Question:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Doug <tar…@delphi.com> writes: >Mike, >I both exercise and meditate. I started meditation years before my T, so >I had the skills already. I also used to partake in flotation tanks, >ie altered states! The tanks are something that I have given up due to the >T. Meditation I still enjoy. If you can and that is a big IF. Try and >accept the T noise as a natural NORMAL part of your body or "being". If >you try and meditate and keep hearing this unatural ringing… you will >not be able to focus or meditate! If however you just "hear" the ringing >as you would hear your breathing or hear your heartbeat well then it >becomes tolerable and you can get past it! Don’t give up. Another tool >to try is to focus on the sound of your ringing as you would focus on >your breathing…Don’t get anxiety over the fact that there is ringing >just let your mind hear the ringing NOT JUDGE it! As you focus on the >ringing your mind will wonder and drift off into alpha waves… >meditation!!! Good luck.. As for exercise, I have found it to be >very beneficial, I also use the sauna religiously. I find that it >helps relax me and get my blood flowing. Both very good for T >Sorry for the long post. >Regards >Douglas
Long post? Sheesh. Well done, Douglas. Your advice is right on. I really like how you state this. I’ve had my T for about 17 years. Onset followed yelling (err… actually screaming) at one of my kids followed by strong physical exertion (lawn mowing). Onset of brief dizziness followed by T after turning the mower off. Probably damaged my cochlea or whatever. If you cannot make it go away, ya gotta make it a part of your life. But you say it better. Chuck Smith
Response:
Michael F Otero (mot…@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote: >Meditation is a great way to relax and relieve stress, however, it can be >difficult for T sufferers to use since you usually have to be in a quite >environment which tends to make the T more noticeable. Maybe someone out >there has suggestions to make meditation more suitable for T sufferers?
I take a Psychosynthesis class led by Dr. Spencer Sherman, and have found it quite helpful. As part of the class, he leads guided meditations using material taken from the Psychosynthesis book "What We May Be" by Piero Ferrucci (Tarcher/Perigree Books, $10.95 paper). One of the meditation approaches is to simply be aware of all stumuli, thus freeing us from attachment to any one of them. From page 65 of the book: "We dis-identify by observing. Instead of being absorbed by sensations, feelings, desires, thoughts, we observe them objectively without judging them, without wanting to change them, without interfering with them in any way." Our class meets in a room adjacent to a jewelry class, where people are sawing, banging, filing, and creating all forms of loud, sudden and potentially annoying sounds. Yet during meditations, all that stimulus becomes part of our effort to be aware of everything. I find it quite difficult to remain aware of my tinnitus, and have often lost track of it for hours after the sitting. Even when I don’t, it’s simply another thing to observe, and it no longer bothers me at all. I don’t know if this is what you were looking for, but it feels like a sound approach for me. — j…@silcom.com – John L. Wiley – Santa Barbara, CA
Response:
In article <38jgr7$…@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> mot…@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Michael F Otero) writes: >From: mot…@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Michael F Otero) >Subject: Re: Stress Reduction Theory >Date: 25 Oct 1994 17:55:51 GMT >stressed out I get over it. Meditation is a great way to relax and relieve >stress, however, it can be difficult for T sufferers to use since you usually >have to be in a quite environment which tends to make the T more noticeable. >Maybe someone out there has suggestions to make meditation more suitable for >T sufferers?
I think you are in a good position to come up with a meditation regimen for T sufferers. The "quiet" status needs to be created in a ‘user-friendly’ atmosphere for us.. I’m not sure of the format… Total silence (like the ‘color’ white or black) is devoid of distraction, and you are correct in saying that T in itself is distracting. A contemporary "fix" for that has been the prescription of "white noise" (or pink noise depending on your techincal persuasion). A mild form of that in the form of a quiet (?) fan, or a breeze, or flowing water is a start. Soft classical music is another.In either case, one would adjust the intensity or volume so that the sum of this masking noise and one’s T presents a minimum (likely not zero) amount of distraction or discomfort. Then your meditation regimen begins. Please tell us some simple meditation procedures.. Tinkerers and experimenters please comment! Ang. /////// Sound Technology /////////
Response:
Mike, I both exercise and meditate. I started meditation years before my T, so I had the skills already. I also used to partake in flotation tanks, ie altered states! The tanks are something that I have given up due to the T. Meditation I still enjoy. If you can and that is a big IF. Try and accept the T noise as a natural NORMAL part of your body or "being". If you try and meditate and keep hearing this unatural ringing… you will not be able to focus or meditate! If however you just "hear" the ringing as you would hear your breathing or hear your heartbeat well then it becomes tolerable and you can get past it! Don’t give up. Another tool to try is to focus on the sound of your ringing as you would focus on your breathing…Don’t get anxiety over the fact that there is ringing just let your mind hear the ringing NOT JUDGE it! As you focus on the ringing your mind will wonder and drift off into alpha waves… meditation!!! Good luck.. As for exercise, I have found it to be very beneficial, I also use the sauna religiously. I find that it helps relax me and get my blood flowing. Both very good for T Sorry for the long post. Regards Douglas
Response:
In article <9410242009.aa02…@ink.ink.org>, TERRENCE KEARNS <tkea…@ink.org> wrote: >I lurk about another group, traumatic-stress, and they’re lately talking about >the merits (or lack thereof) of physical exercise for stress reduction. The >traditional point of view is that physical exercise tires you out and reduces >stress. I recall reading a posting on alt-support-tinnitus indicating that >physical exercise does result in an initial increase in the loudness of T, but >that the general high obtained (endorphins?) through a strenuous work-out make s >one able to tolerate the T much more easily.
I think much about dealing with stress has to do with one’s attitude. When I’m exercising, I feel good about myself because I know that I’m doing something good for my health. This positive attitude helps me to deal with any negative things that might be occuring in my life at the moment. I don’t feel that it has anything to do with endorphins or being exhausted after exercising (I usually don’t workout that hard). I find that if I keep myself busy with activities that are constructive, I feel that I am accomplishing something that is positive and this keeps my mind off of other, stressful things. The less time I spend thinking about my tinnitus, the less it bothers me, and the less stressed out I get over it. Meditation is a great way to relax and relieve stress, however, it can be difficult for T sufferers to use since you usually have to be in a quite environment which tends to make the T more noticeable. Maybe someone out there has suggestions to make meditation more suitable for T sufferers? Best regards, Mike
Response:
I lurk about another group, traumatic-stress, and they’re lately talking about the merits (or lack thereof) of physical exercise for stress reduction. The traditional point of view is that physical exercise tires you out and reduces stress. I recall reading a posting on alt-support-tinnitus indicating that physical exercise does result in an initial increase in the loudness of T, but that the general high obtained (endorphins?) through a strenuous work-out makes one able to tolerate the T much more easily. There have been some posting on the traumatic-stress group suggesting that physical exercise increases arousal in general and can exacerbate symptoms in traumatic-stress patients. Some of these folks are proposing that meditative exercises, such as Tai Chi, or perhaps biofeedback, may be better for reducing stress in post-traumatic stress patients. Long ago when I studied meditation I recall that there are allegedly two internal sounds one hears as he/she reaches deep relaxation. One is a very low frequency, about one beat per minute, and that is the sound of one’s heart. The other is a very high frequency, and that I recall being told, that is the sound of one’s thoughts (=T ?). Any comments about the relative merits of approaching stress reduction (and hopefully subjective tinnitus reduction) through physical exercise, deep relaxation techniques and/or drugs (Valium, Xanax, Tranxene, etc.)?
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