Finding Your Calm: Mindfulness Practices for Tinnitus

Many individuals in the United States experience tinnitus. While there’s no cure, the amount of individuals who experience tinnitus means that experts know more about how to manage the symptom of an underlying condition than ever before. While it’s recommended to speak to an audiologist about the best ways to manage your tinnitus, since they’ll very often be able to offer advice and guidance that’s specific to you, it’s also worthwhile looking at the general tinnitus advice that anyone can follow.

For instance, there’s research that suggests practicing mindfulness can have a positive impact on symptoms of tinnitus. An audiologist will be able to manage your tinnitus, by giving you different solutions like therapies or sound machines, to lessen the symptoms you are experiencing. So what are the best practices for tinnitus?

Daily Meditation

Meditation isn’t just great for tinnitus; it’s great for most things. Studies have shown that it can have a significantly positive impact on sleep and symptoms of depression and anxiety. So, if you’re looking for an easy way to reduce the impact of tinnitus and get a host of other benefits, then take a look at starting a daily meditation practice. Not sure where to start? There are plenty of meditation apps for smartphones that will give you a solid grounding in the practice. From there, it’s just about committing the time to practice for ten minutes each day.

Sound-Machine Enhanced Meditation

Many people will find benefits in standard meditation practice, which typically involves sitting silently in a quiet environment and observing your breath. But if you have more persistent or severe tinnitus, then you may find that the silence has an adverse effect on your symptoms. In that scenario, it’s best to do sound-machine-enhanced meditation. You’ll still meditate the same way, but there’ll be external noise – such as white noise – to focus on. If you are not sure on what sound machine to use, your audiologist can recommend options for you.

Walking Mindfulness

When most people think of mindfulness, they imagine traditional meditation practice. But mindfulness can take many forms. It really just means being fully aware of the present, and there are plenty of ways to do that. One type of mindfulness that is popular with individuals who are dealing with tinnitus is movement meditation. This usually involves walking in nature and simply being present and observing all that you see, hear or touch.

Getting Started

There’s a lot of value in practicing mindfulness to manage your tinnitus. However, it’s true that it can be a little difficult to get started. If you’ve never engaged in this type of practice before, then look at starting with guided meditation, which is when a voice guides you through the process. This can help to give you the basics of what you should be doing, and it can also help direct your attention away from the ringing in your ears.

The tips should get you started with mindfulness practices for tinnitus. If you need additional help, then don’t hesitate to make an appointment with an audiologist to help you find the best solutions for you.