I've blogged before about the power of meditation, and anyone who knows me knows that i love meditating! What you might not know is that meditation literally saved my life. I'll post the story here later, but i had severe PTSD, depression, anxiety, and was contemplating suicide.
It wasn't until I literally almost drove off a cliff that i realized i needed professional help. I scheduled an appointment with a counselor but wouldn't get in for about a week. Riding on the waves of my near suicide experience i found strength and energy to change my habits to help me survive until my appointment. First thing i did was i started doing Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. Fortunately i was no stranger to Kundalini Yoga or meditation. A divinely planted curiosity sprouted within me over a decade ago, and i began the practice of regular meditation years prior. I never thought it would save my life.
By the time i got in for a psych assessment, the clinician evaluating me took my stable disposition to mean that i was stable. She took me to the scheduling desk and said, "Ryan needs to be put on our waiting list to see a therapist." Disappointed and a little shocked, I went home cursing the fact that I did Kundalini Yoga before my assessment. When the clinician looked at my answers to the online portion of the assessment she was shocked! She called me a few hours later and told me that she was sorry and got me in to see a therapist the next day.
I met with a therapist, and he was very impressed with the condition I was in. He was even familiar with meditation, and was happy that started doing it on my own. "I usually have to tell people to start meditating. This is great, it will just speed up your recovery time."
While meditation didn't take away the trauma, it made the pain, and the symptoms more bearable while I dealt with it in therapy. The best part was, i didn't need to wait for 6-8 weeks to notice a difference like i did with the prescription medication i was given. I noticed an instant difference right away!
While i'm still in therapy, and i'm still healing from the mental illness, i hold to meditation as a gift from God; meditation is a tool from heaven that has helped me regain my sanity in the midst of a dark depression. Unfortunately not everyone is well versed in all the different types of meditation, and loads of people either have a mental illness, or know someone who is experiencing a mental illness. Maybe you or they have seen an infographic like the ones my friend make and thought about learning to meditate? Maybe you tried but felt like it wasn't for you, or you "can't do it," or "it's too hard," or the infamous "I can't stop thinking!"
Well I feel like it is my call to share with you that there are more than 35 different ways to meditate, and one of them is perfect for you, and i'd like to help you find it. I've been all over the globe (figuratively speaking) hunting down meditation practices that worked for me, and that i was able to integrate into my daily life. Going out and living in a forest, while it might help, just isn't feasible for me. So I tried loads of meditations from hot yoga, to inca shamanism, to sweat lodges, to chanting, to sitting in my room quietly trying to empty my brain, and what i've found is that there's a meditation style for everyone. Even better, I've found loads of science to back up why they work! And especially why they work for healing mental illness.
If you're feeling called to meditate but don't know where to start, if you or a loved one are currently experiencing a mental illness, then this class is for you. It's 7 weeks long, there are two books that we'll be reading from, and loads of different meditation exercises that we'll be doing so you can find a practice that is just right for you. If you can't participate online then don't worry because i'll have recordings available, and the discussion will continue in our "Meditation and Mental Health" Facebook group for ongoing support.
I'll be teaching it live, class will start July 29, 2015, 7pm - 8:15pm MST. You can register below!
Meditation and Mental Health
Price: $75.00 (If you're a college student, email me at ryan (at) beehivehealingarts . org and i'll give you the college discount!)
Worth: Priceless
It wasn't until I literally almost drove off a cliff that i realized i needed professional help. I scheduled an appointment with a counselor but wouldn't get in for about a week. Riding on the waves of my near suicide experience i found strength and energy to change my habits to help me survive until my appointment. First thing i did was i started doing Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. Fortunately i was no stranger to Kundalini Yoga or meditation. A divinely planted curiosity sprouted within me over a decade ago, and i began the practice of regular meditation years prior. I never thought it would save my life.
By the time i got in for a psych assessment, the clinician evaluating me took my stable disposition to mean that i was stable. She took me to the scheduling desk and said, "Ryan needs to be put on our waiting list to see a therapist." Disappointed and a little shocked, I went home cursing the fact that I did Kundalini Yoga before my assessment. When the clinician looked at my answers to the online portion of the assessment she was shocked! She called me a few hours later and told me that she was sorry and got me in to see a therapist the next day.
I met with a therapist, and he was very impressed with the condition I was in. He was even familiar with meditation, and was happy that started doing it on my own. "I usually have to tell people to start meditating. This is great, it will just speed up your recovery time."
While meditation didn't take away the trauma, it made the pain, and the symptoms more bearable while I dealt with it in therapy. The best part was, i didn't need to wait for 6-8 weeks to notice a difference like i did with the prescription medication i was given. I noticed an instant difference right away!
While i'm still in therapy, and i'm still healing from the mental illness, i hold to meditation as a gift from God; meditation is a tool from heaven that has helped me regain my sanity in the midst of a dark depression. Unfortunately not everyone is well versed in all the different types of meditation, and loads of people either have a mental illness, or know someone who is experiencing a mental illness. Maybe you or they have seen an infographic like the ones my friend make and thought about learning to meditate? Maybe you tried but felt like it wasn't for you, or you "can't do it," or "it's too hard," or the infamous "I can't stop thinking!"
 |
| Check out her Facebook page here for more awesome infographic. |
Well I feel like it is my call to share with you that there are more than 35 different ways to meditate, and one of them is perfect for you, and i'd like to help you find it. I've been all over the globe (figuratively speaking) hunting down meditation practices that worked for me, and that i was able to integrate into my daily life. Going out and living in a forest, while it might help, just isn't feasible for me. So I tried loads of meditations from hot yoga, to inca shamanism, to sweat lodges, to chanting, to sitting in my room quietly trying to empty my brain, and what i've found is that there's a meditation style for everyone. Even better, I've found loads of science to back up why they work! And especially why they work for healing mental illness.
If you're feeling called to meditate but don't know where to start, if you or a loved one are currently experiencing a mental illness, then this class is for you. It's 7 weeks long, there are two books that we'll be reading from, and loads of different meditation exercises that we'll be doing so you can find a practice that is just right for you. If you can't participate online then don't worry because i'll have recordings available, and the discussion will continue in our "Meditation and Mental Health" Facebook group for ongoing support.
I'll be teaching it live, class will start July 29, 2015, 7pm - 8:15pm MST. You can register below!
Meditation and Mental Health
Price: $75.00 (If you're a college student, email me at ryan (at) beehivehealingarts . org and i'll give you the college discount!)
Worth: Priceless
This is awesome!
ReplyDelete