In our busy world, in which we have ever increasing work and life demands and are continually juggling work, home, and family responsibilities, it’s important for us to be able to manage our stress. While stress is a normal part of life, over time, high levels of stress can have negative effects on the body and lead to serious health problems.
Thus, it’s important to practice relaxation techniques to maintain and improve health and well-being. One relaxation technique that helps to manage stress is mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness meditation is a formal mindfulness practice of sustaining attention on the body and breath, while having a non-judgmental awareness of sensations of thoughts, feelings and emotions. During Mindfulness Meditation, we focus our attention on just “being” in the present moment, without trying to fix or change anything. No judgment, just awareness.
- Lowers stress
- Reduces anxiety
- Reduces negative emotions
- Increases emotional positivity
- Strengthens the mind-body connection
- Increases one’s ability to deal with life’s inevitable stresses
- Allows one to be better able to respond to rather than react to stressful situations
- Develops peace and calm energy
- Increases compassion for oneself and others
- Increases self-awareness
- Helps to achieve a balanced state of mind
- Improves focus and concentration
Practice this exercise many times throughout the day to help calm and focus your mind and bring it to the present. This is a great exercise to do if you’re feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed out OR if you just need to take a brain break.
Over time, you can gradually extend the duration of this exercise into longer periods. Though, even for one minute, this exercise will allow you to pause and bring you back to the present moment.
- Sit quietly in a chair with both feet on the ground and your hands in your lap.
- Close your eyes and notice where you feel your breath. You may feel the air going in and out at your nostrils or the rise and fall of your chest or stomach. If you can’t feel anything, place your hand on your stomach and notice how your hand gently rises and falls with your breath.
- If you prefer, you can just lengthen the “in” breath and the “out” breath or just breathe naturally. Your body knows how to breathe.
- Focus on your breath for one minute. When your mind wanders, as it will do, just bring your attention back to your breath.
- Notice any sensations you may be feeling. Don’t judge, just notice. When one-minute is up, or when you are ready, open your eyes and continue on with your day.
Keep in mind, you can’t fail at this exercise. You can only experience it!
Formal guided mindfulness meditation practices.
USCD Center for Mindfulness free guided meditations including Awareness of Breathing and Body Scan practices:
http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/mindfulness/programs/mbsr/Pages/audio.aspx
UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center free guided meditations including Awareness of Breathing and Body Scan practices:
http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22
University of Virginia Mindfulness Center free guided practices:
https://med.virginia.edu/mindfulness-center/continue-your-practice/audio-recording
Care you will love.
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