Great post! Good to hear you have found these alternative therapies helpful. Let us know how the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course goes. We'd love to hear about it.
I find out of all the alternatives I have tried to date the ones that really worked for me were Tai Chi & hatha yoga.
I took Taoist Tai Chi years ago & just loved it but it wasn't until I started practicing it again recently that I found it was the only thing that would quiet and focus my mind on something other than the panic or anxiety. In 2007 I took hatha yoga classes twice a week which I really enjoyed, it aslo allowed the mind to focus on something other than my disorder. But since my surgery last year I have been unable to take classes again, hopefully that will change in the near future.
As for meditation I took a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course in 2007 & I am planning in April to take another one as I have read about the numerous health benefits.
There are a couple of books I can recommend on the subject one is "Calming the Anxious Mind" and "Full Catastrophe Living" . There are many cds that are available now and that guide you through meditations as well.
I am like you and have never gone on meds to help with my anxiety. I really really really don't want to go on medication and I have been successful with beating anxiety once before for almost a year without ever having to go on meds and I was way way way worse than what I am now. I think because I have beaten it before without medication, and I was way worse before, I can do it again with CBT or other methods. I did yoga a couple years ago when I was first diagnosed with anxiety and I loved it because it was an hour in my day that I was able to not think about my anxiety and just relax. I think relaxation techniques and talking to someone help most when I am having an anxiety attack. Talking to someone works really well because it distracts me and gets me to focus on something other than my anxiety. I find that coming on this website really helps me too because again, it distracts me and I am able to focus on other people rather than myself and my anxiety. I am very interested to hear what has worked well for others as well because as I said I don't want to go the medication route! What sorts of things did you do for meditation exercises and did you find it worked well? Is there a class you took or a book you read about it? I wouldn't mind trying this technique. Thanks for starting this discussion!!
Just thought I would start this new thread to find out if there are any like me who are trying to get through Panic and GAD without the first line conventional treatment of meds?
Out of curiosity what methods have you tried and how successful were they?
I would love to hear your stories. The alternatives I have tried are Mindfulness Meditation, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Tai Chi, Hatha Yoga. CBT both in person and on-line.
