Powerful meditation to get rid of fear. How to deal with stress and depression using color therapy? The morning is wiser than the evening

Hello, friends. In the hustle and bustle of life, we often face worries and stress. As they accumulate, they negatively affect our mental balance and cause irritation and anger. In this article we will talk about meditation for stress and anxiety.

Most meditation practices have an anti-stress effect. Let's look at a few of them.

You will need a candle. It would be better if it was a beautiful scented candle from the store. But a simple church or household one will also do.

Seclude yourself in a room. Sit comfortably and relaxed - on an armchair, sofa or chair. Turn off the lights or draw the curtains to darken the room. Light a candle.

Make sure your body is relaxed. If you feel tension in any part of your body, e.g. cervical spine, lightly massage this area.

Look at the candle flame and admire it. The element of Fire helps us burn negative emotions and experiences. Observe the change in the light, its movements and impulses.

Try to stop extraneous thoughts. If work issues come to mind again, gently move away from them, plunging mentally into the warm and soft flame of a candle. You gradually get rid of accumulated stress.

Watch your breathing, slow it down, feel the inhalation and exhalation. Let your breathing become calm and deep. You will enter a state of meditation. Stay in this state for as long as you want, but at least 15 minutes.

Dancing makes the soul happy

Dance is a great meditation for relieving stress. But not every dance can become a full-fledged meditation.

To achieve the desired state you need to perform a sequence of actions.

• Stop in the center of the room, breathe slowly and deeply. Close your eyes for a minute.
• Then turn on any upbeat music you like.

An important condition is music without words. Words will distract you and force you to delve into the texts. And this will not allow you to enter a meditative state.

• Dance! Express your emotions through movements. Move your arms and legs and hips and head. Immerse yourself in the dance, let all your attention be focused on the movements.
• Throw out accumulated negative energy through dance. It will be great if you do a few jumps. Don't be afraid to fool around. This is your time.
• If you wish, you can sing or shout out sounds. Only negative words, curse words, etc. are prohibited. Leave only the positive.

Mandalas against stress

A mandala is a geometric design that has a sacred meaning. However, there are also modern interpretations that do not carry religious significance. Contemplating the many small elements of the pattern draws you into meditation.

Mandalas for coloring can be bought at a bookstore or found on the Internet and printed on a printer. Here are some examples (click on the pictures to enlarge):

Go somewhere where you won't be disturbed. By the way, in the summer this practice can be done in the park on a bench.

Prepare a mandala drawing and colored pencils. Look at the picture for a couple of minutes and think about what it might mean.

Then start coloring the pattern. There is no need to approach this process rationally. Trust your instincts in choosing colors. Do what comes from your heart. As you concentrate on coloring the mandala, you will immerse yourself in meditation.

After completing the drawing, you will feel peace and satisfaction. A charge of positivity will appear that will not allow stress to take over your consciousness again.

It's time to take a walk

A walk in nature serves as a natural meditation against stress and anxiety. However, for the effect to be complete, it is important to adhere to some rules.

• Walk in parks, squares or nature. There is no point in wandering along a busy avenue.
• Walk at a slow and calm pace. There's no need to rush.
• If thoughts about business, problems or work appear in your head, tell yourself: “All this is very important, but I will think about it later... And now there are trees and flowers around me...”

Look at leaves or tree branches. If you have flowers in front of you, be sure to enjoy them, inhale the aroma, admire the beauty of each flower.

Enjoy the diversity of nature. Find the characteristics of the time of year during which you are walking. In the spring, these are budding tree buds and flowering trees. In summer there is lush greenery. In autumn there is a carnival of colored leaves. And in winter - the kingdom of snow or gloomy tree trunks, which also have their own charm.

You will certainly feel the meditative effect after just half an hour of walking. To avoid having to interrupt it ahead of time, dress for the weather so as not to freeze. Take a bottle of water with you. And dedicate this time to yourself.

Walking in the rain has a special effect. If it is pouring rain, then walk for no more than 10 minutes under an umbrella.

Allow yourself to be in the midst of the elements, be inspired by its strength and power. Then return home, take a hot shower and drink warm tea.

During light drizzling rain, you can walk longer, the main thing is not to get wet. When the whole world is washed with raindrops, washing away all the impurities from it, it is good to dream and immerse yourself in contemplation.

The most effective method learn meditation- this is to trust the Teacher. Friends, I want to recommend to you my mentor, with whom I once learned to meditate. This is Igor Budnikov, he himself studied meditation in monasteries in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Igor will teach you meditation with amazing simplicity and ease and will help you avoid common mistakes.
I invite you to take 5 short free lessons, during which you will meditate under the guidance of Igor. I'm sure you'll like it as much as I did.

Exercise has a positive effect

You've probably thought about physical exercise. But to enter the state of meditation we need something else. Here are some options.

If all this unsettles you, and when you come home, you fall off your feet, and on weekends you can’t rest, then we will teach you some meditation techniques that will help you from melancholy, fatigue and will the best prevention from nervous breakdowns.

Meditation against stress

What is the effect of meditation?
According to Buddhists, they have neither depression nor insomnia. And all because meditation is their lifestyle. By making meditation a habit, you will learn to quickly focus on your work, worry less, be able to rest well, and find inner harmony, because it is so important for a woman.

Meditation Conditions
It is well known that there is no need to meditate on full stomach. Decide for yourself whether to turn on or not turn on calm music. Some people meditate in complete silence.

Meditation technique
The basis of effective meditation is maximum relaxation. This is not as easy to achieve as you might think. After all, some muscles of the body do not relax even in sleep.

Relaxation meditation technique
Let's lie on our back (don't use a “high” pillow for this) and try to relax. Let's inhale and exhale several times. When you exhale, we feel how the air comes out, the body sinks deeper into the bed and becomes heavy. Next we will focus on separate parts bodies from bottom to top.

Let's focus on each leg in turn, starting with the feet. Let's tell them to relax, imagine how the tension subsides. We are gradually moving up. The more carefully you approach this meditation, the “smaller” the parts of the body on which you concentrate your attention, the more relaxed you will be. We use this technique both before bedtime (especially if you can’t fall asleep quickly), and when you want to rest a short time.

Concentration meditation technique
We use the concentration meditation technique when there is a lot of information in our head, but we need to focus on one thing. Let’s sit or lie down more comfortably; believe me, the lotus pose will be comfortable for those who meditate and practice yoga for a long time; it’s better to start with a comfortable chair or just lie down on the floor.

Mentally and completely focus on some phenomenon or object. It could be anything from rain, indoor plant and ending with a cup standing on the table. The main thing here is that your thoughts are occupied with this subject and nothing else. Hold this in your head for as long as you can. You'll soon find that your mind quickly returns to what you're planning to cook for dinner or to the movie you're watching. Again we return to the selected item. After several training sessions, your concentration time will increase. By practicing this meditation, you will be able to easily concentrate in any conditions (for example, it helps well to prepare for an exam).

Breathing meditation technique
The breathing meditation technique is observing the breath. You don’t need to deliberately change the rhythm of your breathing, just feel the flow of air coming out and in. As you inhale and exhale, count to 10 and back to one. This method will allow you to while away the time in a queue or in public transport.

A meditation technique that combines walking and breathing
This technique can be used while walking home or to work. It's good when you have a lot of time to not walk very fast. We inhale for four steps, exhale for six. The body breathes normally, and the thoughts are focused on the count. If there are beautiful landscapes around you and Fresh air, then the benefits of this walk will be double.

Meditation technique to help solve the problem
First, let's relax as much as possible. Then we “play out” the conflict or problem in our heads, starting from the very end. As we gradually get closer to the origins, you will understand why this happened. Let’s find “along the way” an action, word or reason that led to certain consequences, and then you will have a chance to fix everything.

Autotraining is also meditation
The best way to engage in auto-training is to learn how to mentally focus and physically relax. You need to use it before bed so that you don’t have to be distracted by anything else.

Relax and focus on positive thoughts. The meditation technique depends on the situation you are trying to improve. If you need to increase your self-esteem, mentally tell yourself: “I am confident in myself.” Avoid the particle “not”, it is negative. If a tyrant appears in the office, think: “My fear of Larisa Mikhailovna (driving instructor, director) disappears.” Instead of a phrase such as “I don’t want to smoke,” it is best to say “I have lost the desire to smoke.”

After all, it has been proven that our thoughts have material power. During auto-training, imagine in every detail the achievement you are striving for, and as if it has already happened. “Work” in the place where you want to work, “live” in the house or city of your dreams, “touch” the thing you want to have. There are cases where people were cured of incurable diseases with the help of such meditations.

Now we know what this meditation technique and meditation against stress is. Choose a meditation technique to suit your taste. Make this your habit, try to live here and now, and your self-doubt, a difficult tomorrow and the raging Larisa Mikhailovna will not be scary for you.

In this article I will tell you how you can cope with depression with meditation. Once upon a time, I myself suffered from depression and... And it was the practice of developing awareness (meditation) that helped me solve these problems.

I understand that the topic of getting rid of depression through meditation is quite extensive, and its presentation requires a separate book or even several books. In this article I have tried to cover everything while maintaining a balance between brevity and accessibility.

I will tell:

• How to apply the practice mindful meditation to let go of negative experiences
• How to learn to get rid of negative, intrusive thoughts during depression
• How to use meditation to discover the causes of your depression
• How to develop love and acceptance for yourself
• Why meditation can help every person get rid of depression

Although the article is not short, this is not all that can be said on this topic. However, it can change your life, so it will be better for you if you take this reading seriously and read it all to the end.

What you see here may challenge your intuition and common sense, and many things will seem paradoxical or completely incomprehensible. Please don't reject them out of hand. On the other hand, you shouldn’t trust them unquestioningly: everything you read about here is subject to verification on your personal experience. Moreover, all this must be tested in your experience so that you can apply it. This information- this is not a naked theory, but a guide and direction to practice, a theoretical basis for what you will have to do if you want to cope with depression. And understanding of this information for most of you will only come with practice.

Therefore, there is no need to try to intensively intellectually comprehend this information: without your practice, its value tends to zero. But if in your personal experience you rely on it, comparing your personal feelings with it, then this will help you avoid many mistakes and use meditation most effectively to get rid of depression.

"Harmless antidepressant"

On my website, I wrote several large articles about depression and anxiety, in which I talked about the benefits of meditation. Then I decided that this would be enough. But, as I saw from numerous comments, what was obvious to me was unclear to other people. Many of them have perceived meditation as some kind of harmless antidepressant, a magic pill that magically removes suffering and brings joy just by sitting on your ass for 20 minutes a day. Of course, such expectations are not fulfilled, so people quit the practice, convinced that the problem lies with the practice itself. But really, the problem is expectations.
The purpose of this article is to fill one of the gaps on my website and explain why you need to meditate when you are depressed, how to do it, what you can expect and what you cannot.

On the main shortcoming of scientific research on meditation

Scientists have proven that meditation activates areas of the brain that are responsible for pleasant emotions. Meditation programs that are used in formal Western psychotherapy (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) show amazing results in relieving people of this depression.

I am very glad that the scientific medical community has recognized the potential of meditation in the context of combating anxiety, depression and other mental health problems. The practice is gradually parting with its marginal status as a kind of religious ritual and a way of changing consciousness. More and more people are discovering the practical meaning of meditation as a method of learning to control their consciousness, develop awareness and solve internal problems.

“The hypothesis that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain is just a hypothesis, despite the fact that many people (even doctors) have managed to agree with it, as if it had already become proven scientific fact.»

However, the conclusions from scientific research on meditation, although optimistic, still have a certain narrowness, limited by the existing framework. scientific paradigm. They do not always reveal the full potential of meditation or articulate aspects of its application. These studies have so far focused more on changes in chemical and electrical activity in the brain as a result of practice. If you choose to read these studies, you can read a lot about alpha activity in the brain, increased activity in frontal lobes, reduction of tonsils, activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, etc. All these, undoubtedly, are the positive effects of meditation, which lead to calmness, balance and self-control, eliminating the physiological prerequisites for anxiety and depression. It's good that scientists are researching this.

However, they may miss the most important thing, namely, the condition for positive transformation at the level of phenomena of consciousness and personality structure. That is, how our character changes, our views and assessment of problems, our attitude towards fears, negative emotions, our ability to recognize our inner world, recognizing ourselves on a deeper level. Now I’m not talking about some “spiritual” matters, I’m talking about ordinary things that each of you encounters every day: emotions, expectations, hopes, fears, complexes, etc. And studying the influence of meditation at this level is no less important than research into changes in the biochemical picture of the brain as a result of using mindfulness practice.

This is all the more important if we are looking for effective remedy to relieve people from depression.

The hypothesis that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain is just a hypothesis, despite the fact that many people (even doctors) have managed to agree with it, as if it had already become a proven scientific fact. The cause of depression can lie in our emotions, repressed memories, in our perceptions, in our fears.

Pills do not work at this level, they do not eliminate the causes of depression, they only temporarily supply a person with “chemistry” that helps not to feel unpleasant symptoms.

(Here I can argue that our emotions and thoughts are the result of chemical activity in the brain. Although this has not been proven, I am willing to assume that this may be the case. But still, this does not change the matter. Imagine that you need to delete a file from computer. You will not take out your hard drive, changing its configuration at the physical level (which may entail deleting all data altogether!) You will simply delete the file in your operating system And in order to resolve a family conflict, you will not give it to your husband. pills for anger. You will try to understand the causes of the conflict, the emotions and thoughts that caused it.)

All these big headlines summarizing Scientific research, like “scientists have proven that meditation is more effective than antidepressants” or “meditation stimulates the production of “happiness hormones” in fact, although they attract people to practice, they nevertheless introduce some confusion, creating false expectations among practitioners.

Such headlines and articles reduce meditation in people's minds to the level of a harmless pill for the blues, a replacement for antidepressants without side effects. They start using it according to these expectations and most often do not get any effect.

From these expectations also arises another problem, which is the scourge of so many people who begin to meditate. This problem prevents you from getting the full benefit from the practice. It's called "I'll try." People read about meditation somewhere on the Internet, find out that it can help with depression, but do not understand how this will happen. And they decide to try. They try meditation, just as they might have tried Prozac and other antidepressants. Or how they could “try” to avoid problems headlong into work, use Tibetan singing bowls or God knows what else. They will meditate in best case scenario month and, not receiving the expected relief (and in some cases, having encountered, on the contrary, an increase in symptoms, which also happens), they will quit the practice, deciding that it is not suitable for them.

Meditation has enormous potential for ridding a person of both depression and other mental problems. I am convinced that it can help every person who faces such problems.

But for it to help you, you must at least approximately understand why you are meditating, how to do it correctly and why it is needed. Meditation is not a magic pill of happiness, it is not a way to experience pleasant emotions while drowning out unpleasant ones. Although practice has a positive effect on chemical balance brain, its effect extends much wider.

Referring to a computer metaphor, meditation operates not only at the level of “hardware” (brain biochemistry, physical state of the nervous system), but also at the level of “ operating system"(attention, thoughts, emotions), effectively balancing these two levels, establishing a connection between them.

Meditation is not magic, but effective exercise, which develops the mental skills you need to fight depression.

In this article I will not focus on the physical changes in the brain of a meditating person. You can easily find this information without me. Here I want to talk about how meditation can help you discover the causes of your emotional problems. How she can resolve your fears and internal contradictions. And about how to make the practice as effective as possible for you.

In this article I will try to prove to you that meditation will help each of you cope with depression.

I will teach you how to properly apply meditation techniques so that you can deal with this problem once and for all.

Why can watching your breath change your life and your self-image?

It may surprise some that meditation instructions can be contained in just one sentence. It sounds like this. Sit with your back straight and direct your attention to the sensations that arise when breathing; as soon as you realize that your attention is absorbed in thoughts, emotions, memories, simply calmly return it to the sensations of breathing.

This is all! Some may be surprised: “Is this really the vaunted tool for self-discovery and personal transformation? Is watching your breath meditation?
I guess, yes. I am aware that many people expect to hear about something very difficult as part of their meditation instruction. What do you need to do? special exercises, slow down your breathing, visualize your past, etc.

But all that is required is to monitor your breathing. At the same time, the one who teaches this claims that such, at first glance, simple practice changes human character and attitude towards life. How can this help get rid of depression?

It is much easier for people to believe that dancing with tambourines on a full moon under fly agaric mushrooms will do much more for personality transformation than simply observing the breath.

But later we will see that this is not so. I'll tell you why simply focusing on your breathing can turn your life around. To do this I will describe different aspects practice, explaining how it would work in the context of addressing depression. I will also give practical advice By correct use meditation techniques to eliminate depression.

You must understand that the following aspects are not isolated in themselves. I divide the meditation into fragments only for ease of understanding. But in reality, it is impossible to clearly distinguish between, for example, “lack of interpretation” and “acceptance,” “acceptance” and “love.” All this is very subtly interconnected and represents a single system. I hope this is clear.

Principle 1 - Lack of interpretation and reaction

When I say that you need to concentrate on the sensations in your body that arise when you breathe, that’s exactly what I mean. There's no catch here. This is not meant to put you into hypnosis or anything like that.

But when you try to do this, you will notice that you are constantly distracted by thoughts. This is fine. The condition of meditation is that you must be aware of when this happens and turn your attention back to the sensations. And it doesn’t matter at all what thoughts come to you: important, trivial, smart, stupid, scary, calm, pleasant, unpleasant. In meditation, all thoughts and sensations are equal: you do not try to evaluate them. No matter what thought comes into your head, your task, upon noticing a loss of concentration on breathing, is to return your attention to breathing.

Okay, but what next? And then you notice that you should stop giving thoughts any great meaning, interpret them ( “what terrible thoughts come into my head”), they immediately lose some of their strength. They simply turn into impulses rushing through your mind!

All these thoughts that torment depressed people ( “I’m worthless”, “I won’t succeed”) are simply thoughts, fragments of information. But when you start to get involved in them, think about them, give them emotional meaning, they suck you in and become real.

During meditation you learn not to react to them. And you realize that thoughts do not necessarily reflect the reality around you. They are simply randomly generated by your brain. And if you don’t react to them, they simply appear and disappear without giving rise to anger, despondency, or irritation. You stop identifying with them. They turn only into some abstract pictures, a stream of information rushing past you without any of your participation.

Imagine that you have learned to ignore your obsessive thoughts and obsessions. Imagine that they have lost power over you, you have learned to ignore the voice that tells you: “You’re hopeless”, “Everything is going badly for you”. Would that make it easier for you? Undoubtedly. Actually, the main task of meditation is to give you control over your consciousness and thoughts.

But the same applies to emotions. During meditation, we do not try to evaluate these emotions in any way. If sadness comes, we don't try to reason where it came from or when it will go away. We just stay with the breath. And thus, a whole layer of suffering is removed from us.

Because basically people with depression suffer not from depression as such, but from their reaction to it (“how bad I feel,” “well, it’s starting again,” “why is this happening to me,” “I’m so unhappy”), they suffer from their suffering. So they find themselves in a vicious circle: their reaction to their own suffering intensifies it, giving rise to a new reaction.
But we learn not to react without interpreting these emotions in any way. And when this begins to work out, we begin to notice that the strength of our emotions depends on the attention we pay to them, on the degree of involvement in them. We cannot simply order our despondency to go away; it will not leave us just because we really want it. But as soon as you stop following his lead, it will lose its power until it disappears completely. This is what meditation teaches.

Application in practice:

The main advice I give is to put all these aspects into practice. If you just “sit stupidly” 2 times a day for 20 minutes, then it won’t be of much use. The effect of meditation will appear only when you start using meditation skills in real life to solve real problems.

In relation to this point, the advice would be as follows. When unpleasant ones appear, do not try to drive them away, but do not try to get involved in thinking about them. Just don't judge them, just don't react.

Watch them lose their power over you when you refuse to think them through. Do the same with emotions. Don't react to the appearance of despondency with irritation or annoyance. If this emotion comes, then it comes. There is no need to give this any rating. And also notice how unpleasant emotions cease to be so unpleasant if you just stop reacting to them. Just don't get involved in them. And learn to do this in your normal state, and not just during meditation.

Principle 2 - Attention Control

The enemy of a person with depression is meticulous self-analysis, a scrupulous assessment of one’s condition. Once a person begins to think about his condition: “where did this come from”, “why do I feel so bad now” how his thoughts take him deeper and deeper into the abyss of despondency. It may seem to him that now he will finally resolve some kind of internal conflict, come to some kind of decision, but, in fact, the more he thinks, the more bitter, insoluble questions his mind gives rise to. He would like to stop thinking about it, but he just can't. I think many of you are familiar with this.

Sometimes we don’t realize how much our thoughts depend on our momentary state. In fact, during an attack of depression, all our logic, all our analysis is subordinated to this state. Therefore, everything we think about comes down to bitter facts and disappointing conclusions, which, in turn, give rise to new suffering.
Our mind becomes our enemy, and our mistake is that we take it for a friend and helper.

And it seems that these thoughts appear uncontrollably and we have no choice but to start thinking about them. But in fact, the lack of choice is only a consequence lack of training mind.

I keep repeating that meditation is nothing more than training our consciousness. She teaches us to manage our attention: to notice when thoughts come and turn our attention to our breathing. And in relation to this issue, this is a very valuable skill. Gradually, with regular practice we begin to be able to do this not only during meditation, but also in our normal state. We begin to notice when thoughts overwhelm us, when our minds threaten to plunge us into a whirlpool of mindless, painful self-analysis. And then we have a choice: either blindly follow the lead of this pattern of consciousness, or not allow this flywheel of thoughts to unwind. Meditation gives us the choice to stop being hostage to our own mind.

But the value of attention management is much greater and broader. We become what attention is directed to. What some people call truth is actually what occupies their attention. If a person constantly thinks that he is insignificant, then this attitude becomes true for him, because he, as it were, gives these thoughts a go.

Developing in his thinking, they shape him inner reality. But as soon as you stop paying attention to these thoughts, their reality will decrease. From this principle, in fact, the approach of positive thinking arises. When we control our attention, we control our life and inner reality.

Practical use:

Sometimes it makes sense to let go of self-analysis. Try not to analyze your state during depression for at least some time. When these thoughts start to overwhelm you, just don’t react, as I said in the last point. You may feel like something terrible will happen if you don't torment yourself with questions: “where does it come from” and “why”. But just experiment, try to give up self-analysis in a state of depression for at least a week. And watch how your condition changes.

Will it make you feel worse? Will something terrible happen? Observe the connection between your state and your thoughts. Are your thoughts and ideas about yourself always the same? Do they depend on the time of day and your mood? How does our perception of a problem change if we focus on its solution, rather than on the troubles it brought? Do our problems seem so bad when our minds calm down? What happens if you try not to analyze emotions and thoughts with the help of other thoughts, but simply try to observe them? How does the perception of things change if we pay attention to their positive sides? Meditation teaches you to observe yourself and your task is to transfer this skill to life. Practice does not give ready answers; you find them yourself, simply by observing yourself.

Principle 3 - Mindfulness Training and Informed Choices

I like to say that meditation is not naked ethics, not a method imposed on a person to perceive reality. Meditation is the optimal way to interact with the inner and outer world. As I already wrote, while a person lives “automatically”, without awareness, there is little choice for him: his emotions and thoughts become a direct guide to action for him. But awareness is a choice. Thanks to practice, we can consciously choose which emotions to give rise to, which thoughts to develop.

Meditation transforms us from hostages of emotions to observers of them. While we are inside these emotions, it is very difficult for us to understand them. To understand something, you need to go beyond it, look from the outside. This is exactly the perspective we gain when we simply follow our breath.

And having this perspective, coupled with the ability to choose which emotions to obey, forces us to critically evaluate our own character, our own personality. We stop thinking of it as something given and unchanging. Since this can be changed, since we have a choice, then what do we choose? Constantly think about problems or look for solutions? Concentrate on own shortcomings or merits? Notice only the bad around you or see the good? Constantly pondering meaningless questions about the “meaning of life” or living this life? Rummage in painful memories or live here and now?

These questions are not a given, not a pre-established order of things, but an object of your conscious choice. And no one is forcing this choice on you. Choose what is best and most convenient for you.

I think it is not entirely correct to say that meditation makes people more empathetic, compassionate, kind, focused on positive aspects life. No, meditation allows people to choose. And they usually choose kindness, love, happiness, focus on life's opportunities, because such a choice is simply better and closer to life's optimum. This is what I mean when I talk about the best way interaction with reality.

Practical use:

The advice will be the same as in the previous paragraph. Learn to observe your emotions abstractly even when you are not meditating. Instead of getting involved in them, just record their appearance: here comes anger, here comes anxiety, here comes despondency. Don’t scold, don’t criticize yourself for their appearance, just calmly observe. What will happen? Will it become easier for you to disengage from momentary emotions? What is better for you personally: to develop negative, destructive impulses or simply to be calmly aware of them without getting involved? In which of these two cases does your peace of mind remain? Would you be better off if you learned not to be led by all your desires and emotions?

Principle 4 - Self-discovery tool

As I wrote above, it is difficult to understand your emotions while you are in their power. Depression and anxiety envelop us in a thick veil of illusion, behind which we do not see the real reasons for our suffering. In this state, people may think that the reason for their unhappiness is the lack of relationships or the country in which they live, the job in which they work. Of course, such factors can play a role in the formation of depression, but people often greatly overestimate them.

It may seem to them that as soon as they change their surroundings, their usual relationships, everything will be fine. They continue to be confident in these expectations, even after they are shattered by life experiences: a new relationship or job does not bring the expected relief. “I probably need to change another job.”- they think. Their own consciousness, clouded by constant, chronic melancholy and lack of self-confidence, does not allow them to admit their mistakes and begin to fight true reasons your condition.

When we simply follow our breath, we learn not to give in to our emotions, no matter how important they may seem to us. This clears our mind of obscurations, gives it an adequate distance for sober introspection, the necessary degree of abstraction from emotions. Meditation is not a magic pill, but a tool of self-discovery that helps you discover hidden fears, negative thinking habits and destructive mental patterns so that you can then work with them.

When I started meditating to cope with depression, I, like many, perceived meditation as a magic pill. It seemed to me that my depression was some kind of misunderstanding that happened to me for unknown reasons. But practice showed me what kind of ball internal contradictions, fears, complexes I carried inside me.

Of course, much of what I saw in myself was completely inconsistent with my own ideas about myself. Therefore, I cannot say that this experience was not painless for my self-esteem. I saw myself as I really was, not as I wanted to see myself.

I realized that my depression was not some kind of misunderstanding, but a completely natural consequence of my character, my psychological habits. But I did not take this as a disappointing verdict. Yes, practice forced me to take responsibility for my suffering. However, it became not only my tool of self-discovery, but also a source of internal transformation!

Practical use:

Learning to be aware own emotions, try to understand where your suffering comes from. Does it come directly from external events? If so, why do different people react differently to the same events? If so, why does your reaction depend on your mood? If we cannot always change reality, then can we change our reaction to various manifestations of reality? How would our lives change if we learned to respond to any life events with calm and acceptance?

During meditation, we learn not to react to the thoughts and emotions that arise in our head. Is this very different from the ability not to react with irritation to the crying of someone else’s child or to unpleasant people in the company? Is there really a hard line between the perception of internal stimuli and external ones?

Principle 5 - Releasing Emotions

Let's say the practice of meditation allowed you to see your fears, internal tension, dissatisfaction and irritation. But what to do with all this? How can meditation help you get rid of this?

Of course, we cannot empirically, through introspection, understand how our brain works, which areas are activated in response to certain stimuli. But nevertheless, each of us can notice what changes are occurring at the level of consciousness and thinking. How does our reaction to familiar situations change due to practice? What is happening to our attitude towards people? Are we beginning to make more calm and balanced decisions?

“Meditation deprives us of the opportunity to suppress emotions, leave them for later, or go headlong into a routine in order to forget the resentment or grief.”

To explore your own mind, you don’t have to look into textbooks. We can simply observe it, and practice provides this opportunity.

Many practitioners, including myself, draw the following conclusion from this observation. Indeed, meditation helps to free yourself from negative emotions: fear, anger, resentment. People who meditate tend to become more balanced, joyful and calm. This is simply a conclusion from direct experience. This may be due to changes in biochemical level, and thanks to the qualitative transformation of consciousness. There are probably many factors involved and it would be difficult for me to describe in detail why this happens. But I will try to formulate a fairly simple, somewhat crude explanation, which, nevertheless, can give some rough understanding of why liberation from “internal garbage” occurs.

According to popular belief, in order to let go of an emotion, you need to experience it in its most intense form. For example, if you feel angry, break dishes, shout. But such actions, although they bring relief, are temporary. In the long term, such behavior only perpetuates these emotions in our psyche. How more people expresses his anger, the more he begins to be subject to anger in life. You cannot get rid of an emotion by giving in to that emotion. Can't stop experiencing sexual attraction, if you constantly have sex with different partners: lust, on the contrary, will become even more voracious.

Meditation offers a completely different approach to releasing emotions. Letting go of emotions occurs through accepting them. During meditation we simply focus on breathing. If some emotion comes, for example anger, we simply do not react to it. Just as we don’t try to develop it, for example, jump up and hit dishes, we also don’t try to suppress it, drive it deeper. We do neither. We don't do anything with her. We're just watching. So what happens then? The emotion disappears, it dissolves. And the released psychic energy may go somewhere else. (This is why people sometimes feel energized after meditation; they stop wasting energy feeding their anger, anxiety, and despondency.)

By the way, this has scientific explanation which I cited in the article. I won’t dwell on this here.

Meditation deprives us of the opportunity to suppress emotions, leave them for later, or go headlong into a routine in order to forget resentment or grief. When our mind becomes calm, everything suppressed begins to come to the surface. We are left alone with our pain, fear and uncertainty. And this is the reason why people quit meditation. They expect it to simply “remove” unpleasant feelings, as, for example, alcohol does. (In reality, alcohol does not remove anything, it only suppresses)

But sometimes, as a result of practice, it happens that negative emotions temporarily intensify, which every meditation teacher should warn about. But this natural process of internal cleansing. This also happens to me sometimes during intensive meditation courses. But I try to meet such emotions with gratitude, with the thought that “the process has begun.” Because I know that all the dirt comes out so that I can let it go. And let go through acceptance.

What practical conclusion can be drawn from all this? And such that Meditation cannot be used as a way to suppress emotions, trying to “drown out” them through practice. You need to be ready to face everything that rushes out. Be ready to accept it and let it go...

Practical use:

As you learn to be aware of thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them, notice what happens to them when you don't get caught up in them. Can you say that you suppress them? What happens when you give in to your anger or despondency? Are you feeling better? Do you feel free from these experiences? Does this help not to feel this way in the future?

Principle 6 - Acceptance

I like to say that meditation is both simple and difficult. This is simply because meditation instructions can be summed up in one sentence. But this is difficult, because the basic principle of meditation is fundamentally different from the usual and everyday way of perceiving reality and reacting to external stimuli.

This stands above all habitual experience and goes against our desire to receive pleasure and avoid displeasure. This is why many people find meditation so difficult to master. Not because they don't understand the instructions, but because they can't grasp the basic principle. The principle of acceptance.

From infancy, a person gets used to striving for pleasant sensations and avoiding unpleasant ones. So when he first begins to sit in a meditation pose, he thinks: “here is the way to quickly get pleasure and get rid of all your troubles”. Sometimes, indeed, a meditation session can bring pleasant feelings of peace, harmony and happiness. But this doesn't last forever. When the pleasure wears off, a person becomes disillusioned with the practice and gives it up, not realizing that he has not understood its basic principle.

During meditation, we do not try to create pleasant emotions through an effort of will. We're just watching. We reject all interpretations. Peace comes - good. Anxiety comes - good. Joy comes - good. Sadness comes - good. We try not to get involved in these emotions. When pleasant sensations come, we do not try to hold them, we simply watch them appear and disappear. And when they come discomfort, we don't try to push them away, we just watch them appear and disappear. Everything becomes equal for us. And this teaches our minds a completely new way to respond to our depression.

How have we responded to the appearance of despondency in the past? “Well, here it comes again, I hoped it had gone away forever, but it came back. It’s so bad, I’m so miserable!” As I wrote earlier, our reaction to despondency gives rise to the bulk of our suffering.

But how do we learn to respond through meditation? “Melancholy has come, please! Stay with me. You can't stay with me forever, because you're just a temporary emotion. I won’t drive you away, but I won’t hold you back when you want to leave.”

We do not develop this emotion, but we also do not suppress it. We simply don't react and accept. And through acceptance we let her go, watching her leave. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, but we cannot let go of our suffering if we wish with all our hearts that it would go away. On the contrary, the more we want depression to go away, the worse we feel. Because the strength of your desire creates new tension. But once you get rid of desire and simply learn to accept emotions, despondency simply goes away on its own. This principle is also subject to your own experimental verification, don't take my word for it.

Practical use:

Learn to calmly accept your emotions in life just like you do during meditation. Sadness has come, it means it has come. And notice what changes after this principle becomes your habit. Will you feel better? What happens to an emotion after you accept it? Does avoidance, an acute desire to get rid of some feeling, help you feel better ( “Well, when will this go away”)? Now compare both tactics: is it better to accept (the principle of meditation) or reject (your usual tactics), to experience calm acceptance or intense disgust for your condition? How does the choice of tactics relate to your well-being? When do you feel your best? When does it become easier to survive depression? Don’t look for ready-made answers from me, observe your mind yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Principle 7 - Love

Acceptance also means being calmly attentive to everything that happens within, with a dose of gentle kindness and forgiving love. People with depression tend to criticize themselves constantly: “I’m hopeless, I can’t do anything”, “I’m bad, I’m an idiot” etc. and so on. They wallow in self-criticism, which in turn brings more suffering and depression.

But meditation is the training of calm and loving relationship to what we are accustomed to consider our failures and mistakes. What do we do during meditation? We observe the sensations in the body that arise when breathing. What should you do when your concentration disappears? Calmly return your attention to your body. All! Nothing else!

We shouldn't blame ourselves for not being able to concentrate. It turns out good! If it doesn't work out - good! We must accept everything. Even the fact that meditation is not going the way we want it to go. And we learn not to scold ourselves either for the appearance of “unwanted” emotions or for “problems” with concentration. We learn to be patient and loving with ourselves. Such a simple action as observing the sensations of breathing trains our love and forgiveness towards ourselves and other people. Yes, these qualities can be trained, didn’t you know? We understand that there is no point in berating ourselves for what happened anyway. And we can bring this principle to life.

Now I am only talking about the technique of meditation with concentration on breathing. However, there are practices that are directly aimed at developing love and compassion towards other people and ourselves. For example,

Practical use:

Just as during meditation you calmly accept the emergence of emotions and thoughts, also do this in a normal state. Treat with love and patient attention the fact that sometimes you are angry, nervous, irritable, and do not feel the way you would like. Cultivate patient attention and compassion towards yourself. And, again, pay attention to how your state changes when you begin to treat yourself with love. Ask yourself, does hatred, self-criticism and anger help you cope with your problems? Are they any good? And if there’s no point, then why carry it around?

Principle 8 - No Effort

Another principle of meditation, which is very closely related to acceptance and love and which is very difficult to separate from them (however, I will talk about it separately here), I call effortlessness.

People are accustomed to the fact that if they need to achieve some goal, then they need to become completely emotionally involved in it, forgetting about everything else. It seems to them that if they do not worry about every failure on the way to this goal, and do not spend insomniac nights worrying about their successes, then they will not achieve this goal.

I know that in many Western corporations it is believed that if an employee is not nervous and shaking about the result of his work, if he looks calm and relaxed, then he is not interested enough in the work. Nervous tension V modern world often identified with motivation.

But the experience of many successful people proves the opposite. He says that in order to achieve success, you don’t need to constantly think about money and work, you need to learn to do your work in a relaxed and calm way, not be painfully attached to the result and give your brain enough rest.

This is exactly what meditation teaches us. On the one hand, it cannot be said that during practice we completely let go of all desires and are inactive. No, we try to stay focused. But we do this without attachment to the result. The force we apply is soft and relaxed. If attention goes to extraneous thoughts, then, as I said in the last paragraph, we do not scold ourselves, do not worry about it, but calmly transfer our attention back.

And if we learn to apply the same principle to our daily affairs, then, firstly, we will become calmer and more successful at work, we will experience less stress, and secondly, we will learn to be more relaxed about our depression, without scolding or criticizing ourselves for the fact that sometimes we do not feel the way we would like.

We tried to cheer ourselves up, it worked - good, it didn’t work... Also good! Life goes on! Sadness and longing come and go. Everything is temporary. This is the nature of things.

We don't worry all day long, wondering when the depression will go away. We try to live here and now, without becoming attached to the abstract future and without dwelling on the past...

Practical use:

Try to integrate the principle "soft effort" in life. If the work doesn't work out, return to it gently and patiently. If something doesn't go the way you like, don't react with irritation, but continue to calmly concentrate on the task at hand. And then ask yourself, is this approach helping you? Or not? Would it be better or worse if you were constantly worried and stressed about your tasks and responsibilities? Will it help you do your job better? What do you choose, calm or nervous?

Conclusions. Bitter truth and sweet poison

Very briefly and roughly, the principles described above can be presented as follows. Thanks to meditation, we get rid of the negative reaction to depression, remove self-criticism and self-criticism, eliminate anxiety about “failures,” and destroy illusions about ourselves. We cleanse ourselves of internal debris and let go of accumulated negativity. We learn to respond to the inner and outer world differently, replacing disgust with acceptance, hatred with love, anxiety with patience and calm. We destroy the mental patterns that cause depression: repressed fears, destructive habits, negative perception patterns and reaction patterns.

And in addition to this (this is something that, for obvious reasons, I almost didn’t talk about here) we improve the functioning of our own brain in particular and the body in general, at the physiological level. We eliminate depression on all fronts, at all levels.

But what's the catch? Why, despite all the research and benefits of the practice, is it not adopted by every person with depression? Now I'll try to explain.

We see that, firstly, meditation causes us to begin to perceive depression in a completely new way. Not as some kind of “misunderstanding”, not as something bitter beyond our control life circumstance, but as a state directly related to our thinking and perception. And secondly, for meditation to bring the greatest effect, you need to at least a little go beyond this attitude towards depression as a “misunderstanding”. It turns out to be such a vicious circle.

“A person with depression is tempted to feel sorry for himself, to imagine himself as a victim of circumstances, a pawn of an inexorable fate, but by no means the only author of his own internal crisis.”

In other words, we can't get maximum benefit from meditation if we strive to use it as a “harmless” antidepressant, a magic pill, a way to suppress unpleasant emotions and thoughts. Meditation can radically change our personality and life only if we use it as a tool for developing awareness, acceptance, love, attention and, most importantly, self-knowledge. Only if we dare to use it to look at who we really are.

This sets the basis for a completely new approach in a qualitative sense, which goes against many methods of getting rid of depression that have become self-evident.

“Treating” depression with pills and long and often groundless conversations with psychoanalysts about problems with parents have become so popular for several reasons.

Firstly, the theories about the causes of depression that underlie such approaches are psychologically comfortable for people. They relieve them of any role in the development of their own illness. They say: “It's all chemical imbalance or childhood trauma. It's not you! It doesn’t depend on you!”

And secondly, as a consequence, these approaches are not aimed at independent work which a person must do for the sake of his own happiness: “You don’t need to do anything, the pills will do everything for you!”

But the approach that underlies the effective use of meditation argues that all problems come from our mind. The mind, along with all its habits and patterns, gives rise to suffering. And to get rid of suffering, we must change our mind. Change yourself! Which is certainly real, since meditation is a powerful tool for internal transformation.

It seems logical and natural to most people that if you don’t take care of your body, it will get sick and will live less. Therefore, conscious people engage in physical exercise, yoga, and lead a healthy lifestyle. But for some reason the need to take care of one’s own consciousness is not so acute for society; modern culture and education (at least here, while in the West meditation is being taught in schools) do not provide methods and techniques for relaxation, control of emotions and getting rid of stress. And therefore people face quite natural problems of depression, anxiety, and fear. They never took care of their own consciousness and received the logical result of such an attitude towards themselves.

It is clear that due to psychological reasons Such reasoning does not always find a response in the hearts of people. A person with depression is tempted to feel sorry for himself, to imagine himself as a victim of circumstances, a pawn of an inexorable fate, but by no means the only author of his own internal crisis. Self-pity is a sting (even similar to the word) with a sweet poison that people with depression carry within themselves. The poison slowly poisons them, but they cannot pull out the sting, because this would mean admitting their own responsibility.

Of course, many of them believe that the reason that caused their depression is deeply personal and unique. They are sure that only they themselves know what will help them and what will not help them. And I know that such “pride”, confidence in one’s own uniqueness and an adequate understanding of the causes of the disease, is one of the strongest barriers to getting rid of depression.

It often turns out that it is much more important for people to maintain a sense of their own rightness, their established views on the problem and its causes, than, in fact, to get rid of depression. Even if such views prevent a person from moving forward, they bring him a destructive and meaningless sense of perverted comfort.

This is why meditation sometimes causes negative emotions and anxiety when you first start using it. Because it forces a person to step out of his comfort zone, it forces him to see that his consciousness is not so different from the consciousness of other people, it forces him to direct all his efforts to work with his mind, and not to blame mom, dad and president in his suffering.

But some people never get around to it. They are ready to suffer all their lives and die, just not to admit the problem in themselves. Bitter truth and sweet poison...

But if you want to get rid of this once and for all, then carefully read the following.

Happiness is worth striving for!

Your happiness is worth striving for! It is even worth it to trust something new, at least for a while, to let go of your usual views and ideas. Because it is likely that you ended up where you ended up precisely because of these views and ideas. Either they have led you into this hole, or they are not allowing you to get out of it.

“If you are unhappy, then there is some mistake somewhere...”

Even if you now firmly believe that your depression stems from your income or where you live, know that your mind can be very wrong in its assessment of the causes of emotions. If you meditate regularly, you will be amazed at the ability of your mind to come up with false concepts, cause-and-effect relationships, obsessions, so that you will later believe them! Even if you are now firmly convinced of something, this does not mean that reality corresponds to your beliefs. Confidence is not a criterion of truth. What could be such a thing? Only your own happiness. If you are unhappy, then there is some mistake somewhere and it needs to be dealt with. Everything is very simple!

Let me remind you that happiness is worth striving for. And if you want to get rid of suffering and find happiness, you need to work hard at it. Don't lie on the couch complaining about life. Don’t “try” different approaches only to be disappointed with them. And work, stubbornly and persistently.

Do you think depression is just a problem of the last two centuries? I'm sure that's not the case. It’s just that in ancient times there were no “caring” doctors who prescribed pills for everyone. If a person faced mental suffering, he fasted or spent whole days in meditation and prayer, ate roots, and exposed himself to danger. He was ready to experience everything, he was ready to die for his happiness.

But what happens now? People will try one thing, they will try another. They take one pill, then change it to something else. Go to a psychotherapist a couple of times. In the end, they will try to meditate, considering it as their « last hope» . Then they will give up and say that nothing helps them, that they are hopeless, even though they haven’t really done anything for their happiness.

Fight for your happiness! Nothing will help you except yourself. And meditation is a very effective self-help tool. Can she help everyone? Yes, I believe it can. Because it affects those patterns of consciousness that are common to all people.

Anyway, physical exercise will help strengthen the muscles of every person. You can't say: “physical activity is not suitable for me”, because each of us has muscles and tissues that develop according to the same laws. Meditation is the same; it develops our mind, which, at the level of the most general operating principles, is structured different people, in principle, the same.

Therefore, meditation can help everyone. But will it actually help? I stopped flattering myself with the illusion and I understand that it is not. Meditation won't help everyone. Not everyone will do it various reasons. Not everyone will follow through. And even if a person is willing to practice, it is not a fact that he will get the effect. Why? Because some people find it very difficult to learn meditation. No, it's not because they can't concentrate. Moreover, they can concentrate well. But because it is difficult for them to understand the basic principles of meditation, which sometimes contradict everyday habits. And these habits of striving for pleasant experiences and avoiding unpleasant experiences (which is the opposite of acceptance) can be so strong and deeply rooted that the practitioner simply cannot go beyond them.

If you speak English, then read the books that I recommend at the end of my article on meditation, as well as Western online resources on meditation, as they are generally of higher quality than domestic ones. Good sites zenhabits, Tinybuddha and many others. Just Google “Mindfulness.”

Remember, your happiness and health depend on this, so you need to take the time to understand it at least a little. If you want to eat healthy, you must understand proper nutrition, and if you want to meditate correctly, you must understand meditation, that’s all. “Understanding” does not mean quickly reading one of my articles, hastily sitting in a meditation pose in the hope that now everything will be resolved and cured in 20 minutes, and then quit after thinking “Oh, something’s not working for me, I’ll try something else”. If you want to achieve results, then you need to work systematically and regularly. Meditate for 30–50 minutes every day (15–25 minutes in the morning and the same in the evening). And don’t expect the results to come right away. Meditation is an exercise, and for any exercise to have an effect, you need to do it.

No need to write to me: “a person with depression cannot force himself to do anything!” You can damn it all! You just don't want to. If it’s really difficult to start, ask one of your relatives or loved ones to stand over you “with a stick” and force you to practice. Although a person with depression needs support, sometimes it’s worth stopping “lisping” with him and giving reasons for self-pity.

Emphasize personal practice rather than theory. Finished, read good books about meditation is very useful, but nothing will give you as much understanding as personal practice.

If you want to get started, go ahead! I wish you patience and success on this path. And immediately after the article, I will orient you a little about the site’s materials so that it is clear where to start. You don’t want to study, you don’t want to work on yourself, in the hope that everything will go away on its own, well... This is also your decision. And each person is responsible for his own choice.

An article about meditation techniques. Remember, practice is more important than theory; it is better to start practicing than to read hundreds of books.
. The actual meaning of the article follows from the title.

— An article about how you can benefit from depression.
— An article in which I consider the experience of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, as a case of overcoming depression and a deep personal crisis. This article is also important for understanding the role of meditation in relieving depression.

02/03/2016

Anxiety, intrusive thoughts and anxiety negatively affect emotional condition any person, preventing him from fully enjoying life. The basic joys of life are suppressed constant feeling fear and nervous overstrain, and stress turns the most ordinary life situations into extremely complex problems.

Why should you learn to meditate?

If you are haunted by obsessive thoughts that something bad is bound to happen, find quiet place, relax and try meditation to change your way of thinking. But even if you don't notice right away positive result, don't give up this practice. Believe me, just a few minutes of meditation a day will help you get rid of anxiety and become more positive.

Mantra meditation

Mantra meditation is one of the the best ways getting rid of anxious thoughts. The process itself consists of repeating a soothing word (of your choice) or mantra over and over again, and is designed to create a vocal vibration that is very relaxing and clears the mind of negativity.

Breathing meditation

Psychologists say that breathing meditation is one of the key ways to reduce anxiety and depression. The purpose of this practice is to experience your being in this specific moment, without thinking about the past or future, which is achieved through certain breathing techniques that help you relax your body and clear your mind. And although the classic pose for meditation is the lotus position, you can lie down, stand and even walk - there are no restrictions on doing breathing exercises.

Muscle meditation

This practice is based on strong muscle tension followed by complete relaxation. The essence of the exercise is to feel the striking difference between a tense and relaxed body, which significantly helps to get rid of anxiety and calm down. Focus on several tensions and releases: tense your muscles as you inhale and relax as you exhale. To enhance the effect, you can tense individual parts of the body one after another. By the way, this method of meditation is especially recommended for people suffering from insomnia.

Hello dear readers!

Today we will talk about effective meditations from fear, which will allow you to overcome this feeling.

Every person has their own fears. Only they interfere with someone’s life, while others know how to control them. Uncontrolled fear can completely ruin your life. This feeling deprives us of the ability to adequately assess what is happening.

Every day, every hour, every minute - this situation repeats itself. Maybe it's time for a change? Use meditations for fear. A person who knows how to manage his fears is able to achieve more from life. Regular meditation for fear– will change your life.

See also The right approach to meditative practices can radically change your life for the better. Meditation helps achieve goals, get rid of psychological and mental disorders, develop positive thinking and, of course, spiritual growth.

If a person says that he is not afraid of anything, then he is lying. Each of us has a couple of annoying fears hidden that negatively affect the body. Most people do not want to fight this phenomenon.

Years pass and human development is in terrible condition. In this case, you have two options: overcome this feeling or continue to live, while pretending that nothing is happening.

In order to overcome your fear, you need to understand the reasons for this phenomenon. Let's start with scientific definition. Fear is a set of reactions of the body at a subconscious level, when the conditions of a threat to human life are met.

In more accessible words, this is a subconscious reaction of our body to dangerous situation. In this case, our body makes a decision and reacts independently without our participation.

Let's imagine that you are a person who is afraid of dogs. Imagine that in front of you is a small and harmless dog. Think about it and imagine. Don't read further if you haven't submitted. It’s true that now you feel your sympathy for her.

However, as soon as you start getting closer to her, her body size began to increase. Have you seen how small teeth turn into a huge mouth with big fangs. Its size is so large that you begin to feel that same sensation. And now she begins to approach you. With every second the distance is getting shorter, and she is running faster. Feel this moment. It's really scary.

Would this situation seem scary for a professional trainer? I think no. Why? Because on this situation, his nervous system(NS) reacts correctly. After several fulfillment of such conditions (subconscious reactions), our nervous system allows the brain to make decisions. That is, our body does not resist, but completely accepts it.

All professional boxers experience great anxiety when they enter the ring. But does this compare to the feeling he had when he was an amateur? Most likely, having reached professional fights, he learned to control his emotions.

To learn to control your emotions, you can use special meditations. With the help of such exercises, you can instantly lose this feeling. In addition, some exercises work in the long term and allow you to forget about fears forever.

Let's look at two popular meditations that are widely used to combat fears. While performing these exercises, you need to remove all external stimuli that may distract from this process.

You've probably seen in movies how ancient people or monks meditate. An environment of complete silence and a minimum of distractions are ideal conditions for you. When using meditation methodologies, this feeling should not be confused with stress, uncertainty, or irritability.

1. Affirmations

Any beliefs can be overcome with the help of affirmations. They allow you to use autosuggestion to replace your usual way of thinking. Through periodic repetitions of meditation, it is possible to completely replace this feeling with a feeling of confidence. Affirmations only work if you repeat them over and over again.

As a result of such repetitions, the brain's familiar paradigms of perception are replaced by new ones. For affirmations to work effectively, they need to be stated in the first person. (I, Me, Me, Mine). For example:

• I'm not afraid of anything
• I don't need my fear
• You can't beat me
• My brain is stronger than my body

How to use affirmations? You must try to fully feel the feeling of fear. This must be done in such a way that every tip of the body, every finger, every hair feels the burning pressure of fear. When you reach " total immersion” into your feelings, begin repeating one of the selected affirmations.

For example, “I don’t need my fear.” You need to repeat this procedure until you believe it yourself. When fear overtakes you again, start repeating this phrase. I assure you, he will definitely retreat.

2. Working with the subconscious and body

Working with the subconscious and body requires constant practice. Having achieved good results in this practice, you can overcome any fear. This exercise is used by professional UFC fighters. It allows you to look your fear in the eyes before entering the ring. This text needs to be recorded in audio format, or asked a good friend to read it.

Now you need to sit down. Sit in any comfortable position. Slowly close your eyes. Feel your body. Feel how many fingers you have, on your hands and feet. You don't need to move them, just feel them. Slow down your thoughts and don't think about anything. Don't open your eyes. Let's begin.

Imagine that you are standing in front of the entrance to a cave. This cave is your fear. And now you are entering it. You see a stone wall in front of you, on which the reason for your fear is written. You start walking towards this wall to get a better look at this inscription.

You feel that warmth appears inside you. It comes from your heart and begins to spread throughout your body, to your very feet and palms, to your very fingertips. Feel this warmth... Now you feel that the warmth is starting to turn into fire.

Your body is burning... This is fear taking over your body. Fear wants to overcome you, but you resist. Resist him. You turn your head and see another wall. As you get closer, you see that your strengths are written on it.

It says here that you are not afraid of anything, and any fear cannot overcome you. As you read this, fear begins to transform into energy within you. You feel your body filling with strength. This power makes you an invincible warrior who will destroy everything in his path. Open your eyes. Your fear is a weapon. You feel strong and have more energy. Now you are free.

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