Meditation and dementia

[sky]

Originally Posted by Mrmeaning

Memory wouldn't be involved - that's the point. Being constantly guided to follow your breath needs no memory.

Being guided involves the mind.

[Mrmeaning]

It could be - relaxation.takes no prractice.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Mrmeaning

It could be - relaxation.takes no prractice.

I have no experience of dealing with anyone with Alzheimer's, but it seems as if you are being unrealistic in your expectations. I understand that lucidity varies considerably for Alzheimer's patients and diminishes over time. Your suggestions require that someone is able to understand your instructions and respond accordingly. This does not seem practical.

Peace

[JosephineB]

OP, is it possible for you to visit a care home if you haven't already. Have a chat with the residents and carers. Might give you a better idea. As others have mentioned, music can still be such a great source of enjoyment for many people that have dementia. Singing along to songs ok, even though speech is difficult.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Mrmeaning

It could be - relaxation.takes no prractice.

You cannot get someone with Alzheimer's to relax, I presume you have not interacted with a sufferer, relaxation is impossible to force on anyone let alone someone with Alzheimer's, sometimes getting them to sit down and eat a meal is a mammoth task, I have personally followed them around with their meal in my hands trying to give them some nutrition only to have it knocked on the floor, relaxation comes to them while their asleep and that's another story
Meditation is definitely not possible, God help them all.

[Mrmeaning]

Are you saying that people living with dementia are mindless? That's not my experience.

[Mrmeaning]

BTW, the assumptions being made that I've got no experience of peoole living with dementia are wrong. I volunteer with the AS.

Mrmeaning,

I'm curious. Do you meditate and if so for how long and when you first started did you find it difficult or boring or something that you wanted to get over as quickly as possible and it seemed to drag on forever?

Now picture someone who isn't in full control of their faculties.

Okay, I decided to ask Mr. Google and here's what I found.

I couldn't find the specifics of MBAS but I suspect it's not formal meditation as you're envisioning, but you never know. Also it only effective for mild to moderate cases.

https://goamra.org/adding-mindfulnes...mers-patients/

MBAS was based on MBSR, Mindfulness-Based Elder Care, Kirtan Kriya technique, chair yoga, and multi-sensory stimulation. The MBAS patients’ caretakers also assisted the patients in brief moments of mindfulness during home practice.

[Ariaecheflame]

The only experience I've had with dementia was my elderly grandmother who lived with us when I was a child and teenager.

I used to play music to her by her bedside, by that point the dementia was pretty severe.
She had some moments of connection intermingled with lots of moments of confusion.
I basically just sat nearby her in her room as she rested, sometimes I'd just make chit chat about about my day or we just sat in silence.
I think the act of me being present with her was probably the single most effective thing I could have done in that situation.

Yesterday, my daughter who hates meditation was feeling emotionally overwhelmed and I had the idea to hand a 'fidget bracelet' to her.

It was kind of stretchy and springy and had an interesting texture. We continued chatting and I just casually asked her what it felt like in her hands, what she thought of the colour, texture and how it moved ect eat.

Obviously you couldn't do this with a dementia patient but I'm sure that if you were a little creative you might be able to bring some form of mindfulness with the use of an object, like a soft toy teddy bear or a piece of embroided fabric or really anything of interest. My grandmother seemed to enjoy the occasional piece of chocolate quite unintentionally mindfully.

Even if you were to eat a meal together and you ate the meal mindfully while in company.

Perhaps even just the act of you being personally mindful might be all that you are really in control of in this situation.

I don't really know... I'm just thinking and sharing. I'm an expert in nothing. Lol.

I've had a lot of mental health and health issues in my life... The one thing which effected me most profoundly was when someone was simply present with me. Ilthey really didn't 'do'anything and they didn't expect or ask anything of me either. It quite literally saved my life.

I believe that if my grandmother was alive today, she would say something similar.