Meditainment – Guided Meditation and Relaxation

Deep Relaxation is an extremely important aspect of recovery from an anxiety disorder, and it is sometimes easier said than done when your mind is racing at 200 miles per hour. I knew about meditation and had practiced it in the past, and I do still practice formal meditation now that I am nearly recovered.

However it can be very hard to meditate when you are panic stricken, afraid and anxious, because it becomes hard to diffuse from the multitude of thoughts that are spinning around in your mind. I found that I needed something to distract my mind and help me relax at the same time. That’s where the Meditainment series comes in.

I was first introduced to the Meditainment series whilst still recovering in hospital. I was given a Natural Sleep Meditation at a time when I was having a huge amount of trouble getting any sleep at all. I liked this meditation and used it so much that I signed up for a subscription online. The Meditainment series are a range of guided relaxation, stories, music and natural sounds accompanied by a very soothing female voice. Typically each meditation is around 25 minutes long, and each meditation has a different theme. I tended to use the sleep one nearly every night at one point, but I also found myself using ‘Chill Out’ meditation and the ‘Fantastic Relaxation’ ones frequently. They even have one for ‘pain control’, which I did find helped me to release stress from my body, and its associated pain.  Once subscribed, you can download as many meditations as you like and listen to them on your PC or Mac or add them your iPod or other MP3 player.

Subscriptions to the website also include access to ‘Mediheaven’, which basically allows you to build a custom meditation in real time according to how you are feeling. You basically answer some questions by adjusting some easy to use online sliders, and then sit back and relax!

I recommend the Meditainment series both to those who are familiar with Meditation practice, and new-comers. They are ideal for those who need to relax but can’t quite seem to diffuse from their anxious minds, as the stories are engaging enough to keep your mind absorbed. I thoroughly recommend you give this a try as it can help your relaxation strategy immensely. Click on the link below for your free trial of the ‘Secret Garden’ Meditation.

Healing Rhythms: Journey to the Wild Divine Review

Healing Rhythms is a whole body biofeedback stress relief program for your Mac or PC that features biofeedback training and expert guidance from leaders in the field of wellness, including Deepak Chopra, M.D., Dean Ornish, M.D., and Andrew Weil, M.D.

It teaches proven techniques to restore your body’s natural rhythms, relieve stress, experience deep states of relaxation and enjoy a renewed sense of well-being by using biofeedback hardware and finger sensors that allow you to track your heart’s coherence both on the hardware itself (through a colored light) and through the on-screen Grapher.

Healing Rhythms was my first experience of using biofeedback as a tool to calm the body and the nervous system down, and I have since tried others. I always come back to healing rhythms though, because I find it very easy to follow and use, and enjoy the games that are included. I also found that the more I practiced using the tools, the quicker I was able to relax, to the extent that if I was outside, and did not have access to the tool, I was able to recall what I had learned to calm myself down.

One particular exercise that I really liked centred around relaxing your body as much as possible to open an onscreen door.  I like this exercise because it really highlights the struggle that those with anxiety face.  The more we struggle against how we feel and are unaccepting of the way we find ourselves, the more stress we create and the worse we make our condition.  Similarly in this exercise, the more you mentally struggle against the fact that the door is closed and want it to be opened, the more the biofeedback sensors record your stress, and the door remains shut!  However, as you let go of needing the doors to be opened, and accept them as they are, your stress levels come down, and the door opens!  This for me really sums up the struggle we face to overcome anxiety – to really accept how things are in the moment, and not attempt to struggle against them.

In short, Healing Rhythms, and biofeedback tools in general, are great for reducing stress and anxiety as part of a balanced stress relief programme. For more information, check out the video below or click on Wilddivine.com to find out more.