I've harped on this before. I go sit in the sun late morning and try to meditate. As I learned it, meditation is training yourself to ignore random thoughts and perhaps focussing on your breathing, In my case feeling the lower abdomen inflating with each inhalation and feeling the abdomen contract with each exhalation. It is really hard to do with the random thoughts that fill the mind when you're trying not to think. I noticed as my mind wandered into random thoughts that my tremor was milder. Then as I realized the random thought and forced my attention back to my breathing. At that point I saw the tremor got worse. It goes from a light finger tap of thumb and index finger to my wrist slapping the arm rests forcefully. It's as if the tremor is made worse by trying to meditate. The neuros call it a resting tremor but it gets worse when trying to control the tremor. Any ideas?
TIA,
kpo
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kaypeeoh
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"The central unsolved issue of consciousness remains the existence of “qualia”. Who is it that experiences, moments after moments, consciousness? Who has/uses his/her brain and its consciousness(es)? Who experiences these brain productions like emotions, ideas, memories?" (Dr Jeanmonod, Focussed Ultrasound Therapy neurosurgeon)
Kaypeeoh, please let go of control (forget about the breathing technique, I beg of you). You are not the meditator. You are to be-come the meditation. The latter is mere Presence with a capital letter, please. Do not worry too much for it is one of the most complex issues in PD research. "Volitional Suppression of Parkinsonian Resting Tremor" (Blakemore et al. Mob Discours Clin Pract 2019) may work for a few minutes at the best and much more when performing Self-Hypnosis. This is because the will-ing-ness to silence the tremor is still the result, the by-product, of a thought, just one out of the 50,000 daily thoughts (*)...PD might be triggered by chronic ill-breathing and therefore originate in the lungs:healthunlocked.com/cure-par...
(*) Dr Mercola found 70,000 thoughts and suggests an interesting method targeting the amygdala and hippocampus to get rid of them:
I have never been successful meditating, not in the way that is usually taught as you describe.
Some days late in the afternoon I will lay down on my bed with the window open and the sunshine coming in and just lay there neither purposely moving nor purposely not moving. I do not think about problems nor do I stop myself. The result is a place where my body is at rest but it does not exhibit tremor or other at rest symptoms. I usually fall asleep and wake refreshed ready to take on the world except now I am shaking, but I am often surprised to find that the complete event lasted only 20 minutes. It is more than a nap,it is a very deep sleep that is difficult to wake me.
That's it. Surrendering to one's powerlessness, particularly at the end of the exhalation. Brain scan studies have shown (Newberg & Waldman. IJTS 2018;37:2) "a very specific change occurr in the frontal lobes during experiences of profound surrender... allows the experience to happen as opposed to purposely making it happen... This is in contrast to some of the early phases of meditation in which purposeful concentration and willful focus on the objects associated with an increase of activity int the prefrontal cortex."
My husband has never been able to meditate but he says when he draws he has to focus on just that so any tremor stops and he is totally absorbed in his drawings. I wrote a post about it herehealthunlocked.com/cure-par...
There are lots of other activities like tai chi and Quigong that might be worth exploring as these require concentration and may help with tremor. I know Park Bear has found Quigong has helped him.
I think of meditation as just a newfangled name for daydreaming, just letting thoughts go where they drift in a relaxed unstructured way. “Dreaming” might be the key word, describing a kind of a quasi sleeping condition. Sleeping is a hot subject of research these days: what it is, what’s it for, can we turn on its mysterious powers? Eg it is vital for tuning the immune system. That animals sleep and dream indicates it has an important function.
Watch your cat or your dog. Unlike most humans, animals, including MwP (Mice with Parkinson's), live in the Now, under parasympathetic dominance.
"Yes, animals have minds. They use them to their advantage, learning from past experiences (remembering what places to avoid, where food can be found, where relative safety and shelter are located). Where creatures’ minds differ from our own is that they do not misuse their intelligence to spin tales of awful possibilities, to regret the painful past, to compare present reality with some other.
Nor do they fancy themselves in control of all-that-is, of some possible future (nor, therefore, do they dread the unknown). They are unburdened by the need for an identity, by attachment to outcome. Animals simply deal with the new what-is, when it arrives on the scene, without resistance. They are altogether limber in their orientation to ever-changing outer reality" (J.Frazier, July 2021).
I have had the same experience with trying to settle into a meditative state. A friend once told me that it helps her to simply relax her jaw. I have used that technique since and believe it or not, it works. You may not realize that you’re clenching your jaw or other muscles. Once you can relax, the tremor will too.Good luck 😉
I definitely find breath work/'meditation' helpful. Thats why I teach 2 classes/week on it. Just don't try so hard- and release any judgement... its good
I took classes using Jon Cabat-Zinn's approach. Lessons dealt with not letting Ego derail you. One session was on Walking Meditation. My understanding was that walking used the brain and didn't allow aberrant thoughts as much. I tried it yesterday. I don't remember thinking about the tremor while I was walking. So maybe it helped.
Qigong walking meditations and shinrin yoko ("forest breathing") are known for their therapeutic/healing properties. I think they are more in the school of 'mindful contemplation' than the meditation you are describing though.
As several have said, stop trying so hard. Meditation is about observing how the mind works. You cannot willfully banish your thoughts. That’s simply what the mind does. But you can develop the ability to recognize thoughts and feelings as mind products and that gives you freedom to no be carried away by them or act on them. Eventually this process does lead to more inner calm, which is very good for your nervous system.
Just notice your thoughts and let them pass, while keeping some part of your attention on your breath. (The image frequently used is you are the sky and your thoughts are just clouds passing through. When you notice that you’re lost in thought and no longer connected to your breathing, gently bring your attention back to your breath. Gently. If you have to do that every minute, no problem. That’s the practice. Relax. Allow your attention to include your breath and your thoughts.
With time you will increase your ability to focus on your breath and pay less attention to your stream of thoughts. You can start with five or ten minutes at a time. Increase as you feel comfortable.
It can also help to be in a meditation group. I’ve been participating in one for years, we’ve gone online for the pandemic.
Qigong can also be meditation, but it incorporates movement which is helpful for many people. Same for yoga. If you’re a physical person, they may be a better match.
And for any of these to be helpful, you have to let go of attachment to any specific outcome. Any of us would notice if our tremors gets better or worse, just notice that as another thought!
Botox injections seems to control the tremors enough that they don't dominate my conscious mind which allows me meditate. Walking meditation also seemed to help. As always, random thoughts are the gorilla in the room. One trick I remember is counting breaths. If one can go to 10 without stray thoughts interrupting, you're on the right path.
I am also dealing with the tremors and meditation. It's difficult to start meditating with tremors let me know if you find a solution and I will do the same.
I only know that a wave washes over me and I feel completely relaxed and then fall asleep.
I can tell you what I do to loose a bit of pain and tension in my muscles and refresh. I find some clothing such as long pants. shirts , shoes belts to be too restrictive and annoying.
I lay on top of my bed without blankets or sheets over me and I put my hands under my back and lay on them. Then I just take three slow deep breaths and wait with out expectation or any concern if it does not work I will just get up and go on with my day anyway and then it usually happens .
If I am thinking about some thing in particular, worried , anxious or jittery then I will not even bother lying down . The thing is that I am able to put myself to sleep under almost any condition . (Dental chair , no problem wake me when your done ) An old retired priest that had a boxing ring in his garage when I was a kid showed me how to rest and sleep under difficult conditions and how to put hunger , and some pain and the need for sleep aside for a short time (couple days ) and how to breath. (Oh and how to box ). A women that lived there also showed me the basics of lip reading and then I built on it and now I am very good at it.
Different times , one sought out these people with knowledge and then earned or bought their help, which they were usually generous.
I recently resumed meditation after a break of several years. I like to meditate because my brain just goes and goes, and this app has courses, not only in eastern practices, but also western medecine. If you are familiar with Inspiration Timer, a free app for your cell phone, there is a wonderful class titled the Relaxation Response that asserts the value of limiting the information flow into your brain twice a day for at least 15 minutes per session. The 10 quarter hour exercises are guided and can be listened to again and again to move students toward mastery. The guided exercises also help you identify points of physical tension and stress....like gritting your teeth or locking your knees. I do find that my tremor (the symptom I love to hate the most!) calms down during these sessions, just as it sometimes responds to music. ..not all music...just some. I am trying some experiments (n=1) to identify the characteristics of music that seems to slow and/or calm my tremor.
Hint: Music that contains plenty of harmonics resonating (frequency) with the above-mentioned pallido-striatal and cerebello-thalamo-cortical oscillators (Blakemore et al., 2019) and even the sacrum one (Hadlock). Otherwise, a bioresonance specialist may help you identify the right frequency and why not heal you if you still have Parkinson's.
When I forget I have PD (my focus is away to do something) my tremor stops. As soon as I become conscious I have PD my tremor returns. To get asleep easy I just empty my mind. I heard for some people that is not easy.
Maybe I'm overthinking things. I do that a lot. Meditation is about focusing one's thoughts on one thing. And that can be very hard to do. With time it gets easier to realize your thoughts are wandering and get back on track. And with more time you find longer stretches with no wandering thoughts.
You are doing a concentration meditation. Focusing on one thing every time your mind wanders. It does not have to be the breath. Or counting. It can be physical sensations or sounds. Or taste or smell. Or thoughts. You can allow your thoughts to rise and see where they take you. Often to an emotion, felt in the body. GO with that. Keep following, noting, not judging (most important) -- just being with. When you're tired of that, or it becomes too much, then come back to the anchor -- breath, sound, physical sensations. The idea of meditation is to be present with what is, sometimes by concentration, sometimes by allowing the mind to wander. I vary my meditations. Meditation has helped me enormously with coping daily.
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I am not convinced that I have PD. Could anyone tell me if they have had any of these experiences?
