Autism: How meditation can help

This week I took part in a research study at a London university to see how people with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome, could benefit from using guided meditation and mindfulness to relieve some of their anxiety, and also help them develop more self awareness.

I am a person with high functioning autism. I am also someone that has for many years been very interested in the benefits of meditation, guided relaxation cds and other relaxation techniques so I was very happy to take part in the research study.

I find that most of us that have high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome are very prone to high levels of anxiety, depression and also OCD.

I have recently began to publish my thoughts in my blog about why I think guided meditation and mindfulness can bring huge benefits not only to many of us on the autistic spectrum but also to people generally that suffer from anxiety and depression.

The way I cope with the combination of high functioning autism and anxiety is by taking a very low dose of medication from the doctor and by listening to guided meditation cd’s along with meditation on the breath.

Meditation can have a spiritual aspect to it, but it can also be used purely as a way to relax the mind. Personally I use it for both of these reasons.

There are still times when anxiety and depression get the better of me, but I suppose that is just a part of us being human and everyone gets upset sometimes.

I am going to talk a lot more in upcoming blogs about autism and meditation. I am especially interested in how meditation techniques can be modified to be effective with a cross section of people on the autistic spectrum that have a range of cognitive abilities and may have difficulty with concentration or understanding the concept of meditation and mindfulness.

Thanks for reading and visit my youtube video channel for more of my experiences of having high functioning autism http://www.youtube.com/user/adultswithautism

Steve