White noise

[Joeetaku 122]

Not sure if this is the right place for this topic, so please move it if that's not the case!

Anyway, I'm just wondering if anybody else uses white noise to help with relaxation? Sure, it's not a cure for anxiety, but I find it to be very helpful when doing meditation, mindfulness and CBT excercises. Essentially, it's information-less noise. That is, noise that can't distract you because it is consistent, without change, so there's nothing for your mind to latch onto. Examples would be the sounds of rolling waves, the hum of an engine or a fan, etc.

 

I find that background noise, especially other people talking, can often aggravate my anxiety. When I'm anxious I feel compelled to take in as much information as I can out of a false sense of belief that the more I know about my environment, the more I can control it (or my reactions to it), in order to make things the way I want them. Of course, this is ludicrous, but my anxious mind tries anyway. However, by drowning out background noise with information-less white noise, I keep my focus, and I calm down

White noise is a widely used as an aid to relaxation, concentration and sleep (especially for babies); there are many videos on Youtube that play white noise for anything from 1 to 10 hours. Does anybody else use this as a relaxation technique? I would recommend you try it

 

 

[jonathan123 2368]

Yes Joe; what is more relaxing than sitting on a beach and listening to the waves lapping the shore. The right place for this topic? I would suggest that any topic that helps anxiety is in the right place here. There is always the opposite to that and, as you say, a room full of people all talking at once can aggravate anxiety, especially of the social kind. We lived on Dartmoor in Devon for a number of years and to us it is one of the last places where one can find complete silence. Other National Parks have this also. (The odd RAF jet has to be taken into account, but that is rare, thank goodness). Sitting there and looking at the remnants of  Stone Age circles puts life into perspective. (Unless you also hear The Hound of the Baskervilles ).

Jon.