Living With Bipolar Disorder
Learning how to live with bipolar disorder is challenging. Bipolar can really suck. Becoming aware of ourselves is one way to use mindfulness effectively when learning how to live with bipolar. Self-examination is difficult. Self-awareness can be uncomfortable when it goes against my pride. From somewhere in the back of my head, my pride often tells me that I need not look at myself, that I need not look at my hidden intentions, but I invariably suffer unnecessarily if I don’t. For me, the discomfort of self-examination is a necessary practice for me to grow in life; all areas of life. Business, romance, fitness, all of these areas require constant introspection. If I don’t, I drive this meat wagon right off the cliff.
Living with Bipolar Can be a Hurricane
I admit that my personality is not like most peoples’. Stubbornness, arrogance, and glibness follow me around like the ghosts of Christmas past. My brain works fast, often too fast, and it’s hard for me to stay focused. Weekly I experience “brainstorms,” flooding of thoughts into my frontal cortex, a swarm of honey bees flying around, all able to speak, and all asking for my attention. Like rain nurturing a garden, I receive great insight and ideas during these storms, but I get brought to my knees when the storm turns into a hurricane. I can’t function, and I become a heavy burden on those closest to me. Having bipolar can really suck a, insert your explicative here ______.
My bipolar brain is challenging, but despite its self-destructive leanings, it is also a great gift. My unique perspectives are of great value. Visionary is a good descriptor. Ahead of the curve is another, assuming, of course, it is a topic of my interest. To eliminate possible judgment of arrogance, I will admit to some faults as well. Money, sex, and drugs can be my masters if I am not diligent in self-care. With a brain as wild as mine and the moods of a roller coaster, how am I able to accomplish this?
Mindfulness Helps to Live with Bipolar Disorder.
Yes, Bipolar disorder can be debilitating, but there are ways to…minimize it. I invented one simple technique (at least I think I did, and if I didn’t, I’m claiming it now.), and that tool is Stop. Breathe. Do. This is not just a catchphrase, although it happens to be in my email signature. It’s a way of life. It applies everywhere and for anyone, mentally ill or not. Let’s take a brief journey through these simple three words and see how mindfulness becomes a weapon for living with bipolar disorder.
Stop.
There are many manic symptoms I have learned to watch for in my brain. This, of course, requires a great deal of mindfulness and meditation to do, but it is worth it. Overanalysis, judgment, self-justification, and “brainstorming” are a few things I look out for. Grandiosity is another, but I have learned that that trait can hold significant value; I have to be careful with it, make sure it doesn’t engulf me into an untouchable, self-righteous wrecking ball. I have to build my ability to stop to prevent destruction, just like the brakes on a car.
Maintain Your Bipolar Braking System
When you press the brake pedal, it seems like you are just pushing a pedal to stop the car. You don’t see the many components that need to be maintained to ensure that the pedal works. You have to check the brake fluid, make sure your tail lights work, maintain your break paps, etc. This is just like having bipolar disorder. There are many components to self-care.
Living with a routine helps. I go to the gym three to five times a week, I eat clean, I don’t drink, and as of now, I am moving away from cigarettes, but for Christ’s sake, these things are a bitch. All of those are great and maintain the stopping components, but they don’t push the pedal. Mindfulness, i.e., focus in this instance, is the pedal. When I become aware that my mind is beginning to launch into outer space or nose dive into the Mariana Trench, I Stop. I Stop what I am doing right then, and I focus. I Stop, and I focus, and I Breathe.
Breathe.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
Breath is the focus of this article, although there are many more. I use the third eye now because it’s more potent, but…According to the Torah, it says we are the breath of God. That’s my interpretation of that verse. Sounds important. Breathing is essential to life (duh), but not just for physical survival. It’s essential for spiritual and mental survival, and I am talking about more than oxygen. In Abrahamic religions, God breathed life into His favorite creation, people. He breathed into us, sharing his breath and His divinity with us. It was this gift that transformed dirt into awoken beings. That’s why it is the second step. That’s right if you are reading this, and you happen to be people, you are WAF (Woke as F**k).
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” ~ The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Breathing is Actually Meditation.
Breathing is the gateway drug to meditation, and meditation is the gateway drug to mindfulness. The Buddha knew the power of breath and built an entire meditation practice around it. Anapanasmrti is Sanskrit for “Mindfulness of Breathing.” In the Buddha’s method of meditation, concentration is continually brought back to the breath. We focus our attention on the rise and fall the body makes during every breath. When our mind wanders, we turn back to the breath, for the breath is constant and always with us. This develops mindfulness, a non attached awareness of the present moment. All of this takes the practice of focus, and we practice our focus with…
“feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.“ Stepping Into Freedom by Thich Nhat Hanh
Do.
Practice Makes Perfect.
I meditate twice a day for about twenty minutes per session. This prevents my bipolar swings from getting too crazy but does not stop them completely. If my life, thinking, or moods are particularly out of whack, I meditate more. When my mind spins out of control or is stuck on a specific problem for myself or my clients, I stop and breathe. One giant inhale. One giant exhale. Wash, rinse, repeat. I’ve learned to observe with compassion the thoughts and feelings I experience. I’ve learned to accept them for what they are and not try to control them. It helps a lot. Breathing and meditation taught me this. Breath is my foundation. It offers me a chance, a chance to escape the chaos within me, a chance to win. But I must DO the practice. I can’t think about it; I can’t read about it, I have to DO it.
Science is Mindful AF
“Mindfulness meditators have demonstrated superior performance when the stimulus to be detected in a task was unexpected, relative to when it was expected. This suggests that attention resources were more readily available in order to perform well in the task. This was despite not receiving a visual cue to aid performance.” (Valentine & Sweet, 1999).
Even modern science is all over this shit. Meditation has been scientifically proven to improve attention span, quality of focus, mood regulation, and even reduced mental illness symptoms (like bipolar? YES, like bipolar!). Meditation brings calmness. I can attest to all of these. I can also testify to another important benefit. Productivity, or for the sake of this article, DO.
Focus is a Muscle.
“Calm energy is incredibly powerful in everyday life. It helps you focus on what’s important and screen out everything that isn’t.” The Mushin Way to Peak Performance by Michael Viltri
Meditation cultivates and restores our energy to a state of calmness. Calmness may seem like a passive descriptor of being, thus limiting production, but it’s not. Calmness produces ease of flow, organized and streamlined thought, and deliberate action. It removes the mind’s clutter and allows us to focus all of our attention on what needs to be done right now. Focused attention is like a laser beam. Lasers can cut steel! That means our newly found focus cuts through the often steal like tasks in front of us, the dreaded paperwork, to-do lists, and everything in between. Focus is exactly what someone living with bipolar needs to help stay centered and live a normal life.
Stop. Breathe. Do.
By,
Curiostic (Mindful Male)
Recent Comments