When you have a problem like Tinnitus, meditation might sound like the last thing you want to do to seek relief. After all, who wants to sit in a quiet place and try to calm their minds when there’s a constant ringing that drives them crazy. But, meditation for Tinnitus can definitely result in significant relief. The key to making it work is to first understand how meditation can help Tinnitus. Understanding how meditation can be helpful will allow you to successfully perform it instead of thinking it is one of those ‘woo-woo’ practices. Then, you must of course learn how to meditate for Tinnitus. We cover both, below.
How Meditation can give you Tinnitus Relief?
The aim of meditation or mindfulness is to help you stop fighting Tinnitus in your mind. Take a moment to think about what Tinnitus means to you. What can you think of? Frustration, annoyance, desperation, anger, anxiety and stress. Perhaps there are a lot of other negative emotions you can add to that list. Now, when you are worried about your Tinnitus or are trying to somehow stop hearing that ringing in your ears, you are only intensifying all these negative emotions, again and again, because you are fighting the ringing.
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Ask yourself this – “Has your Tinnitus gone away with all the worrying that you have done so far?” Your answer is no, right? Then why continue to worry about it!
Another aspect about worrying about your Tinnitus is that your negative emotions get stronger with time. Worry becomes anxiety and stress. And, chronic anxiety and stress are bottomless pits that can take you to very dark places.
The purpose of meditation or mindfulness meditation is to help you habituate with Tinnitus. Habituation is when your mind is so used to something that you just don’t consciously process it as a thought anymore. For example, until you read this sentence, did you actually feel how your shirt or t-shirt felt on your skin? Now that you are paying attention to it, notice how your mind is immediately able to assess the quality of the fabric on the apparel you are wearing. It’s soft. It’s rough. It’s itchy. These are all thoughts that you are feeling only now, because you were encouraged to do so.
How Severe is Your Tinnitus?
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In essence, meditation or mindfulness will put your Tinnitus sound on the backburner. You will still hear it. But, it won’t bother your every waking moment.
Your stress and anxiety levels plummet and you can finally start to get a handle back on your life.
How to perform Tinnitus meditation?
Preparation
Try to perform Tinnitus meditation when you are in an already relaxed state of mind. What routine in your life usually relaxes you? A walk, cleaning the dishes, removing clutter or maybe even watching your favorite television show. Whatever it is, perform the Tinnitus meditation described below after such a relaxing activity.
Find a quiet room where you can sit or lie in a relaxed position. Ensure that you won’t be disturbed in person or by the digital world.
It helps to have some pleasant ambient music in the background. Sounds of waves crashing, a babbling brook or rain falling are all excellent choices.
Meditating
- With your eyes closed, practice breathing with your diaphragm
- Push your belly out when you breathe in and suck it when you breathe out
- Try to both inhale and exhale for 5 seconds each
- If you can’t inhale or exhale for 5 seconds, simply breathe normally, but mindfully
- Go through a cycle of 20 inhales and 20 exhales
- Now gently shift your thought to relaxing every muscle in your body
- With every breath cycle, completely relax one muscle group
- Start with your toes. Breath in – I am going to relax my toes. Breath out – my toes are relaxed
- Calves
- Hamstrings
- Quadriceps
- Buttocks
- Lower back
- Upper back
- Chest
- Neck
- Face
- Now, it’s time to focus on the sound of your Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
- Continue to breathe rhythmically
- Focus on the ringing
- Listen to the characteristics of the ringing
- Be non-judgmental about the sounds
- Gently let your usual thoughts of frustration and anxiety about your Tinnitus sounds pass on by
- Keep the focus on merely hearing you ringing, without any judgment
- Continue to do this until your 15 to 20 minute meditation ends
The more you meditate and gently focus on breathing and focusing on your Tinnitus sounds, the less it will affect you. With time, Tinnitus will become a background noise that your brain can and will ignore. Remember how you could focus on what your friend was saying in a noisy restaurant, despite hearing hundreds of other sounds. Those other sounds is what your Tinnitus could become, with consistent meditation.
You can also read this excellent guide on how to practice mindfulness meditation.
Meditation won’t work the first time!
Yes, you read that right. This post is about advising you to meditate for Tinnitus but now it says meditation won’t work. Yes, it won’t work if you are expecting miracles after the first time you meditate. Meditation takes perseverance and consistency.
Challenges faced with meditation for Tinnitus
Distractions
If you have never meditated before, your first meditation can be very chaotic. What’s for dinner? This meditation is a load of baloney!. This is not making my Tinnitus any better. These are all thoughts that are commonly experienced.
Every time a distracting thought comes by, acknowledge it and try to go back to what was prescribed as meditation exercise. Don’t force it but gently coax it instead. If it is overwhelmingly difficult to meditate, just stop and try another time.
Can’t last even 2 minutes, let alone 20 minutes!
This is another very common challenge. If you can meditate for only a minute or two, start with just that. But, aim for small incremental gains as days or weeks go by.
Don’t feel any better about Tinnitus, even after getting the hang of meditation
If you are able to meditate using the techniques mentioned earlier but don’t feel any differently about your Tinnitus, or perhaps feel worse, it is time to evaluate whether you are still fighting your Tinnitus. Remember, you are NOT trying to make Tinnitus go away. You just don’t want to be bothered by it anymore. As long as you won’t accept the “I don’t want to fight Tinnitus” mindset, meditation or mindfulness just won’t help you with your Tinnitus.
While meditation can certainly help you manage and habituate to your Tinnitus, there are a lot of other things you can do as well, to control your Tinnitus or even make it go away. Read our Tinnitus blog for continuously updated content about how to manage your Tinnitus.
