Meditation has been around for thousands and thousands of years. It's interesting to me that people instinctively knew that meditation was beneficial to our health and well being before there were scientists and documentation. Meditation was (and still is today) practiced to enhance enlightenment. According to Wikipedia enlightenment means "full comprehension of a situation". Today, research has shown us that meditation has many health benefits and people practice for a number of reasons. Meditation manages symptoms of many diseases, especially ones that worsen with stress. Some of these diseases include; anxiety disorder, depression, asthma, cancer, obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure. It reduces pain, and problems with sleep. It builds skills that help you manage stress, increases self-awareness, brings you to the present, reduces negative thoughts, sharpens the mind, increases confidence and simply relaxes you. Meditation also helps you improve your relationship with yourself and others.
A few years ago a yoga instructor said to me "If you can control your breath, you can control anything." and it really resonated with me. In the moment it helped me feel empowered to get through my practice. When I am feeling stressed, I stop what I am doing, close my eyes, take a slow deep breath and silently tell myself "If I can control my breath, I can control anything." Sometimes I have to repeat it a few times before the calming effect kicks in but soon I am able to continue what I was doing with a new perspective. I knew this was a form of meditation but until recently I didn't know it was called Mantra Meditation. There are so many types of meditation from Guided, Mindfulness, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Active, Transcendental, Visualization to Yoga.
I have personally had my life changed through meditation. Some of you are going to be shocked to read this but I used to smoke cigarettes. I started when I was about 15 years old and quit in my early 20's. In my mind, it was cool, social and helped to relieve stress, (N0W I meditate for those same reasons but there are no negative side-affects). I am sure my mom knew I smoked but it was something I did my best to hide from her. Little does she know, I quit smoking because of a gift she had given me right after I graduated from college. It was a meditation course at an amazing retreat. In the beginning, I would smoke to and from the retreat. It wasn't until the end of the course that I had an epiphany. I had the best meditation session I had ever had and as I walked to my car, the air smelled sweeter than it ever had before. The color of the sun setting was mesmerizing as it reflected off the trees and grass. I could feel the air softly brush the hairs on my arms... I felt alive. It was a euphoria that is hard to describe but every time I picture it, I am back in that moment. When I got to my car, I grabbed my cigarettes and as I was about to light it, I thought to myself. "What the heck am I doing? How can I go from using breath to bring health and awareness into my life and then light a cigarette to use smoke filled breath to destroy it?" I never smoked again.
You don't need to go to a retreat to practice or reap the benefits from meditation. It can be done almost anywhere... It’s best to practice in a quiet place or use soothing music or white noise but you can meditate while walking, running, sitting, laying, at home, at work, in a park, at a studio and so on. The most important elements to meditation is controlling your breath, focusing your mind and making it a daily habit. When I PULL up images of meditation, the majority of those images show someone sitting cross-legged but you do not have to sit cross legged, just make sure you are comfortable.
If you drink Yogi Tea, you’ll notice there are little yoga/meditation templates on every box. Here is an example of one called, “Yoga for serenity “:
Sit cross-legged or in a chair with spine straight and feet flat. Now, close your eyes and block right nostril with right hand. Take deep, slow breaths through the left nostril. Continue for 1 to 3 minutes. Let the positive and relaxing energy take over.
There’s an app for that!
Calm.com (free and pay versions)
Headspcace.com (10 free sessions)
In a podcast by Jeff Sander’s from 5am Miracle, he recommends making sure you put meditation in your schedule. He says that meditation is so easy to do which makes it easy not to do. Check out his short guided meditation, podcast about meditation and show notes. . http://jeffsanders.com/meditation http://jeffsanders.com/090-meditation-for-people-who-cant-sit-still-podcast
So get into a comfortable position with great posture whether it is standing or sitting to meditate. You could even multi-task and meditate during your daily workout! Being hydrated and fueling with naturally colorful foods will also help bring clarity to your day. All these great activities should help you get 7-9 hours of sleep.
A few years ago a yoga instructor said to me "If you can control your breath, you can control anything." and it really resonated with me. In the moment it helped me feel empowered to get through my practice. When I am feeling stressed, I stop what I am doing, close my eyes, take a slow deep breath and silently tell myself "If I can control my breath, I can control anything." Sometimes I have to repeat it a few times before the calming effect kicks in but soon I am able to continue what I was doing with a new perspective. I knew this was a form of meditation but until recently I didn't know it was called Mantra Meditation. There are so many types of meditation from Guided, Mindfulness, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Active, Transcendental, Visualization to Yoga.
I have personally had my life changed through meditation. Some of you are going to be shocked to read this but I used to smoke cigarettes. I started when I was about 15 years old and quit in my early 20's. In my mind, it was cool, social and helped to relieve stress, (N0W I meditate for those same reasons but there are no negative side-affects). I am sure my mom knew I smoked but it was something I did my best to hide from her. Little does she know, I quit smoking because of a gift she had given me right after I graduated from college. It was a meditation course at an amazing retreat. In the beginning, I would smoke to and from the retreat. It wasn't until the end of the course that I had an epiphany. I had the best meditation session I had ever had and as I walked to my car, the air smelled sweeter than it ever had before. The color of the sun setting was mesmerizing as it reflected off the trees and grass. I could feel the air softly brush the hairs on my arms... I felt alive. It was a euphoria that is hard to describe but every time I picture it, I am back in that moment. When I got to my car, I grabbed my cigarettes and as I was about to light it, I thought to myself. "What the heck am I doing? How can I go from using breath to bring health and awareness into my life and then light a cigarette to use smoke filled breath to destroy it?" I never smoked again.
You don't need to go to a retreat to practice or reap the benefits from meditation. It can be done almost anywhere... It’s best to practice in a quiet place or use soothing music or white noise but you can meditate while walking, running, sitting, laying, at home, at work, in a park, at a studio and so on. The most important elements to meditation is controlling your breath, focusing your mind and making it a daily habit. When I PULL up images of meditation, the majority of those images show someone sitting cross-legged but you do not have to sit cross legged, just make sure you are comfortable.
If you drink Yogi Tea, you’ll notice there are little yoga/meditation templates on every box. Here is an example of one called, “Yoga for serenity “:
Sit cross-legged or in a chair with spine straight and feet flat. Now, close your eyes and block right nostril with right hand. Take deep, slow breaths through the left nostril. Continue for 1 to 3 minutes. Let the positive and relaxing energy take over.
There’s an app for that!
Calm.com (free and pay versions)
Headspcace.com (10 free sessions)
In a podcast by Jeff Sander’s from 5am Miracle, he recommends making sure you put meditation in your schedule. He says that meditation is so easy to do which makes it easy not to do. Check out his short guided meditation, podcast about meditation and show notes. . http://jeffsanders.com/meditation http://jeffsanders.com/090-meditation-for-people-who-cant-sit-still-podcast
So get into a comfortable position with great posture whether it is standing or sitting to meditate. You could even multi-task and meditate during your daily workout! Being hydrated and fueling with naturally colorful foods will also help bring clarity to your day. All these great activities should help you get 7-9 hours of sleep.