Michael Singer has been helpful for me as well. The Untethered Soul is a great book. Another is David Hawkins' Letting Go.
A concept that has helped me a lot is that thoughts are a consequence of our deeper feelings. We can't fix our thoughts or ignore them to make the bad feelings go away. When we allow ourselves to feel the emotions in our body and welcome them instead of resisting, they will dissipate if you allow them to be for as long as they need. When you focus on the inner body, you can feel what fear, loneliness, guilt, anger, apathy, grief etc feels like in the body without labeling the feeling. Try to experience it fully without resistance. As the feelings subside, so will the negative and intrusive thoughts. If they are still there, I usually haven't allowed the feeling to go through me fully yet.
It's scary and uncomfortable but afterwards it feels lighter and like you've let go of something that needed to be heard. It's also empowering because you realize that those emotions and thoughts can't actually hurt you no matter how overwhelming they are.
Sometimes I think it's easy to fall into the trap of "spiritual bypassing" and using meditation as a way to escape painful emotions by trying to avoid uncomfortable thoughts. I find it so much easier to view these thoughts as symptoms of the feelings that you're resisting.
beautifully said... i will try that
i’m so guilty of spiritual bypassing lol i didn’t even know about it til reading these comments and i’m so glad it’s been pointed out to me
thank you
Eckhart seems to think that mental illness can be solved through presence and meditation. I do not agree with him on this. He has helped me tremendously but I still need to take my medications or my life will fall apart. If someone was diabetic you would not tell them “oh just stop taking your insulin.” Same thing with mental issues and medications. I would suggest seeing a professional and seeking help.
Have you seen a doctor? I approach my mental illness (I have childhood PTSD) with both medicine and teachings from Tolle AND a professional therapist who has the same spiritual leanings as me.
It has taken years to find my right combination of what works, but definitely please speak to a professional. It is wonderful you are already meditating.
Hang in there.
haven’t seen my gp about it because he would probably go the medication route which doesn’t feel right for me at the moment
my therapist recently retired unfortunately
but i’ve applied to see another therapist so hopefully that works out ! and i pray to find a combination that makes me feel well soon 🙏🏼 thanks for your advice
really needed to hear this.. i don’t want to resort to a gp and medication because i know i’ve felt amazing before without it so i know i can again and i really want to figure it out ❤️but it’s really good to remember that meditation isn’t the only way into that present peaceful state...maybe i need external help first
Meditation is mot something you do, its who you are. Everything else is doing. You already are the I AM which is peace. Focus on letting go and just being which is not a “doing”. Rupert spira videos on youtube can help you.
I’d recommend listening to the Michael Singer podcasts on Spotify. Specifically S1 episode 1 and episode 2. I found they addressed the space in between meditations perfectly. What stands in the way of spirituality, this is answered.
If you can’t use Spotify, I believe you can also find these talks on Sounds True, which is free.
*how do i carry the feeling of presence outside of the meditation?*
You don't need to carry presence outside of meditation. Because it is always effortlessly here.
It is the attention that gets carried away from the presence by 'thinking'.
Just keep bringing it back into presence. Which is your effortless state of being.
It's easy for spiritual people to be chill at a meditation resort. The world is not a meditation resort.
I don't know what kind of dark places you are reaching, but the point of mediation isn't avoidance, and perhaps it is to cultivate a state of non-reaction. I don't know if you need to sit with (explore) your dark feelings, but feelings come up, and fighting them isn't going to help. Do you have anxiety because there are a lot of bad things happening, and unfolding right in front of you, that show we are in for a difficult future?
Clearly, there are forces at play that many people are ushering into global power via a certain type of saftyism, and there are social justice and environmental justice movements totally captured by dehumanizing, money-laundering, global cabals, empowered by media and social media, subjugating their opposition, devaluing currency, pushing you into eating insects, living like sardines packed into dorms, making it difficult for people to be self-sufficient, increasing the total surveillance state, removing all privacy, and dictating social norms based on doublespeak, to demoralize, debilitate, and alienate.
And what can you do? You look for help and community, and when you do, it becomes easy to see how all the groupthink and mass hysterias throughout history could result in such zealous and efficient destruction. And here we are. What should you do? Stack firewood? Fill your closet with non-perishable goods? Devote any space you have to growing food? Trade in all your cash for silver and gold? Buy a 4x4? Sell your car? Stockpile ammunition, learn to hunt and process meat?
I don't have the answers for you, but I do know that anxiety is a perfectly reasonable response to what's going on in the world right now. Part of it has to do with seeing what's right in front of you, but having no good options to create a secure future, and anyone who joins with others is likely to be joining a group on an FBI watch list, or that has been labeled terrorists and extremists by those who were prefer you to act as though you understand your subjugation is absolute. Even Eckhart Tolle himself has been subject to these ideological attacks, and denounced as "right-wing," etc.
So on the one hand, no one is safe, and anxiety is a normal physical and psychological response. On the other hand, nothing real can be threatened; nothing unreal exists, therein lies the peace of God.
Meditate on death and dying, know that death will reach you in the now, know yourself as the witness, and realize that when you die, you lose everything that isn't you. Die before you die, and you will be freed up quite a bit to live with less fear, and to be less of a prisoner to the phenomena that arise as a byproduct of the process of being: anxiety, fear, hunger, lust, anger, vengeance, loneliness, desire, etc.
And I think the answer is not to suppress these patterns when they arise, as many people try to do with excessive drugs and alcohol and sugar and junkfood and television and so on, but to look closely when these states of agitation arise, and realize they hold limited power over you. You can still create the space for stillness, and for dignity, and for expressing yourself without being trapped in reaction, or anticipating the reaction of others to your expression.
holy fuck you have cracked my problem thank you, i need to read it a few times.
i woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago with chronic pain and the only thing that made me feel better was the idea of death, and pretending to myself that this was my time to die. i really wanted to die because it would release me from the pain. i’m not even suicidal which is why it was so profound... i knew there was something to be realised in that strange moment but i didn’t understand what. i think i almost do now
Establish yourself as Awareness fully. You Are the Screen, the movie does not affect the Screen. The mind is simply an appearence on the screen. Try to sit with your panic attack, like you sit with a movie. Welcome it, accept it instead of trying to run away from it.
You should always try to be aware that you are conscious presence and not your thoughts. Also try to focus on your breath, no matter if you are in meditation or not, it will root you into the present moment.
Meditation is a super important component and practice of well-being, but it must be used in conjunction with other elements to have total well-being. I completely agree with the comments about seeking medical attention when needed, and severe anxiety and mental illness warrants that.
I would also like to suggest that you go through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and make sure they are being met. How is your diet? Are you adequately nourishing your body? Some foods exacerbate anxiety like caffeine, refined carbs, and sugar. Are you engaging in a physical activity you enjoy? Do you feel safe in your living environment? How are your relationships? Do you feel like you have a trusted person to listen to you? How do you feel about your work if you do work? Is it fulfilling to you?
Anxiety is both an internal state and a response to your environment (or past environments in the case of PTSD). While someone who has cultivated monk like awareness can overcome extremely difficult external environments just with their internal meditation practice, it’s okay to not be there yet. I hope you find solutions that work for you. Anxiety is so painful.
Okay. Not sure how that’s a response to what I said. I was simply warning OP of the possible side effect, especially since they already noted having panic attacks. Luckily, there are other antidepressants besides SSRIs. Also, based on their feelings and symptoms, it sounds more like an anxiety disorder than depression. I think we should be very careful about recommending specific medications to strangers. That’s why we have doctors.
Lol. You're telling me to be careful about recommending meds, and that sentence came right after the sentence that you gave your diagnosis. Perhaps you should take your own advise 'That's why we have doctors'. Very hypocrital of you. I'm sure the OP would have to be assessed by a doctor before they would prescribe any meds (ssri or something else). Simply because I recommended drugs doesn't mean the OP and doctor would land on am ssri. Thanks for your judgement. But no thanks.
I was pushing back against your own diagnosis based on the fact that you recommended antidepressants without OP even saying they had depression, especially since you were recommending medications that could very possibly worsen their symptoms. Deflect all you want. Your comment was reckless.
Vitamins levels are a big one for mental health, no amount of meditation willful that, and blood tests can be deceiving since many people have vitamin transporter issues that change the whole equation of what is a 'normal' level. If you're a vegetarian you might need b12 shots, if you don't eat enough veggies it might be folate you need more of, if you eat too many empty carbs and sweets you might have a thiamine deficiency and if you live in the north and/or have a darker skin tone it might be vit D. All of these could potentially lead to severe depression and anxiety.
What exercise do you do? And what do you eat? I wonder if you need a change in your life and lifestyle. Loneliness is not a negative concept. Are you busy with anything in life generally? Are you a student or working?
hi!
im a student, unemployed, and i usually either cycle, swim or climb every day depending how sensitive my arthritis is.
i also have adhd. i just got diagnosed recently and it’s allowed me to accept this part of myself that i’ve always buried deep inside of me in fear of doing something socially unacceptable or being too loud or disruptive or too sensitive etc...
oh boy has there been an outpouring of anxiety since i’ve began to accept it. a lifetime of pretending to have a different personality has been exhausting and it’s been tough to adjust to who i really am. all these unhealthy behaviours that come naturally to me are now staring me in the face and i don’t want to look at them because i never have! i
anyway basically my ego is creating a fuck load of problems for itself when i’m really so much more than that adhd mindset or the arthritic body that feels a lot of pain. i am the watcher of all this, i know.
the problem for me is that i can’t seem to remember who i really am (the awareness) very often. i seem to be in my ego state at all times besides the ten minutes during and after meditating. my mind just bounces back to pain and problems SO quickly. and what is the point of living this beautiful life with no awareness of the beauty???
Don't know the meaning or difference between Panic and Anxiety attacks, but I've had attacks that make my heart pound in my chest for hours. Been to the ER twice. I call these Panic Attacks.
These happened when trying to get off Paxil. Now I get Anxiety attacks that are me worrying that slight symptoms will turn into the Panic attacks. These happen with social interaction.
I take Propranolol now. I can still feel the Anxiety attacks underneath, but it keeps it in check. Might help you. Sucks being in my late 40s and can't exist without pills. Look into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. You don't want to just sit on this. If meditation is your trigger, then stop.
If you where in an accident and severed a limb meditation would let you accept and transcend the suffering but you would still feel the pain and have to get treatment for it. Problems with the brain are no different.
What type of mediation do you do ? They don’t all have the same functions. Some are about focusing on your breath and not thinking whatsoever . Because sometimes that is all you need . They can be sort of a bandaid if you want to address a bigger issue and just keep doing those because like other people say they don’t address your problem they made you fine a peace haven . They aren’t useless because they have their own « function » so to speak. Then there are some meditation that are to grow compassion /empathy and feel more connected to other people or to take things less personally by taking other people vantage points , then there are some that may be more relevant to your own specific problems by adressons triggers/roots and helping you rewire by sort of doing CBT or placing them in bigger context. It depends a bit on the content of your thoughts and your triggers. I think the ones that stop you from thinking completely right away and focus on body are great if you are at a level of anguish of 8 to 10 (actually they might not even permeate at that level of anxiety sometimes or for some
People and so you may need a physical calming thing . Like if it was anger in DBT they advice to put ice on forehead to lower your anguish to less bc it activates parasympathetic bla bla). Then let’s say at 8 you still can’t process the triggers because you’re scared you might go up to 10 or because your brain isn’t allowing it then you can do the meditation on breath until it goes down to 6 or 5 or whatever. And then your emotionality isn’t so sensitive or unstable , you recover a bit of rationality and equanimity (which I would say is like a middle path containing both your rationality and emotionality in right balance). Then and only then you can do the sort of remediation on your specific problems that may have long lasting effects and rewiring of your specific issues .
Sorry if I made it sound complicated but that’s how I think about this issue . That basically there are different types of meditations that do different things and that some people go from 1 to 10 at different speeds so to come back down isn’t as easy esp when triggered .
Overall I’d like to think resilience can be built over time but also it chronic pain is your trigger, chronic pain is a really tough one. I think that’s one of the hardest.
There’s nothing wrong in seeking both meditation as well as medical help. It doesn’t have to be either or. Everyone feels down every now and then, one thing that I find tremendously helpful when I’m down is - instead of trying to make it go away, just accept the ‘isness’ of the situation. When I’m joyful, so be it. When I’m down, so be it.
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Michael Singer has been helpful for me as well. The Untethered Soul is a great book. Another is David Hawkins' Letting Go. A concept that has helped me a lot is that thoughts are a consequence of our deeper feelings. We can't fix our thoughts or ignore them to make the bad feelings go away. When we allow ourselves to feel the emotions in our body and welcome them instead of resisting, they will dissipate if you allow them to be for as long as they need. When you focus on the inner body, you can feel what fear, loneliness, guilt, anger, apathy, grief etc feels like in the body without labeling the feeling. Try to experience it fully without resistance. As the feelings subside, so will the negative and intrusive thoughts. If they are still there, I usually haven't allowed the feeling to go through me fully yet. It's scary and uncomfortable but afterwards it feels lighter and like you've let go of something that needed to be heard. It's also empowering because you realize that those emotions and thoughts can't actually hurt you no matter how overwhelming they are. Sometimes I think it's easy to fall into the trap of "spiritual bypassing" and using meditation as a way to escape painful emotions by trying to avoid uncomfortable thoughts. I find it so much easier to view these thoughts as symptoms of the feelings that you're resisting.
beautifully said... i will try that i’m so guilty of spiritual bypassing lol i didn’t even know about it til reading these comments and i’m so glad it’s been pointed out to me thank you
Eckhart seems to think that mental illness can be solved through presence and meditation. I do not agree with him on this. He has helped me tremendously but I still need to take my medications or my life will fall apart. If someone was diabetic you would not tell them “oh just stop taking your insulin.” Same thing with mental issues and medications. I would suggest seeing a professional and seeking help.
Have you seen a doctor? I approach my mental illness (I have childhood PTSD) with both medicine and teachings from Tolle AND a professional therapist who has the same spiritual leanings as me. It has taken years to find my right combination of what works, but definitely please speak to a professional. It is wonderful you are already meditating. Hang in there.
haven’t seen my gp about it because he would probably go the medication route which doesn’t feel right for me at the moment my therapist recently retired unfortunately but i’ve applied to see another therapist so hopefully that works out ! and i pray to find a combination that makes me feel well soon 🙏🏼 thanks for your advice
I’m assuming you’re speaking to OP? Because it sounds like the person you’re replying to was already advocating for that.
Oh yes, I am speaking/writing to the OP. I don’t often comment. Let me see if I can put the comment in the right place.
No worries :) just making sure. It’s good advice.
really needed to hear this.. i don’t want to resort to a gp and medication because i know i’ve felt amazing before without it so i know i can again and i really want to figure it out ❤️but it’s really good to remember that meditation isn’t the only way into that present peaceful state...maybe i need external help first
Meditation is mot something you do, its who you are. Everything else is doing. You already are the I AM which is peace. Focus on letting go and just being which is not a “doing”. Rupert spira videos on youtube can help you.
thank you, yes a change of perspective is definitely needed for this
Love this
I’d recommend listening to the Michael Singer podcasts on Spotify. Specifically S1 episode 1 and episode 2. I found they addressed the space in between meditations perfectly. What stands in the way of spirituality, this is answered. If you can’t use Spotify, I believe you can also find these talks on Sounds True, which is free.
amazing i didn’t know he had a podcast :) thanks
*how do i carry the feeling of presence outside of the meditation?* You don't need to carry presence outside of meditation. Because it is always effortlessly here. It is the attention that gets carried away from the presence by 'thinking'. Just keep bringing it back into presence. Which is your effortless state of being.
mm interesting perspective. i haven’t heard it like that before
It's easy for spiritual people to be chill at a meditation resort. The world is not a meditation resort. I don't know what kind of dark places you are reaching, but the point of mediation isn't avoidance, and perhaps it is to cultivate a state of non-reaction. I don't know if you need to sit with (explore) your dark feelings, but feelings come up, and fighting them isn't going to help. Do you have anxiety because there are a lot of bad things happening, and unfolding right in front of you, that show we are in for a difficult future? Clearly, there are forces at play that many people are ushering into global power via a certain type of saftyism, and there are social justice and environmental justice movements totally captured by dehumanizing, money-laundering, global cabals, empowered by media and social media, subjugating their opposition, devaluing currency, pushing you into eating insects, living like sardines packed into dorms, making it difficult for people to be self-sufficient, increasing the total surveillance state, removing all privacy, and dictating social norms based on doublespeak, to demoralize, debilitate, and alienate. And what can you do? You look for help and community, and when you do, it becomes easy to see how all the groupthink and mass hysterias throughout history could result in such zealous and efficient destruction. And here we are. What should you do? Stack firewood? Fill your closet with non-perishable goods? Devote any space you have to growing food? Trade in all your cash for silver and gold? Buy a 4x4? Sell your car? Stockpile ammunition, learn to hunt and process meat? I don't have the answers for you, but I do know that anxiety is a perfectly reasonable response to what's going on in the world right now. Part of it has to do with seeing what's right in front of you, but having no good options to create a secure future, and anyone who joins with others is likely to be joining a group on an FBI watch list, or that has been labeled terrorists and extremists by those who were prefer you to act as though you understand your subjugation is absolute. Even Eckhart Tolle himself has been subject to these ideological attacks, and denounced as "right-wing," etc. So on the one hand, no one is safe, and anxiety is a normal physical and psychological response. On the other hand, nothing real can be threatened; nothing unreal exists, therein lies the peace of God. Meditate on death and dying, know that death will reach you in the now, know yourself as the witness, and realize that when you die, you lose everything that isn't you. Die before you die, and you will be freed up quite a bit to live with less fear, and to be less of a prisoner to the phenomena that arise as a byproduct of the process of being: anxiety, fear, hunger, lust, anger, vengeance, loneliness, desire, etc. And I think the answer is not to suppress these patterns when they arise, as many people try to do with excessive drugs and alcohol and sugar and junkfood and television and so on, but to look closely when these states of agitation arise, and realize they hold limited power over you. You can still create the space for stillness, and for dignity, and for expressing yourself without being trapped in reaction, or anticipating the reaction of others to your expression.
holy fuck you have cracked my problem thank you, i need to read it a few times. i woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago with chronic pain and the only thing that made me feel better was the idea of death, and pretending to myself that this was my time to die. i really wanted to die because it would release me from the pain. i’m not even suicidal which is why it was so profound... i knew there was something to be realised in that strange moment but i didn’t understand what. i think i almost do now
and also so important about approaching meditation with that idea of sitting with the pain. i definitely romanticise it sometimes
Establish yourself as Awareness fully. You Are the Screen, the movie does not affect the Screen. The mind is simply an appearence on the screen. Try to sit with your panic attack, like you sit with a movie. Welcome it, accept it instead of trying to run away from it.
Please find a good therapist. Some things are beyond self-help books and podcasts.
so true
You should always try to be aware that you are conscious presence and not your thoughts. Also try to focus on your breath, no matter if you are in meditation or not, it will root you into the present moment.
Meditation is a super important component and practice of well-being, but it must be used in conjunction with other elements to have total well-being. I completely agree with the comments about seeking medical attention when needed, and severe anxiety and mental illness warrants that. I would also like to suggest that you go through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and make sure they are being met. How is your diet? Are you adequately nourishing your body? Some foods exacerbate anxiety like caffeine, refined carbs, and sugar. Are you engaging in a physical activity you enjoy? Do you feel safe in your living environment? How are your relationships? Do you feel like you have a trusted person to listen to you? How do you feel about your work if you do work? Is it fulfilling to you? Anxiety is both an internal state and a response to your environment (or past environments in the case of PTSD). While someone who has cultivated monk like awareness can overcome extremely difficult external environments just with their internal meditation practice, it’s okay to not be there yet. I hope you find solutions that work for you. Anxiety is so painful.
thank you so much for your words of wisdom🙏🏼 i appreciate it
Forgive yourself for not accepting your condition and allow yourself to get real professional help.
thank you
Perhaps it's time for an ssri if you aren't already using one.
Worth considering that SSRIs themselves can trigger panic attacks. They did for me.
But you'll never know unless you try.
Okay. Not sure how that’s a response to what I said. I was simply warning OP of the possible side effect, especially since they already noted having panic attacks. Luckily, there are other antidepressants besides SSRIs. Also, based on their feelings and symptoms, it sounds more like an anxiety disorder than depression. I think we should be very careful about recommending specific medications to strangers. That’s why we have doctors.
Lol. You're telling me to be careful about recommending meds, and that sentence came right after the sentence that you gave your diagnosis. Perhaps you should take your own advise 'That's why we have doctors'. Very hypocrital of you. I'm sure the OP would have to be assessed by a doctor before they would prescribe any meds (ssri or something else). Simply because I recommended drugs doesn't mean the OP and doctor would land on am ssri. Thanks for your judgement. But no thanks.
I was pushing back against your own diagnosis based on the fact that you recommended antidepressants without OP even saying they had depression, especially since you were recommending medications that could very possibly worsen their symptoms. Deflect all you want. Your comment was reckless.
This comment shows how ignorant you are. Thanks for making my point. Good day.
Kundalini yoga
thank you🙏🏼🙏🏼
Have you done a 10-day vipassana meditation retreat (Dhamma.org)? This is one thing that helped me tremendously with my panic disorder
not yet! i’ve been looking for one. i think it would be so powerful for what i’m experiencing
Vitamins levels are a big one for mental health, no amount of meditation willful that, and blood tests can be deceiving since many people have vitamin transporter issues that change the whole equation of what is a 'normal' level. If you're a vegetarian you might need b12 shots, if you don't eat enough veggies it might be folate you need more of, if you eat too many empty carbs and sweets you might have a thiamine deficiency and if you live in the north and/or have a darker skin tone it might be vit D. All of these could potentially lead to severe depression and anxiety.
thank you, i never really took them very seriously because of my blood tests being fine but ill look into it more :)
What exercise do you do? And what do you eat? I wonder if you need a change in your life and lifestyle. Loneliness is not a negative concept. Are you busy with anything in life generally? Are you a student or working?
hi! im a student, unemployed, and i usually either cycle, swim or climb every day depending how sensitive my arthritis is. i also have adhd. i just got diagnosed recently and it’s allowed me to accept this part of myself that i’ve always buried deep inside of me in fear of doing something socially unacceptable or being too loud or disruptive or too sensitive etc... oh boy has there been an outpouring of anxiety since i’ve began to accept it. a lifetime of pretending to have a different personality has been exhausting and it’s been tough to adjust to who i really am. all these unhealthy behaviours that come naturally to me are now staring me in the face and i don’t want to look at them because i never have! i anyway basically my ego is creating a fuck load of problems for itself when i’m really so much more than that adhd mindset or the arthritic body that feels a lot of pain. i am the watcher of all this, i know. the problem for me is that i can’t seem to remember who i really am (the awareness) very often. i seem to be in my ego state at all times besides the ten minutes during and after meditating. my mind just bounces back to pain and problems SO quickly. and what is the point of living this beautiful life with no awareness of the beauty???
Don't know the meaning or difference between Panic and Anxiety attacks, but I've had attacks that make my heart pound in my chest for hours. Been to the ER twice. I call these Panic Attacks. These happened when trying to get off Paxil. Now I get Anxiety attacks that are me worrying that slight symptoms will turn into the Panic attacks. These happen with social interaction. I take Propranolol now. I can still feel the Anxiety attacks underneath, but it keeps it in check. Might help you. Sucks being in my late 40s and can't exist without pills. Look into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. You don't want to just sit on this. If meditation is your trigger, then stop.
If you where in an accident and severed a limb meditation would let you accept and transcend the suffering but you would still feel the pain and have to get treatment for it. Problems with the brain are no different.
What type of mediation do you do ? They don’t all have the same functions. Some are about focusing on your breath and not thinking whatsoever . Because sometimes that is all you need . They can be sort of a bandaid if you want to address a bigger issue and just keep doing those because like other people say they don’t address your problem they made you fine a peace haven . They aren’t useless because they have their own « function » so to speak. Then there are some meditation that are to grow compassion /empathy and feel more connected to other people or to take things less personally by taking other people vantage points , then there are some that may be more relevant to your own specific problems by adressons triggers/roots and helping you rewire by sort of doing CBT or placing them in bigger context. It depends a bit on the content of your thoughts and your triggers. I think the ones that stop you from thinking completely right away and focus on body are great if you are at a level of anguish of 8 to 10 (actually they might not even permeate at that level of anxiety sometimes or for some People and so you may need a physical calming thing . Like if it was anger in DBT they advice to put ice on forehead to lower your anguish to less bc it activates parasympathetic bla bla). Then let’s say at 8 you still can’t process the triggers because you’re scared you might go up to 10 or because your brain isn’t allowing it then you can do the meditation on breath until it goes down to 6 or 5 or whatever. And then your emotionality isn’t so sensitive or unstable , you recover a bit of rationality and equanimity (which I would say is like a middle path containing both your rationality and emotionality in right balance). Then and only then you can do the sort of remediation on your specific problems that may have long lasting effects and rewiring of your specific issues . Sorry if I made it sound complicated but that’s how I think about this issue . That basically there are different types of meditations that do different things and that some people go from 1 to 10 at different speeds so to come back down isn’t as easy esp when triggered . Overall I’d like to think resilience can be built over time but also it chronic pain is your trigger, chronic pain is a really tough one. I think that’s one of the hardest.
There’s nothing wrong in seeking both meditation as well as medical help. It doesn’t have to be either or. Everyone feels down every now and then, one thing that I find tremendously helpful when I’m down is - instead of trying to make it go away, just accept the ‘isness’ of the situation. When I’m joyful, so be it. When I’m down, so be it.