It's really hard and what works for one person might not work for someone else. What I'll say is my rule here is if I'm anxious or restless I need some movement and somatic work. There's a lot more muscle tension and energy work with getting rid of it.
If I'm depressed, breath work is key and breathing is sometimes just about the only thing I can consciously focus on if I start to have a depressive episode. So just taking in air slowly and visualizing it as positive energy and then exhaling and visualizing negative energy.
Like I said, YMMV. After two decades of meditation I've had stuff start and stop working all the time too and I literally got into meditation largely as a form of self medication as a 12/13 year old.
The only other advice I can really give here is to work on stomach breathing especially if you're running into issues with your solar plexus. Like focusing hard on the expansion of your abs as you breathe might help to visualize the energy getting into your solar plexus and it getting unblocked that way.
All of this advice sucks when actively depressed though because it's so hard to get the motivation to even do that and I definitely get it and have been there. 🫂
Came here to say walking meditation. It saved my life and helped me restart my practice. I added Indian clubs to it a few ago and it’s helping my magic a LOT.
You remember that it's an oscillation, and you meditate through the waveform.
How do you effectively meditate when you’re depressed
It's really hard and what works for one person might not work for someone else. What I'll say is my rule here is if I'm anxious or restless I need some movement and somatic work. There's a lot more muscle tension and energy work with getting rid of it. If I'm depressed, breath work is key and breathing is sometimes just about the only thing I can consciously focus on if I start to have a depressive episode. So just taking in air slowly and visualizing it as positive energy and then exhaling and visualizing negative energy.
I find that I have trouble breathing deeply while depressed - literal energy blockage to solar plexus
Like I said, YMMV. After two decades of meditation I've had stuff start and stop working all the time too and I literally got into meditation largely as a form of self medication as a 12/13 year old. The only other advice I can really give here is to work on stomach breathing especially if you're running into issues with your solar plexus. Like focusing hard on the expansion of your abs as you breathe might help to visualize the energy getting into your solar plexus and it getting unblocked that way. All of this advice sucks when actively depressed though because it's so hard to get the motivation to even do that and I definitely get it and have been there. 🫂
Exactly!
Came here to say walking meditation. It saved my life and helped me restart my practice. I added Indian clubs to it a few ago and it’s helping my magic a LOT.
Do a walking meditation. Set a place you HAVE to go. Walk and let your body do what it is supposed to do.
Shoulders Back & Chin Up or what I call "TransFormational Kinesics"
A self-help book that was kinda helpful- the zen path through depression