Meditation can be a powerful recovery tool for those with depression as it can help increase your sense of awareness. While you should not abandon medications or other forms of therapy, mediation techniques can help you learn how to manage your negative thoughts.

One meditation would be the loving-kindness meditation to give you a more positive outlook and allow yourself to be compassionate. You can practice this meditation with someone you love. Imagine a bunch of people you love surrounded in your space and that they are sending you wishes for a healthy well-being, happiness and good health. Send back that love and kindness to the person next to you by saying four times “May you live with ease, may you be happy, may you be free from pain.” Mindfulness meditation will also be helpful for your depression as it allows you to focus only on the present moment instead of thinking of the past and what you believe the future will bring you. By focusing on your breathing, you will be aware of where you are in the present. The Society for Integrative Oncology has said that mindfulness meditation has helped anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Transcendental meditation uses sound or a personal mantra of one or two syllables as the anchor instead of your breath. If you have a high-stress job, this meditation has the power to improve stress, depression, being burned out with the results lasting for about four months. Visualization can allow you to gain control over your the negativity in your life. If you are used to seeing bad images, use guided imagery to focus on positive images like creating happy endings for sad stories or moments when you felt the most happy like being with your friends or being in a relaxing environment like the beach. It may be more helpful for someone to guide you by telling you words or phrases that will make you happy.

Chanting or periodic chimes can be useful if you feel like your negative thoughts are so overwhelming, a chant or a chime from a gong can snap you back into reality. According to a study by UCLA, chanting can activate parts of the brain involved in the regulation of mood and emotions. Taking a walk can also be a good form of meditation to relax your mind back to neutral for ten minutes at a time.

Located in Tacoma, Washington, Bayview Center’s mission is to offer clinically-driven programs and services to treat a number of substance abuse disorders along with anxiety and depression using cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, trauma therapy, yoga therapy, and more for a successful recovery. For more information, please call us at 888 570 7154 as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.