it’s important to be thankful for.
I’ll be trustworthy, I’m human. There’s occasions after I sit there, and I believe, wow, my life sucks, proper? All of us, I believe if we’re trustworthy with one another, all of us face these occasions and that’s effective. When it happens, all we have to do is say, you recognize what, I acknowledge that me considering that everything of my life is crap is simply absolute garbage. It’s a garbage thought and I’m going to alter it by simply sitting with my eyes closed and desirous about all of the issues in my life that I’ve to be thankful for. And while you do this, it, like fairly rapidly, will get you out of that funk the place you’re considering that the whole lot sucks and also you very simply begin to notice that really, you recognize, there’s fairly a couple of issues in my life that I do take pleasure in.
And in the event you can’t consider something, then simply consider cats. You realize, I’ve obtained three of them right here. Be thankful for cats or canines. Or animals or nature. If you happen to actually can’t consider the rest in your life nearly as good, simply be thankful for the bushes and the blue skies, and for birdsong and rainbows and nature.
Talking of which, I wasn’t going to say this on this on this episode, however I do need to say in case you are feeling unhappy, down, blue crappy, in a funk, et cetera, then nature actually could be your good friend.
In Japan, and more and more well-liked. Within the West is nature remedy Shinrin Yoku, which is forest bathing, which mainly means sitting in a forest. Being in nature is extremely useful, it’s ridiculously good on your psychological well being and the most effective methods to to get out of a funk.
However right here’s a very, actually, actually fascinating incontrovertible fact that’s going to blow your thoughts. You don’t even have to enter a forest or into nature to expertise nature remedy or forest.
Forest remedy analysis truly exhibits that you simply get the overwhelming majority of the advantages by merely going right into a digital pure surroundings. So as an illustration, in the event you play birdsong or play ocean sounds in your telephone, in the event you simply sit someplace quietly and visualize nature, even in the event you watch nature on the TV, you might be nonetheless being uncovered to nature and getting the advantages.
In order that’s 4 methods you need to use meditation to feeling so unhappy and blue. There’s yet another that I wish to point out, which is Metta or loving kindness meditation.
Loving kindness meditation actually is good for disappointment, for feeling down, particularly, you recognize, that sort of malaise and disappointment that you simply get while you simply really feel disconnected with the world and also you don’t really feel the love of different individuals in your life. And also you simply really feel alone and unhappy. Wow, that sounds horrible, doesn’t it? And it’s horrible. However in the event you’re going via that horrible disappointment of loneliness, Meta, Loving Kindness Meditation will do you wonders. All it’s important to do is is to sit down and easily visualize the individuals in your life smiling after which say the loving kindness mantra, which is “Could [this person] have happiness and power, might they’ve freedom and inside peace, and should they’ve the power to beat any impediment of their life”. After which visualize the individual smiling at you and saying the phrases again to you.
So I really feel like I’ve rambled somewhat bit on this episode. I apologise for that, however I additionally really feel like I’ve maybe imparted a couple of wisdoms and some instruments that you need to use for the subsequent time you’re feeling unhappy and blue. Once more, you need to use anapanasati to your aware respiratory to offer your self a way of sort of rest, freedom and house while you want it. Use analytical meditation to easily sit and observe your thoughts, after which to notice the forms of ideas that you simply’re having. When you’ve famous the forms of ideas, use a little bit of cognitive behavioral remedy to sort of twist it into one thing a bit extra optimistic. After which nature remedy, loving kindness, and gratitude.
Paul Harrison is a passionate meditation trainer who believes in real, genuine meditation. He has greater than 15 years expertise in meditation and mindfulness. He studied meditation in lovely Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his diploma at Staffordshire College.
“My objective is to offer probably the most genuine meditation periods so you possibly can harness the ability of your personal thoughts for private transformation” – Paul Harrison