How Do You Manage Your Mental Health During This Time Of Uncertainty?

Healthanxious

Well-Known Member
#1
This year is an anxiety-provoking and stressful time for everyone, while anxiety is a normal and expected reaction to the pandemic, too much anxiety can start to cause harm. What are the simple things we can do to help take care of our mental health and wellbeing during times of uncertainty?
 

MisterBGone

ReaLemon
SF Supporter
#4
I've always wanted to try TM (or transcendental); it's popular amongst a lot of famous people, which is how I'd heard of it... but I guess to properly learn it, you're supposed to have someone qualified come teach it to you one-on-one, ideally. Though I see they have, or used to have various seminars and such at certain locations here in 'The States.' Sounds helpful & beneficial especially for the mental health if you can manage to "buy in!" :) I just keep saying, maybe next decade! :D
 
#5
I've always wanted to try TM (or transcendental); it's popular amongst a lot of famous people, which is how I'd heard of it... but I guess to properly learn it, you're supposed to have someone qualified come teach it to you one-on-one, ideally.
I think the meditation itself might be helpful, but I've heard from folks that were involved in it that the organization kind of blew up.
 

MisterBGone

ReaLemon
SF Supporter
#6
I think the meditation itself might be helpful, but I've heard from folks that were involved in it that the organization kind of blew up.
Good to know! It's been awhile since I've looked into, or even thought about it, honestly. I guess it's kind of all about getting to that, "4th State," or something from what I recall. . .
 

Healthanxious

Well-Known Member
#9
I've always wanted to try TM (or transcendental); it's popular amongst a lot of famous people, which is how I'd heard of it... but I guess to properly learn it, you're supposed to have someone qualified come teach it to you one-on-one, ideally. Though I see they have, or used to have various seminars and such at certain locations here in 'The States.' Sounds helpful & beneficial especially for the mental health if you can manage to "buy in!" :) I just keep saying, maybe next decade! :D
can you explain what transcendental is? not really familiar with it
 

Dante

Git
SF Pro
SF Supporter
#10
can you explain what transcendental is? not really familiar with it
Quick Google Search, stitching together bits from Wikipedia:

"Transcendental Meditation - A specific form of silent, mantra meditation and the organizations that constitute the Transcendental Meditation movement. The meditation practice involves the use of a silently-used mantra for 15–20 minutes twice per day while sitting with the eyes closed. It is reported to be one of the most widely practiced, and among the most widely researched, meditation techniques, with hundreds of published research studies."

It goes on to say that there are paid courses for this from the organisation that named it, to be honest though, it strikes me a little bit like Scientology, something that uses some very basic feel-good methodologies which you could pick up anywhere, packages them into something fancy with a snappy name like "Transcendental" and charges you immense amounts of money for the privilege, the exact kind of thing that would draw the attention of celebrities who think problems only exist because you havent spent enough money to make them go away.

One fundamental law of human psychology I found out at university is that the more ego and less substance that goes into something, the flashier the name will sound, for example: "Fluids and Solids" was a horrifically evil module that I just coudlnt understand no matter how hard I tried, whereas "Combinatorial Analysis" and "Phase Spaces" were piss easy and consisted of "how to count" and "how to draw a 4D graph" respectively.

If it looks simple but sounds flashy, I immediately hit "doubt" in the imaginary game of "LA Noir" in my head. Im not saying that it wont work, but perhaps something almost identical to it exists for free, albeit with a less flashy name, if you google it.
 

JMG

~ Peace and love to all ~
#11
One day at a time for me, lived like that for over a decade now. Also really trying to remind myself of all the things I'm grateful for. Gratitude goes a long way to a person feeling happier and better about themself and their life imo. My life is not so bad at all compared to some for sure.
Hope next year will be a less uncertain and anxious year for all of us though :) *hug
 

MisterBGone

ReaLemon
SF Supporter
#12
can you explain what transcendental is? not really familiar with it
Oh, boy! ...I'm so sorry - it's been some years since I've looked into it, but if you do a simple search on Youtube or Google, I'm sure a ton of stuff will come up, and I said, or was saying. . . There's a lot of celebrity clientele` which is why it has, or was for a time, anyway popular or en vogue! : ) I believe that the film maker that I know of who swears by it, has been practicing it for a very long time (like maybe several decades, or apx. even the length of his career in movies?). But it basically is like a quiet (however long it is, let's say a half hour, for instance) two sessions a day, I think, maybe three? But it might be morning, noon & night. . . & then you do the meditation (however that one works) & it's supposed to help you free yourself of a lot of your mental health problems like anxiety & maybe even depression (it's been too long). But it calms and relaxes you, and I guess eases your mind, maybe, such that you're able to let go of, or take a break from the other stressors and chaotic nature of things going on in your life. I want to say people like Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, Martin Scorsese (not the one I'm talking about)... & a whole host of others subscribe to it (or did?). I know like over a decade ago, they used to have clinics that maybe lasted the weekend or a little more. You could register for them and I was close to doing so once when it was only a/one state away (here in the U. S.) & my movie guy was even going to be speaking at that one. Or maybe they were called seminars? Anyway ~~ (sorry if that was not overly, "helpful!"). And as May has just said, they may have fallen on some hard(er) times??? So, I really don't know how or what to advise for sure. One things for certain, now more than ever, I should probably start looking into it. So, one thing the guy I keep talking about mentions, even in more recent interviews is, that he gets his ideas often springing from these meditative sessions. As opposed to maybe when you're more sometimes sitting down setting pen to paper (though I've seen how he writes screenplays in his office & at least the time I saw, it was more visualized, or spoken into a recorder - what you'd be typing in your script). And I don't think he was meditating there - in his office chair, beside his desk, but he'd had his arms with elbows on both knees, bending forward and resting his head in between his hands, and eyes closed, concentrating or thinking. . . imagining, I guess~ ;)
 

MisterBGone

ReaLemon
SF Supporter
#13
Oh, I think (& I don't know for sure) that what they mean by "transcendence," in this sense is I'd heard it once described as like when you go to sleep, or take a nap, that is going from one state to the next. And so the fourth might or must be an even elevated or higher level than that? Though I don't recall at all for certain. I believe that's an example, or analogy I'd once heard used. :)
 

MisterBGone

ReaLemon
SF Supporter
#14
You're supposed to, I gather, come out of these sessions, or meditative states feeling awfully refreshed, and energized (or revitalized?) if I am recalling or remembering correctly?? ;)
 
#15
One of the most important ways to keep yourself mentally healthy is to recognize when you're not feeling good and to know when to ask for help. Everyone goes through patches where they don't feel as good as they should, try speaking to your friends or family.
 

MisterBGone

ReaLemon
SF Supporter
#17
One that springs immediately to mind, is when you're feeling as though you've lost control. Or are out of control. So, in other words, you've lost the ability to live as free as you'd like to--given the afflictions of the condition; mental health/illness wise: (whether it be anxiety/depression, whatever). : ) So, my major depression is interfering with my day, to the point where I've got to alter the course, or plan of things I'd intended to do as a result. Or my generalized anxiety is keeping me from being able to relax & enjoy things as I otherwise, could or should. Surely - there are others ('signs someone needs to ask for..')_ but! that's all i got with this blank~space of a mind for right. Now! (;
 

Lane

SF Pro
SF Supporter
#18
I've always wanted to try TM (or transcendental); it's popular amongst a lot of famous people, which is how I'd heard of it... but I guess to properly learn it, you're supposed to have someone qualified come teach it to you one-on-one, ideally. Though I see they have, or used to have various seminars and such at certain locations here in 'The States.' Sounds helpful & beneficial especially for the mental health if you can manage to "buy in!" :) I just keep saying, maybe next decade! :D
This is one for google
 

HappyKitty

Works during the day, doodles at night.
#19
Easy. We can’t control or predict the future but we can find ways to take care of ourselves in the present moment like ask yourself, “what about now?”
 

Livelife

SF Supporter
#20
There are innumerable forms of meditation and ways to meditate. TM, a particular style/approach had a nice following many decades ago...it is and was by no means the best "way". Meditation is a practice and a vehicle for multi level relaxation, for easing the mind's chatter (or actually minimizing the attention we give the mind talk and how we interpret it). The more consistently you practice it, the less the chatter becomes and your ability to not react to it and to others occurs) It's a fairly simple practice in most styles..it takes a bit to develop the routine habit, just like any other practice you do....
And it can create change just by practicing a few minutes a day.
 
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