My watch said 2am. As I lay alone in the narrow retreat center bed—heart pounding and chest aching—hope vanished and my thoughts descended into despair. Was I going into cardiac
How to meditate through anxiety, panic, and depression Anxiety and panic. When I first began to experience anxiety, especially panic attacks, I could not meditate directly on the experience. First,
The pain of mental health challenges During my first big race, the Capital City Half and Quarter Marathon in Columbus, my anxiety nearly kept me from even signing up. On
Desensitizing Around Painful Sounds I use meditation to overcome difficulties around unpleasant thoughts and body sensations, specifically the sound of leaf blowers and lawn mowers. If a landscape crew was
The Power of Pain Pain often pulls at us more intensely than the breath or other body sensations. Rather than trying to ignore it and hold fiercely to a different
Practicing with Pain and Pleasure There it was, that familiar twinge. While training for a third marathon, I’d chosen the indoor track over the ice and snow-covered Olentangy Trail. Sixteen
Tricky Body Those of us who live with mental health symptoms may have out-of-proportion thoughts and body sensations. We might be hypervigilant, with not just a tricky mind, but a
Untangling emotions The last year my father was alive coincided with my recovery from a major depressive episode during which I had nearly killed myself. He and I spent his
The 5 Conditions During the meditation leader training I took at the Sage Institute for Creativity & Consciousness, they introduced us to “The 5 Conditions,” another way to look at
How to meditate on emotion How do you deal with emotions that come up in mindful movement practice? The real question is, “When emotions arise, how do you infuse that
Award-Winning Author, Meditator, Marathoner, and Dog-Mom in Columbus, Ohio
Award-Winning Author, Meditator, Marathoner, and Dog-Mom in Columbus, Ohio
© 2024 Nita Sweeney. All Rights Reserved. Columbus, Ohio USA.4
