How I got over a nervous breakdown

Prior to becoming a holistic health practitioner, I was employed in the construction and oil and gas industries as a Safety, Quality and Environmental Advisor around Australia. These high pressure roles finally caught up with me in 1998 when I experienced a nervous breakdown. Leading up to this, I was under a lot of stress to deliver key documentation and strategies for a billion dollar construction project in Adelaide. I was so incredibly lucky to have been practicing meditation leading up to this nervous breakdown otherwise I would have probably ended up in an institution!

Someone must have been looking out for me as I learnt about Transcendental Meditation through a synchronistic conversation whilst out for dinner. I met an amazing person who seemed to radiate joy and raved about their personal experiences whilst learning Transcendental Meditation. They gave me some contact information for a place in Adelaide and from there I set out to learn this meditation to at least find some way of dealing with the daily stress and anxiety I was experiencing.

I was hesitant when I first arrived at the Adelaide Transcendental Meditation Centre as I was greeted by an older lady who led me into a carpeted room with Maharishi Yogi in a massive framed picture hanging over the fireplace. Previous experience and my gut instinct would usually have me running out of the room with a picture hanging over a fireplace like that, however there was a sense of peace that I felt as soon as I walked into the room which was rather comforting. From there, I was pleasantly surprised with this lady’s knowledge of Transcendental Meditation as we went into discussing the practice. I was given my own personal mantra initially and told to close my eyes, take long deep breaths in and then repeat this mantra out loud and then silently over and over. Amazingly, this calmed me immediately! I was then instructed to continue practicing and come back in a week for a ‘checking in’ to see that I was on track.

For the first week I noticed how much mind chatter I had going on! I also realised how shallow my breathing was during the day due to the stress I was under. The immediate benefit from daily meditation was deeper sleep which was a massive bonus for me having been woken many times through the night remembering things I needed to do. I also experienced less anxiety and was less reactive to the stressful encounters and experiences I was having.

As I continued to practice I then noticed the experience of different brain wave states that occur in meditation as described in this Mind Body Green article. A few times I actually found myself completely passed out sideways on my couch which can happen when you first start out due to the brain not being experienced at pacing itself from Beta brain wave state to Alpha and then the Theta state.

So why meditate? Personally, since practicing daily meditation for 10 – 20 minutes over the past 9 years, my level of awareness of my thoughts and surroundings has changed and I have become less reactive and emotional. And what's better, scientific research such as the Harvard study have proven the amazing health benefits of regularly meditating which includes better decision making abilities and less likelihood of suffering from anxiety or depression.

I absolutely encourage (and implore) you to study and learn meditation for yourself as a way to shed light on to they way your mind operates as well as to become a more healthier, aware and grounded person. There are many types of meditation and in my next blog, I will be exploring some of the other different types of meditation that I have explored and why I now stay consistent to my own individualised practice.

That’s why I studied and became a certified meditation teacher. So that I could help others discover the power of meditation and how to integrate it into their daily lives.

How to add some mindfulness to your day?

Why not take 15 minutes at the end of your day to listen to a guided meditation. Or take some time through your day to focus on your breathing, is it shallow and short? If so, slow down and take some deep belly breaths.

For more tips on meditation or for further guidance feel free to contact me via the contacts page.