Depression Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation (often called depression meditation) covers a number of ways that helps us to deal directly or indirectly with our mental states, so that we change our mental patterns and behavior. Depression, stress and panic attacks are a few examples of negative mental states that depression meditation can directly assist in. Feelings of helplessness, melancholy and isolation are characteristics of depression. Depression Meditation develops self-confidence and feelings of connections to others. According to many studies, people with depression feel much better after bringing out the relaxation response.

Depression meditation means, if you are getting stressed and tense, hi-strung, or bad-tempered, you choose to let go of the stress and tension by relaxing both mentally and physically. When this happens, there are a couple of things that are happening. The first is the understanding of our mental state. The second is the capability to move our mental states in the desired direction. Meditation helps us to discover ourselves, inside. If you are feeling a sense of depression, it helps you to become more aware of your needs, and presents methods that help you to choose different reactions and improve our experiences.

The University of Wales has found that training those suffering from depression about mindfulness through meditation, helps them to manage with the thoughts that can lead to a relapse of the depression. Science has proven through research that living more in the present time we can be free of negative mind states, manage stress better, improve relationships and have an overall happier and more stable life. A Professor of Psychology at the University of Wales has established that Buddhist-style depression meditation helps to prevent the reappearance of depression. Without depression meditation being used along with traditional methods of treating depression, there’s a 70% to 80% chance that depression will return in the next year or two. The difference between cognitive therapy and depression meditation is that cognitive therapy teaches people to look outside of themselves and try to consider other possibilities. Whereas depression meditation, (mindfulness meditation) teaches one to look inside of themselves in a positive and stress free light.

Depression may be associated to the society we live in; our family and personal relationships; or a combination. Depression meditation can offer positive reflection on the ‘good’ of everything when to the depressed person everything may appear to be hopeless.
The therapy of depression meditation is really quite simple.
One should first practice the act of ‘mind focusing’ prior to attempting depression meditation.

1. First, you will need a focal object. Some use a simple raisin.
 
2. Hold the raisin in your hand and focus only on that single raisin, concentrate on how it looks, what it smells like, does it make any sounds? Move it in your hand. Continue focusing only on the raisin.  If your mind wanders, return it to the raisin.

3. Take the raisin into your mouth, don’t chew it. Leave it in your mouth and concentrate on what it does or feels like in your mouth.
 
Practice focusing your mind. And remember, depression meditation is the practice of doing things and noticing that you’re doing them.

By Mary Jones