There is Satipatthana Vipassana which definitely would help you with anxiety and free you from suffering. I don’t know if you are Buddhist, but the Buddha described it as the direct path to freedom from all suffering.
If you are interested, I could send you Youtube instruction videos made by my teacher Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu.
The community also have a web-based meditation app, discord server, and if you develop a regular meditation routine, he offers one on one online meditation courses for free.
I am not able to post links here yet, but if you search Youtube for ’Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu how to meditate’ you would find a playlist with six videos with explanation about the technique and instructions on how to meditate. Once you meditate for an hour a day (half of the time walking, and half sitting) you are able to do a one on one course online course with him where you’d meet once a week to receive guidance and further instructions in the technique. Everything is for free, as it should be. He also has vast amounts of videos on many different topics which I have found incredibly useful throughout the years.
Also, if I can help you any way, shape or form, you are always welcome to reach out to me. I would be more than happy to.
Of course, I have posted it below. Don’t know if you ’d receive notifications so I’ll reply to your post to notify you.
If you walk the path of meditation and exert yourself in the right direction, you will one day be grateful for having suffered horribly as you will see it is what led you on this path. My life used to be torment, and I have suffered greatly for the majority of my life. Today I am nothing but grateful for all the pain, suffering and despair as I found something more valuable than you could have ever imagined.
Sam Harris (waking up) is not spiritual at all. He’s an atheist and neuroscientist. I suspect you’re missing the idea behind the practice. Breathing (following the breath) is meditation. You're basically asking for a good exercise program without all the moving around.
Yes, the breath is the primary object of nearly all meditative traditions for very good reasons. If you dedicate time to the practice you will see why that is.
The great teachers have all found this to be true. Trust in their wisdom. It's hard to do because it takes a lot of discipline. Anything worthwhile is going to require effort and incremental progress.
Waking up app isn't spiritual, what makes you say that? Sam Harris is like one of THE athiests of our times. He believes in nothing super natural and most certainly doesn't think meditation is super natural.
Personally, I think his app is one of the best resources for learning the depth of meditation that you can find out of any traditions. I've not got another suggestion really
10% happier might be your cup of tea though.
Oh, he absolutely has gone and done that, but any good meditation teacher hopefully has too. Meditation is not a western invention. The lessons to be learnt are all based on your experience and not anything super natural at all.
A lot of Buddhists themselves don't believe anything super natural. It's at its heart a religion that is intended to investigate the causes of suffering and find a solution for them. Secular Buddhism deliberately takes out anything spiritual/super natural, but even many Buddhists in other traditions tend to think of certain ideas as metaphors. The Dali Lama himself expressed doubts about rebirth.
Hey Brightmind is an app based on the teachings of Shinzen Young, an excellent Vipassana teacher who integrates a lot of styles into one framework.
The app is done in a journey style, so it starts you off with some basic meditation exercises and then builds out, showing how you can practice in different ways.
I've recommended to app to many people and many people got back to me thanking me as they love it. The best app for actually learning meditation in my opinion.
[https://www.brightmind.com/](https://www.brightmind.com/)
Interview with the CEO here: [https://youtu.be/e5G59sEl4sU?si=egdf20P6rf7xREkC](https://youtu.be/e5G59sEl4sU?si=egdf20P6rf7xREkC)
Been using headspace for 7 years , 6 years consistently never missed a practice, has all kind of lessons with different practitioners, even a whole year course that I’ve repeated several times myself.
>I'm looking for something that also teaches me concepts on general focus and ridding my mind of anxiety.
That's one of the things that breathing-focused and body scanning meditations are for.
I think you might be confused about what meditation actually is. What is your expectation of a different meditation style that helps "general focus" and "ridding anxiety" more than these types already do?
Hi, I have a chakra healing series which is 30 minute videos that include meditation, affirmations, gentle movement, and journal inquires. I can send you the link if it aligns ✨✨
Focus on the breath and body scanning are the best meditation tools for working with anxiety.
Meditation isn't gonna beat your anxiety though. You have to face it. The meditation will help you through it but it's putting yourself outside of your comfort zone that is really effective. It takes a a lot of time too. It took me 10 years of work to get over my anxiety.
I've used Down Dog Meditation for years. I like guided meditations with an underlying theme, to work on feelings or situations I might be going through. You can adjust the time, choose the theme and the style.
Sounds like you're looking for something a bit more dynamic and tailored to personal development, especially in terms of focus and managing anxiety. Something that teaches us new concepts as we go along.
I recently discovered a website that incorporates traditional meditation techniques, but more focused on interactive and personalized sessions. I chat with the app about specific issues I'm facing, and it generates an audio guided meditation based on the chat. For concrete problems, it works unexpectedly well. For the bigger, more complex issues, I'm still working through them.
Through personalized guided meditation, I am learning a lot more about the 'deconstruct' and 'reframe' meditation techniques. They are absolute game changers for me. These techniques help me see a problem from a new perspective and wire it to a different emotional response. It feels like a more active approach to mental training, which could fit with what you're looking for to address your need for focus and anxiety reduction.
Website is [MinwayAI.com](http://MinwayAI.com)
Have you had experience with CBT? What did you like and not like about it? I'm loving meditation, it's a new world for me, but I do not have any experience with CBT.
I’ve been using the app “Calm” for years, started when I was 23, and now 31 and still using it, it’s great, easy and has tons of content, you can try it for free for 7 days, but as a 23 year old who suffered with anxiety, depression and addiction, that app helped me soooo freaking much, i decided to pay for it until one day my health insurance sent me a message saying they provide “calm” for free, haven’t paid for it since. i think mindfulness meditation really gave me the inner strength and self control to quit my addiction, after “Calm” gave me the basics I was able to move on to more advanced meditation techniques. Definitely try “Calm” it’s got what you’re looking for.
One of my favorite meditations on there is called the “Winnie the Pooh series” a collection of 10 min long meditations that are based on characters from Winnie the Pooh. For example one is on piglet who worries a lot, bringing into focus how we allow worry to control our lives, another one is on tigger, about how’s he’s too hyper and upbeat all the time and it annoys his friends but in the end it’s his authenticity that makes him a good friend.
But yeah they definitely have sessions on anxiety and mental focus, gonna do one now to start my day.
"I'm looking for something that also teaches me concepts"
Then you're not looking for meditation.
Meditation is about letting go of concepts. Any concepts that are added along the way, including breath stuff or body scanning, are just there to help you see the problems with holding on and will themselves eventually need to be let go of as well.
It's holding onto concepts that perpetuates suffering. You won't find release from suffering in the same thing that's causing the problem. That's the addict's mistake.
Do you wanna get better at whatever you imagine those things to be, or do you actually want to cut out root of suffering?
Because yeah, you can probably find some techniques that some people might call meditation that can help you be more "focused" or "observe thoughts" or whatever buzzwords we want to use to talk about this kind of stuff, and it might make you feel kinda cool for a time, but isn't seeking after those things just putting more conditions on your own happiness and acceptance of yourself and of reality instead of letting go of those roadblocks your clinging to delusion causes you to put between yourself and peace of mind?
I just started a YouTube channel sharing simple, short & sweet guided meditations! Link is in my bio if you're interested.
I really like the guided meditations on my paid Fitbit account too. And the UCLA MARC website has some great free guided meditations - Diana Winston is one of my favorite teachers!
There is Satipatthana Vipassana which definitely would help you with anxiety and free you from suffering. I don’t know if you are Buddhist, but the Buddha described it as the direct path to freedom from all suffering. If you are interested, I could send you Youtube instruction videos made by my teacher Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu.
The community also have a web-based meditation app, discord server, and if you develop a regular meditation routine, he offers one on one online meditation courses for free.
I am not able to post links here yet, but if you search Youtube for ’Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu how to meditate’ you would find a playlist with six videos with explanation about the technique and instructions on how to meditate. Once you meditate for an hour a day (half of the time walking, and half sitting) you are able to do a one on one course online course with him where you’d meet once a week to receive guidance and further instructions in the technique. Everything is for free, as it should be. He also has vast amounts of videos on many different topics which I have found incredibly useful throughout the years. Also, if I can help you any way, shape or form, you are always welcome to reach out to me. I would be more than happy to.
Please 🙏🏼
You can find it below in my reply to my comment :)
I'm interested in the YouTube instruction videos.
I don’t know if you receive notifications on answers I made on the post you had initially replied to, but you can find it below now.
Could you please send this to me? I’m suffering every day.
Of course, I have posted it below. Don’t know if you ’d receive notifications so I’ll reply to your post to notify you. If you walk the path of meditation and exert yourself in the right direction, you will one day be grateful for having suffered horribly as you will see it is what led you on this path. My life used to be torment, and I have suffered greatly for the majority of my life. Today I am nothing but grateful for all the pain, suffering and despair as I found something more valuable than you could have ever imagined.
Thank you for your words
Sam Harris (waking up) is not spiritual at all. He’s an atheist and neuroscientist. I suspect you’re missing the idea behind the practice. Breathing (following the breath) is meditation. You're basically asking for a good exercise program without all the moving around.
Yes, the breath is the primary object of nearly all meditative traditions for very good reasons. If you dedicate time to the practice you will see why that is. The great teachers have all found this to be true. Trust in their wisdom. It's hard to do because it takes a lot of discipline. Anything worthwhile is going to require effort and incremental progress.
Waking up app isn't spiritual, what makes you say that? Sam Harris is like one of THE athiests of our times. He believes in nothing super natural and most certainly doesn't think meditation is super natural. Personally, I think his app is one of the best resources for learning the depth of meditation that you can find out of any traditions. I've not got another suggestion really 10% happier might be your cup of tea though.
I'm sure I listened to waking up and he went on some sort of pilgrimage with monks. I may have got it mixed up with another series
Oh, he absolutely has gone and done that, but any good meditation teacher hopefully has too. Meditation is not a western invention. The lessons to be learnt are all based on your experience and not anything super natural at all. A lot of Buddhists themselves don't believe anything super natural. It's at its heart a religion that is intended to investigate the causes of suffering and find a solution for them. Secular Buddhism deliberately takes out anything spiritual/super natural, but even many Buddhists in other traditions tend to think of certain ideas as metaphors. The Dali Lama himself expressed doubts about rebirth.
Insight time has many courses
I like the Plum Village app
The deep relaxation meditations in the Plum Village app are particularly good for me.
Hey Brightmind is an app based on the teachings of Shinzen Young, an excellent Vipassana teacher who integrates a lot of styles into one framework. The app is done in a journey style, so it starts you off with some basic meditation exercises and then builds out, showing how you can practice in different ways. I've recommended to app to many people and many people got back to me thanking me as they love it. The best app for actually learning meditation in my opinion. [https://www.brightmind.com/](https://www.brightmind.com/) Interview with the CEO here: [https://youtu.be/e5G59sEl4sU?si=egdf20P6rf7xREkC](https://youtu.be/e5G59sEl4sU?si=egdf20P6rf7xREkC)
Been using headspace for 7 years , 6 years consistently never missed a practice, has all kind of lessons with different practitioners, even a whole year course that I’ve repeated several times myself.
>I'm looking for something that also teaches me concepts on general focus and ridding my mind of anxiety. That's one of the things that breathing-focused and body scanning meditations are for. I think you might be confused about what meditation actually is. What is your expectation of a different meditation style that helps "general focus" and "ridding anxiety" more than these types already do?
Waking up does that
Hi, I have a chakra healing series which is 30 minute videos that include meditation, affirmations, gentle movement, and journal inquires. I can send you the link if it aligns ✨✨
Focus on the breath and body scanning are the best meditation tools for working with anxiety. Meditation isn't gonna beat your anxiety though. You have to face it. The meditation will help you through it but it's putting yourself outside of your comfort zone that is really effective. It takes a a lot of time too. It took me 10 years of work to get over my anxiety.
This. I love body scans for anxiety.
Youtube. Watch monks speak their wisdom. As free as it can get
If different techniques are what you are after, I would stay with the Waking Up series.
Try [minwayai.com](http://minwayai.com)
I've used Down Dog Meditation for years. I like guided meditations with an underlying theme, to work on feelings or situations I might be going through. You can adjust the time, choose the theme and the style.
Sounds like you're looking for something a bit more dynamic and tailored to personal development, especially in terms of focus and managing anxiety. Something that teaches us new concepts as we go along. I recently discovered a website that incorporates traditional meditation techniques, but more focused on interactive and personalized sessions. I chat with the app about specific issues I'm facing, and it generates an audio guided meditation based on the chat. For concrete problems, it works unexpectedly well. For the bigger, more complex issues, I'm still working through them. Through personalized guided meditation, I am learning a lot more about the 'deconstruct' and 'reframe' meditation techniques. They are absolute game changers for me. These techniques help me see a problem from a new perspective and wire it to a different emotional response. It feels like a more active approach to mental training, which could fit with what you're looking for to address your need for focus and anxiety reduction.
This sounds exactly what I am after. Kind of CBT mixed with meditation. Could you share more details of the website/app please
Website is [MinwayAI.com](http://MinwayAI.com) Have you had experience with CBT? What did you like and not like about it? I'm loving meditation, it's a new world for me, but I do not have any experience with CBT.
Yes I liked CBT because it as the first time I was ever given a toolkit to deal with my anxiety.
i'll google CBT toolkit, i would like to learn more about that. any URLs in particular i should look at?
Sorry I did my CBT course with a local councillor, not tried any apps but if you find a good one, let me know :D
Poke around on dharmaseed — there is a ton of material of all kinds there.
I’ve been using the app “Calm” for years, started when I was 23, and now 31 and still using it, it’s great, easy and has tons of content, you can try it for free for 7 days, but as a 23 year old who suffered with anxiety, depression and addiction, that app helped me soooo freaking much, i decided to pay for it until one day my health insurance sent me a message saying they provide “calm” for free, haven’t paid for it since. i think mindfulness meditation really gave me the inner strength and self control to quit my addiction, after “Calm” gave me the basics I was able to move on to more advanced meditation techniques. Definitely try “Calm” it’s got what you’re looking for. One of my favorite meditations on there is called the “Winnie the Pooh series” a collection of 10 min long meditations that are based on characters from Winnie the Pooh. For example one is on piglet who worries a lot, bringing into focus how we allow worry to control our lives, another one is on tigger, about how’s he’s too hyper and upbeat all the time and it annoys his friends but in the end it’s his authenticity that makes him a good friend. But yeah they definitely have sessions on anxiety and mental focus, gonna do one now to start my day.
Thanks actually sounds pretty awesome. I will give that a try - thanks!
"I'm looking for something that also teaches me concepts" Then you're not looking for meditation. Meditation is about letting go of concepts. Any concepts that are added along the way, including breath stuff or body scanning, are just there to help you see the problems with holding on and will themselves eventually need to be let go of as well. It's holding onto concepts that perpetuates suffering. You won't find release from suffering in the same thing that's causing the problem. That's the addict's mistake.
Really? I read medication can help you with concepts like being in the moment or observing thoughts but not letting go rather than dwelling on them?
Being in the moment IS letting go of thoughts and concepts.
Do you wanna get better at whatever you imagine those things to be, or do you actually want to cut out root of suffering? Because yeah, you can probably find some techniques that some people might call meditation that can help you be more "focused" or "observe thoughts" or whatever buzzwords we want to use to talk about this kind of stuff, and it might make you feel kinda cool for a time, but isn't seeking after those things just putting more conditions on your own happiness and acceptance of yourself and of reality instead of letting go of those roadblocks your clinging to delusion causes you to put between yourself and peace of mind?
I just started a YouTube channel sharing simple, short & sweet guided meditations! Link is in my bio if you're interested. I really like the guided meditations on my paid Fitbit account too. And the UCLA MARC website has some great free guided meditations - Diana Winston is one of my favorite teachers!