Celebrate Earth Day with Some Meditation

A National Survey of Americans reports 14.2% of adults practice some form of meditation (2017). Meditation is a mind-body practice that helps to focus the mind which increases calm, physical relaxation, coping mechanisms, and overall health & well-being.

How to get started?


Meditation is easy to start and hard to master. Like Yoga, Meditation is a practice. You need to let go of expectations and embrace the process. Many types of meditation exist, below we will describe one of the most common.

Seated, Quiet, Meditation

Step 1- Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit or lie down. Step 2- Close your eyes.Step 3- Release. Your first meditation will not be perfect. Focus on a mantra (phrase) or word. Repeat the Mantra as a means to focus your mind on the present, not on the list of things you have to do. If your mind wanders, bring it back to the word, or mantra. An Earth Day Mantra suggestion:  om shanti shanti (om= universal sound, shanti=peace; spoken like it reads).  You can also focus on:• Your own breath,• The sound of your heartbeat (you can hear it if you focus, in complete silence),• The sound of a clock ticking• Smells (Incense or a Scented Candle).
You are now meditating.

Common Questions

How long should I meditate? As long as you would like or are able. In the beginning, we suggest a 5-minute meditation. As you work on calming your mind (practice), that time can be lengthened. Setting a time helps you from constantly "watching the clock".
Can I move? Ideally, you will sit in stillness, but if you have tried to mediate in the past, this is not easy for most. The goal is stillness, but if in the process there is movement, accepted it with kindness.

Who does it help?

Meditation has been shown to benefit the following conditions: stress, and anxiety, cancer treatment, pain, menopause symptoms, blood pressure, smoking cessation, and pain management. Meditation is generally considered to be safe for healthy people. However, people with physical limitations may not be able to take part in certain meditative practices involving movement.
Meditation is a practice to support us in slowing down, allowing space for introspection and is the opposite of multi-tasking (which you cannot, really, do, but that is another blog post).

Have more questions? Want to give it a try, in a supported environment? 

Come to our Meditation 101 Seminars. April 22 @ 6pm & May 17th @ 10am at Newton Park.  See you on the Mat.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Health & Fitness Evolution or Transformation- Imperfect Progress and Failing Forward

Image
First off, thank you all for the love on my posts.  I am truly humbled by the support.  That being said, I have had a lot of questions about how did I get here, and statements like:  "I want to be you, or I could never be you."  If you want this, it is yours.  If you think you can't do this - let me be real.  You are just wrong! This health and fitness journey path that I am isn't hard to duplicate.  I copied it off of someone else.  You know what, that is OK and you can do it too.  Here is my path, if you want to walk this journey together- join me in my next challenge group. Meal Prep 101 I am going to show you how I have gotten here through Imperfect Progress and Failing Forward . So let me start with Step 1 Exercise . You can't talk about it.  You can think about it.  You have to do it, do SOMETHING.  That first "something" may not be 100% correct but it will help you to make the next step. I read a friends' blog - here is
Read more

BVI Day 2 & 3

Image
Never a dull moment for the Heil Clan!  I want to start by stating that we do have GREAT traveling partners, they have been so easy going and flexible.  So our adventures over the last two days. When ever you lead a larger group there is a constant battle to keep the group together.  We call that "Herding Cats"!  Our cats have been starting "meowing" whenever we refer to them.  Super cute. Friday night the entire group made it safely to St. Thomas in the USVI.  On Saturday AM we headed to the British Virgin Islands, specifically the island of Tortilla.  We have been assigned a 42' Lagoon named Bear.   (Yes we think this is cool BearCat friends.)   Here is where the adventure starts and the Cats had to be flexible.  Bear is brand new!   Bear's Specs  You too can own her for a mere $573, 000.  This will be her maiden voyage, after sea trials in France.  Why is this important?  (Other than being just cool:))   No INTERNET!  They haven't installed it yet
Read more