Meditation has helped me a lot in managing my bipolar disorder. There are so many promises made by mindfulness teachers, and so much contradictory information about meditation, that people have lost sight of the fact that the real reason to meditate is to notice things.
Forget all the stuff about nonjudgmental awareness. Buddhist teacher John Peacock defines mindfulness as knowing where you are, and where you don't have to be. You notice all the details of your current situation, and you notice the things in you that may draw you to a bad place.
Developing this ability to notice can even clue you in on subtle changes in your body, emotions and thoughts that may signal that an episode of anxiety, depression or mania is imminent. But remember, part of the definition of mindfulness is knowing where you don't have to be.
Once you notice these signals of an oncoming episode, you can intervene with other therapies and head off the episode before it fully develops. It works. I do it and I've been fortunate enough to teach it to others.
I filmed a video for the International Bipolar Disorder Foundation that offers information and instructions on using meditation this way. There's even a guided meditation at the end.
You can view the video by clicking here.
My book Resilience: Handling Anxiety in a Time of Crisis is available now.
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