self healing meditation

The core of self-healing meditation is not to "empty the mind" or "eliminate negative emotions", but to see the current emotions and physical feelings without judgment - you don't need to force yourself to "get better immediately", the process of allowing everything to happen is itself the most effective healing.

The first time I came into contact with meditation was 3 years ago. At that time, I was so overwhelmed by the project that I couldn't sleep all night. I followed the APP with the mentality of giving it a try, and it asked me to count my breaths to 10. Every time I counted to 3, I would wander off and think about unread work messages. When I came back to my senses, I would curse myself for being so useless. I couldn't even focus for 1 minute. As a result, I became more and more anxious as I practiced. After lying down for 3 days in a row, my mind became even more confused, and I almost deleted all related APPs.

Later, I learned from different teachers and discovered that the definitions of "healing meditation" in different schools were very different, and there was no standard answer at all. Researchers who do Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) even advocate anchoring specific senses, either counting your breaths or doing a body scan, and just focus on one feeling. This method is evidence-based and verified. Regular practice for 8 weeks can reduce stress hormone levels by about 20%. It is especially effective for physical reactions such as headaches and chest tightness caused by mild anxiety. ； However, teachers who practice Vipassana do not agree with the need to fix the anchor point. They say that you just sit quietly and watch the thought go when it comes, without grabbing or pushing it, just like you sit on the side of the road and watch the cars passing by. ； There is also compassion meditation, which has become very popular in recent years. It is another way to take the initiative to send kindness to yourself or the people you care about. It is suitable for people who are always attacking themselves and feel that they are not good at all. I have seen several girls who are used to self-denial. After practicing it for two months, the tone of voice they talk to themselves has become much softer.

I had a visitor last week who came to me after a fight with his parents. His hands were shaking when he walked in. He said that his chest was stuffed like a half-soaked sponge and he couldn't breathe. She had practiced meditation before. When she sat down, her first reaction was, "I need to calm down quickly. I can't be so emotional." As a result, the more she forced herself to breathe, the faster she breathed and her face turned red. I asked her not to think about "peace", but to feel the "sponge" on her chest, whether it was cool or hot, whether it was beating, whether its edges were hard or soft, and not to worry about when it would disappear, just stay with it. She just sat there staring at her chest and feeling it. Within five minutes, tears suddenly fell down. She cried for about ten minutes and said that the feeling of congestion just now disappeared. You see, she didn't "empty" at all. She felt the "sponge" throughout the whole process, and she didn't "eliminate the emotion". She even let out the emotion of crying, but the healing happened just like that.

Many people think that meditation requires finding a quiet room, lighting incense, sitting on a futon, and wearing loose clothes to practice meditation. This is not true. I was catching the morning rush hour subway last week, and it was so crowded that I had trouble even raising my hand to touch my phone. The day before, I stayed up until 2 o'clock to change my plan. I stood in the train and was so irritated that I wanted to curse. At that time, it suddenly occurred to me, why not meditate for 3 minutes? Without closing my eyes, I can feel the contact between the soles of my feet and the soles of my shoes. The texture of the soles touch the soles of my feet. The palms of my hands holding the armrests are a little sweaty. The voice of the uncle next to me on the phone floats over to me. I don’t have to worry about it. I just know, “Oh, there’s a voice talking about shopping for groceries.” Then I just bring my attention back to the soles of my feet. In just 3 minutes, by the time I got to the next stop, my irritability had basically dissipated, and I could even free up my mind to think about what porridge I should drink this morning.

Of course, a controversy must be clarified here: there are many voices on the Internet saying that meditation can cure all diseases, and even allow patients with depression to stop taking medication and rely solely on meditation. This is really not possible. Current evidence-based research only proves that for mild anxiety and short-term sleep disorders, the intervention effect of meditation is equivalent to that of mild anti-anxiety drugs. However, if it is diagnosed as moderate or above depression or anxiety disorder, meditation can only be used as an auxiliary means of drugs and psychological counseling, and it absolutely cannot replace standard treatment. Don’t blindly believe in those miraculous propaganda.

I have been practicing meditation for almost 3 years now, and I never force myself to sit for 20 minutes every day. Sometimes I sit down for 5 minutes, and my mind is filled with the manuscripts to be handed in today, and the messages to be answered.

After all, self-healing meditation is not a high-end practice method. To put it bluntly, it means that you leave yourself a small period of time that is completely yours. Be your own bystander. Don't rush yourself to get better, don't scold yourself for having negative emotions, just quietly stay with your tired and messy self for a while. That's enough.