Gidday Missep and thanks for replying!

Yea when my mind wanders I have a little mantra I use - saying the words 'Liquid Smooth' to myself while visualising very calm and inviting water. Calms my mind and makes it easier to focus.

Hey maybe you could try that too with a mantra of your own!

Bye for now. The Bro.

Gidday David n Goliath

Wow that's interesting! Good onya for recognising what was going on at the time.

Do you think that realisation helped you cope with the situation? How did you feel?

I wonder if your realisation helped you to distance yourself a little better and move towards a remedy?

Look forward to your thoughts. The Bro

Now that's pretty funky Quirkywords!

Good onya - did that piece of paying attention help you focus on the next task?

Now you have me looking at my hands as well - the look too old I think. Must get some more cream........

Hi everyone!

Awesome work- I love seeing the support on this thread!

A funny thing happened to me the other day- I realised that I was calm and not anxious about anything...it was a strange feeling! I realised that my body was so used to feeling some form of stress or anxiety that when I was calm I felt really different. Perhaps mindfulness is working??? I hope so!

Now c'mon Misstep123 - we can't let you get away with that without an explanation! (He He)

Congratulations on feeling calm and more importantly, recognising it.

Any ideas you can share with us on what contributed to your calmness on that occasion?

Love to hear back, and see if any of us can share your secret.....

The Bro

Heya,

maybe, misstep was just feeling calm, and tho it's something she has felt in the past, she has not paid much attention to it, becos she's more attuned to the stress and anxiety (like a small child who always whines for attention- they get more attention than the quiet well behaved child...)

Not that I'm comparing you to a small child misstep! hope that makes sense! Anyway, well done I reckon, for noticing those lovely calm feelings. As the saying goes, what you focus on grows, sooo......

I have been paying attntion to lots of uncomfortable feelings lately, and instead of turning to crutches (alcohol, shopping, tv etc) I have been sitting with them. Paying attention. It's been hard work, and it's taken me into some pretty dark feelings about myself, which has been challenging. But I seem to be coming thru it now, and life's getting a bit easier. So I'm thankful.

What do you all do when feelings get overwhelming?

Cheers,

J*

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry for my late reply.

Looking back to that feeling - I really felt empowered. I did still get a few waves of anxiety a few days later but what I did was I thought back to when I was feeling calm and tried to hold on to that feeling. Similar to when you think of specific memories and you feel a certain way, I tried to 'practice' feeling that feeling of calm again. The first time did take me by surprise!

I saw an amazing piece of advice on TikTok from someone who suffered from anxiety for a long time. He said that when we start to ruminate and think about our negative feelings, stop moving your eyes! I thought that was so interesting and lo and behold it was true for me. I want to research more about it but there are some really interesting articles about how eye movements trigger certain memories and vice versa.

Next time you have a ruminating thought or memory, pay attention to your eye movements! I wonder if it is the same for everyone.

We are definitely on this journey together!

Hi missep123 and all reading,

Interesting. Many years ago when my anxiety was quite bad I visited a psychologist. She watched as I spoke and said to me "my goodness your eyes have not stopped moving since you started talking, I can't begin to imagine what's going on in your mind ".

Thank you for that insight, every little thing helps.

Take care

Cmf x

Hi Paul and everyone ☺

Great input here and the threads brilliant too Paul ☺🤗

Mindfulness to my understandings being in the moment and importantly aware of our thoughts that pretty much lead or/and continue to take us down.

Lately what's been helpful is when I'm feeling low often I've snapped out by

1. Stopping the flow of negative depressive thoughts
2. Thought about what they were without feeling them. If its junk which most of it is, not allowing further thought or feeling it. I kinda shut them down being firm with my inner self to stop thought.
3. If a thought might need attention and to work through it because it's hard atm (at the moment) I'm trying to let it rest until another time which might/not eventuate
4. Trying to practice replacing all the rot going on with anything that's positive, good or gratitude helps too. Might be trees happy in a good relationship, roof over my head, mostly have good health etc. Simple things can remind us of pleasure which can be felt.

Missep123 thanks for that about the eyes. I'll try and remember that. Have a slight recollection of hearing that somewhere. Might be they move because we're seeing the scenes as we think. Reliving them.

Keep going good people. Reaching happiness after feeling like we do is a good reason to push through. We'd appreciate it so much more because we've lived on the other side.

It's in us. We do have the strength

🌞

Hi everyone!

I love hearing everyone's input about eye movements and rumination! I am going to try to be more aware of this because I think I have been doing it a lot without realising it!

Recently I have been trying to do positive mindfulness? I'm not sure if this is a thing but basically I am trying to be as optimistic or happy as positive and try to exhibit this energy to put it out to the world. It can be hard though especially if you have a bad day where it seems like everything is going wrong but it has been an interesting experiment for me to try.

We are all in this together!

So I just keep at my mindfulness through Biblical lens, which I value highly.

Let us suppose that the conflation is purposefully designed, what is an "opposite to man"? Obviously the woman, our better half as is commonly called.

Thus we can compress the saying of the Living Bible perfectly expressed and condensed in conflation is this "in a man" = "in woman" = creation inside of a woman at conception?

Thus when man and a woman loving create a child, they are expressing the Living Bible within the Woman, the Fetus that is conceived and grows to become a newborn, infant, child > and lives a life then dies a mortal death.

So I am sad/mad/glad/bad/dad/had/fad to tell you all, that the action of procreation of conceiving a child, rips or isolates the child-spirit away from God/Jesus' in Kingdom of Heaven, pulling that child-spirit into conception and pregnancy and gifting them mortal life by "ending" their perfect spiritual life. But since all these things are circular, the two ends meet and it is true that the child-spirit exists both inside Earthly life, and outside Earthly life simultaneously because All things are Possible with this Mono-Theistic Idealogy / Religion.

So the child-spirit both misses out on the Perfection of being within the Kingdom of Heaven, but then gets to return after Earthly death... in a man. in woman.

So the new names that people seek in the Revelations might be these. inamen. inaman. inwoman. inantiman. outwoman. outamen. outaman. inall. outnone.

meh, maybe, what do I presume to know? Just words on a screen, no need to wean yourselves from others sheen, glean your own insights as they come from delights.

Hi David and New posters are always welcome to share their thoughts too!

No worries looking at Mindfulness through a 'Biblical lens'..yet it may be difficult for some members with a mental health condition to understand as religion is a deeply personal matter

Can I ask what you do to find some peace of mind?

my kind thoughts

Paul

Hello DNG, please be advised that many people do not believe a word you have said and are not religious, as I'm not, please don't make any comment about religion as it's not relevant to people's mental health.

Psychologists rarely mention religion as it can complicate the road to recovery.

This is only my opinion with my own life experience that the best counsel where religious matters are concerned can be provided by our pastor or our priest.

Geoff.

A new technique I learnt recently is to press two fingers together, eg my two pointer fingers together. I like doing exercises like that which return me into my body, for a second I feel less like I AM my problems I feel like I'm more at a distance from them

Helps me momentarily with trauma

Also not mindfulness exactly, but I like to sit outside and look at Natural phenomena, I love noticing how the leaves are changing and flowers are popping up.

Tonight I saw a possum in the branches of a tree!

Hi geoff

Good point, sometimes mixing religious ideology doesn't do well for recovery. I was a bit pit off by a recent mindfulness lecture th at branched into religious territory, I would have preferred neutral ground so anyone could join whatever their stance on religion

Hello Sleepy, good point.

Geoff.

Hi Sleepy21 and everyone! 

What an awesome technique! I just tried it now and honestly it does feel different. Next time I am stressed I will try to do this as a method of getting back into my body. 

The other day I went for a walk and listened to music. With the sun shining down and just the ability to detach from stress, anxiety or any problems was really nice. I feel like I need the pause from my day to reconnect with myself and try to practice mindfulness. 

Hi David

Its always good to have your input on the forums! I wrote this thread topic back in 2017 and mindfulness can be difficult enough to grasp without involving religion as its not relevant to the thread

I hope we can leave 'God' out of the discussion as religion is a very personal matter for many people

You are always welcome to create a new thread topic about religion or the book of revelations if you wish

my kind thoughts

Paul

Hi missep123, thanks! I like it too, quick and effective for me

Hi Everyone,

@Paul - I have own thoughts re religion and mindfulness. Let me know if you want to listen to my thoughts. Otherwise ...

Here are some tips when/after practicing mindfulness:

• However I feel is valid.
• I don't have to change anything.
• All of these feelings can be here with me.
• Put a comforting hand on your body where you feel the most discomfort.
• Try to accept however you feel fully, even if just for this moment.

Hi everyone

I have been catching up on the recent post here and they are varied and thoughtful.

Thanks Paul for keeping this thread going.

Hi Tim and everyone...New posters are always welcome too!

Thankyou for your super ongoing support here and across the forums

Your 5 points (in your post above) bring peace and clarity to this thread...Your thoughts are always welcome Tim as you posess a sense of balance and care. I also have my own thoughts pertaining to religion and mindfulness like yourself. To be continued Tim...if thats okay :-)

Hey Quirky....thankyou for your kind post....I havent been on the forums a lot as my mum just turned 91 and is doing it hard (still living independently)

my kind thoughts

Paul

Hello Paul, it was lovely to hear you speak on the radio this morning as a volunteer on Beyond Blue, your comments were apt, important and full of good advice and very much appreciated by the compare who wanted to add to your thoughts.

Thank you very much.

Your friend.

Geoff.

** Perhaps a little confusion between mindfulness and meditation also. **

I will say that mindfulness has its origin in eastern religions, rather than the singling out any particular one. Some argue there is also a history in Christianity. Also, 1000 years ago people and religion were interconnected compared to now. Within Christianity itself there is likely 3 camps in relation to the practice of mindfulness - those for, those against, and those in the middle.

Let's say that people in my family were against the ideas of mindfulness because of the association with eastern religions. Another aspect of this is a focus on the self and the promotion a one-with-the-cosmos worldview that some Christians would have issues with. Other Christians have no issue with this idea.

For myself I am a Christian and also a believer in mindfulness and meditation. And those beliefs would make me feel I am on the margins because I have the wrong beliefs or thoughts. For DnG's post ... I cannot comment on his beliefs except that it from a Christian perspective. I do not know of the ideas referred to in his post. But I am a simple man! Perhaps a way of understanding or making sense of our place.

Joseph Campbell said "My favorite definition of mythology: other people's religion. My favorite definition of religion: misunderstanding of mythology".

Whether we bind our religious ideas in this area is an individual choice. How that is done is perhaps best left for other topic or post.

An excellent thing to concentrate on when wanting to practise mindfulness I have found ...is when I stand on the beachfront boardwalk, and look over in the distance at someone frolicking with their dog either on the beach or in the water...delightful. Next time you happen to glimpse it, stay a while and really look at it..really "see" it..that's mindfulness.

Hi Everyone...New posters are always welcome too!

Hey Geoff...thankyou for your positive feedback about my discussion on radio the other day. If memory serves that conversation was relayed interstate and was replayed afterwards as well. Im just trying to stop the stigma where mental health is concerned...I had no idea you were listening!

Hey Tim....thankyou for your caring yet sensitive input where religion is concerned. There is nothing simple about you Tim. Your post was very helpful! You also mentioned "** Perhaps a little confusion between mindfulness and meditation also. **" Im not sure who that comment was directed to Tim, was for David?

Hey Moon!....Its always a treat to read your posts and thankyou for sharing how you practice mindfulness. That is an excellent example :-) We have been on these forums for a very l o n g time Moon!

my kind thoughts

Paul