i have used some meditation on my mp3 player to help with anxiety and ptsd problems... seems to help reduce the stress. I havnt tried yoga but at the gym i go to they offer yoga classes and im thinking on trying that. The meditation i have seen good youtube videos on it too. Hope it works out good for ya :)

I loved yoga but could never calm myself enough to do meditation. But all my doctors have recommended it highly. So please try it and if it works that's awesome. It definitely won't hurt you.

Breathing exercises help me more than meditation because I can't sit still long enough. Here's something to try!

1. Take ten deep breaths, as slowly as you possibly can. You can close your eyes if you choose.
2. Focus on the rise and fall of your rib cage and the air moving in and out of your lungs.
3. Notice the sensations as the air flows in: your chest rising, your shoulders lifting, your lungs expanding.
4. Notice what you feel as the air flows out: your chest falling, your shoulders dropping, the breath leaving your nostrils.
5. Focus completely on emptying your lungs.
6. Push out every last bit of air, feeling your lungs deflate, and pause for a moment before breathing in again.
7. As you breathe in, notice how your stomach gently pushes outward.
8. Now just let any thoughts and images come and go in the background. Without judgment.
9. When a new thought or image appears, briefly acknowledge its presence - but keep you attention on the breath.
10. You may find it helpful to say to yourself "Peace... I am at peace" whenever a thought or image appears.

Let me know if it helps!

I've been learning to do mindfulness meditation. It has helped me, especially with trying to slow myself down when the urge to binge is pushing at me. In general, I'm sleeping better, have less anxiety and less emotional chaos since starting. And, honestly, I do about 5-15 minutes a day - usually before bed. The regularity seems to be more important than the amount of time, although I don't know if there's any research about that.

Like Spirited, I focus on the breath and just try to stay present, gently bringing my attention back to my breath when it wanders (which it does ALL the time). I checked out a CD set from the library about meditation that was done by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Andrew Weil. That was a good place to start. I think the title was something like: Guided meditation for health.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try to watch a few YouTube videos and see if there is one voice I prefer vs another. Then maybe I'll try a download or two. My biggest concern is that I don't think I can "turn off" my brain long enough. I'm definitely going to give it a try
Thanks!

Don't worry - you don't have to turn off your brain :) My practice has really been to learn not to judge it when my brain naturally becomes very active. Hope you find something that works for you.