Yoga and meditation are practices that have been around for
thousands of years. These practices can help reduce stress and bring you into a
more present focused state of mind. Many people today in our society are
bombarded with busyness and technology and we don’t take time to shut down and
relax. Even when we think we are relaxing… our minds are still going and going
and going like the energizer bunny. Many “veg out” by watching television or
looking at media following our long work days. This type of “vegging out”
however does not allow our mind to actually rest. Mindfulness through yoga and
meditation can be an important means to regain vitality and energy.
Like many others, I have had bouts of stress and mild
anxiety in my life. I have found that yoga and meditation practice help to
ground me and relieve this stress. I wanted to share these practices and how
they have helped me. These practices relieve the stress, but also bring me to a
point of increased clarity about the world around me. I feel a sense of control
and difference in my response to the world as I become more engaged with the
present moment and less worried about the past or what may happen in the
future.
Scientific research has found both yoga and meditation to
have substantial benefits including:
- · Recent studies in people with chronic low-back pain suggest that a carefully adapted set of yoga poses may help reduce pain and improve function.
- · Other studies suggest that practicing yoga may reduce heart rate, blood pressure, anxiety, or depression.
- · Mindfulness meditation activates the ‘rest and digest’ part of our nervous system helping with stress management.
- · According to research, meditation promotes ‘divergent thinking’, a type of thinking that allows many new ideas to be generated. (This is one of my favorites! Totally awesome!)
- · Neuroscientists found after just 11 hours of meditation practitioners had structural changes in the part of the brain involved in monitoring our focus and self-control.
- · Research indicates that relationships benefit from meditation. Those who meditate experience improved communication in relationships. In addition, those in marital partnerships experience overall improved quality of their relationship.
Sources: National Center
for Complementary and Integrative Health Website: https://nccih.nih.gove/health/yoga/introduction.htm
;
Headspace Treat Your Head
right Website: https://www.headspace.com/science
Yoga
Yoga focuses on movement, breath and awareness of the
present moment. There are many different routines that focus on different
elements such as stretching, balance, aerobic activity, breathing, or often a
combination of these elements.
It does not take an extensive dedication of time to
introduce a yoga practice into your routine. I use Gaiam’s Relax and Restore
Yoga DVD for my regular practice. The 24 minute yoga session on this DVD focuses
primarily on basic yoga poses that allow for mindfulness of the whole body and
breathing. I practice 3-5 times a week. You can modify your own yoga practice to your own individual needs and routine.
Meditation
Have you ever tried to meditate? It can be quite
uncomfortable and difficult to sit and do nothing. It is so rare to do this in
our world today. It is challenging to
empty our minds that are so full of thoughts, worries, or obligations. You don’t
need to do a long meditation to get the benefits of meditation, 5-10 minutes
can be plenty to center yourself (especially when you are first starting as 5
minutes may feel like an eternity.) ;-) You can increase the length of
meditation in time, if you want.There are many different versions of meditation. Meditation
can be tailored to your individual needs or personal preferences.
Olivia H. Miller wrote a book called Essential Yoga that I use
as a reference guide for both yoga asanas, breathing, and meditation
techniques. She includes a group of example meditations in her book. I am going
to share one example below. I share this example because I think this a good
meditation for beginners. It’s often difficult to clear your mind completely
and often times thoughts may pop in your head. This is natural and just let them go as easily as you can. This example meditation helps by introducing both a visual and verbal mantra to use
as a focal point. I often set a timer and then once my timer goes off that is
the indication that the meditation is over. I try to choose an alarm that is
more calming, so that it is not jarring if I am in a deeper meditative state.
Meditation of
Connection
- · Imagine an awe-inspiring natural place. It can be a real place you have been or a place that you have conjured in your imagination.
- · Go to this place and look around. What do you see? What do you hear? Notice the details about your natural, beautiful space.
- · Breathe deeply in your special place.
- · Inhale and repeat silently: I stand in awe of the beauty and grace.
- · Exhale and repeat silently: That is the natural world.
- · Inhale and say silently: Beauty and grace.
- · Exhale and say silently: Natural world.
- · Continue in this repetitive cycle focusing on your natural scene and the meditation mantra: Inhale- beauty and grace, exhale natural world
Adapted from Essential Yoga by Olivia H. Miller
Relax
Busyness leave me
Let stillness
rejuvenate
May I leave
relaxed
I encourage you to try yoga or meditation techniques. Feel free to
ask me any questions you may have about these practices. Below is an interesting TED talk on the importance of meditation with mindfulness expert, Andy Puddicombe. Enjoy & Namaste!
