Hi emski, Thanks for joining us and your experience.
Yes, and thanks for pointing out that sometimes, and some kinds of meditation, can be just the wrong thing to do at times of feeling unwell or in crisis. It reminds me of people I've read who've talked about the importance, at times like that, of doing things that really ground us, that aren't too 'heady'. Maybe meditation isn't right at all at times like that unless you're very experienced.
It reminds me of Jack Kornfield's story of when he lived in a Thai forest monastery and found himself going through a period of being constantly overwhelmed by intense anger related to the violence and abuse of his childhood. His teacher told him to stop meditating and gave him, instead, physical work to do to use and direct this energy.
Yes, and that sounds good using audiobooks - I don't have any, I might have look for some. A friend of mine has something by Eckhart Tolle on CD, I know. I'll ask to have a listen.
Does anybody practice by attending a centre or classes or similar? If so, I wonder how important this is for people? I'm trying an attend a local Buddhist centre at least once a week for an hour's walking and sitting mediation, and discussion and instruction too on one evening a week sometimes; meeting/sharing with other people is important for me, I think, in addition to sitting (in meditation) when I can at home.