Austin Meditation

Archive for the ‘Mind & Body Care’ Category

Basic meditation will teach you how to focus, breathe deeply, and reach a higher level of consciousness about your body and feelings. Basic meditation may also inspire you to try other types of meditation, especially as you become more aware of your feelings and the state of your mind. Some kinds of meditation are designed to help you express and honor certain emotions.

We all carry the weight of unexpressed sadness. Crying or weeping meditations allow us to give vent to these emotions in a safe environment. While crying meditation can be done in groups, you may want to begin practicing in private. You will probably feel self-conscious at first. This is natural. We keep emotions like sadness inside because we believe it is inappropriate to honor and express them in public.

To experience the release of crying meditation, find a private place where you feel comfortable making noise. If you’d like, you can begin in a seated meditation pose, with closed eyes. As you breathe, imagine the breath drawing up all of the sadness in your core. As you exhale, make a sound of sadness, like a groan or a wail; the sound should originate down in diaphragm, not in your throat. If sad thoughts come, don’t dwell on them; let them go. Let yourself go too. Wail or howl and curl up, like a child would. Let yourself have access to your sadness, and let it be released.

Laughter meditation is easier to do in a group. You are still instructed to focus on the present and your feelings, but to express them, whether they lead you to laugh, cry, or do nothing. You shouldn’t force the laughter, but you can try exercises, like imagining your worst enemy laughing, to get yourself started. Stretch, make some funny faces, and then smile and begin to laugh slowly with a relaxed throat. The laughter from the other participants will be contagious. To end the meditation, stop laughing, close your eyes, and breathe deeply. Don’t dwell on any of the thoughts that come into your mind. You should feel revitalized and lively.

According the Princeton’s WordNet Search, the act of meditation is the “continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature.” While meditation may seem more spiritual and, therefore, unappealing to some as a means of dealing with the struggles of life, there are actually many proven health benefits derived from the act of meditation.

According to HealthandYoga.com, meditation as seen an increase in use as a means of managing life threatening conditions, as well as aiding to cope with and even reverse mental illnesses. Meditation also assists individuals in accelerated learning programs as they work to improve mental capacity and retain information.

Due to the relaxing effect that meditation has, there are specific and proven health benefits that you may not know about:

•    Meditation slows your respiratory rate and decreases the amount of oxygen needed to function.
•    Meditation lowers your heart rate and increases blood flow throughout the body.
•    Meditation allows cardiac patients to tolerate exercise better, improving their health.
•    Meditation helps those with hypertension (high blood pressure) to gain better control of the condition.
•    Meditation decreases the number of anxiety attacks for individuals in high stress situations.
•    Meditation increases the production of serotonin in the body. Low levels of serotonin are associated with obesity, insomnia, headaches and depression, so an increase in production will help to improve both mood and health.
•    Meditation eases the affects of chronic diseases such as severe allergies or arthritis.
•    Meditation decreases the severity of symptoms associated with the Pre-menstrual Syndrome in women.
•    Meditation is effective in speeding recovery after an operation.
•    Meditation makes the immune system more active.

Meditation doesn’t have to be a series of yoga positions and breathy chants to be effective. While many people find yoga a great means of relaxation, meditation can also simply be a few moments each day where you sit comfortably, breathe deeply, relax and work to clear your mind of life’s stresses. That is the ultimate goal.

Life in our age today carries with it an implicit expending of energy against the odds which we encounter constantly everywhere around us. Stress today is considered today as a way of life for many achievers and has become a part of the lifestyle of many. The impending consequence of a stress filled life is irregular bodily and mental functions. Since Transcendental Meditation was introduced to the world, research has shown that this meditative technique stimulates specific key functions of the human anatomy, resulting in improved functioning of the body, mind and being.

When the brain has experienced prolonged stressful situations, it gives up rational thinking and turns towards primitive methods of responding. Sometimes, the stressed mind will allow strong emotions to take over, creating a snowballing effect, until something can be done about it. Signs of stress include impulsive behavior, poor memory, loss of attention, alcohol and diet abuse, sleep disorders, low self confidence and esteem, worries, anxieties and depression. The practice of Transcendental Meditation reduces stress, energizes the body and mind, and increases focus and willful control over the functions of life. Stress is also the reason for most heart illnesses. The symptoms mentioned above create and interact with heart functioning, causing faster heart rate, increased blood pressure, and other coronary illnesses. Transcendental Meditation, when relieving stress dilates blood vessels all over the body, reduces blood pressure, reduces thickening of the heart arteries, and normalizes other coronary functions. A normal functioning body and mind will reduce hospital visits, costs and ensure a prolonged and healthier life.

Transcendental Meditation has proved to have aided creative and intelligent minds in the search for the self and delve at arriving and inventing solutions and ideas of great value and admiration. Students introduced to this meditation technique have shown increased happiness and reduced anxiety in classrooms. Employees regularly practicing Transcendental Meditation have shown better leadership skills, improved work relationships, decreased stress and improved productivity at work. Transcendental Meditation practiced by social groups has known to have improved social functioning and consciousness to work towards world peace.

If you suffer from anxiety then you know what it is like to experience the debilitating effects it can have and what it feels like to desperately search for a remedy that will help you get through your next attack. Some kind of instant relief — something quick and easy that will make it just simply go away.
A prominent psychologist once stated that the only way a person could feel better instantly was to get a case of their favorite scotch along with a book and head out on a relaxing two week vacation to a remote tropical island with a willing partner. That is something that could probably make you feel better temporarily – maybe for a couple of weeks, but definitely won’t have any long term effects. It does make a good point though. There really is no quick fix known that can alleviate deeply-rooted psychological issues. However, there are many ways known that can help you deal and cope with them and make your life better.
Doing things to help you deal with your anxiety issue will not make it all go away, but it can help you learn how you can relax yourself and calm yourself down when you start feeling anxious or stressed out. Also, while they are not considered a cure, they can provide some needed (and much appreciated) relief that can help you get on with your every day life in a much better way.
Many people have found meditation to be very useful and successful in helping them learn how to refocus, reduce stress, and have more peace in their lives. Having an over-active or out-of-control thought process is the primary cause of anxiety. Doing meditation effectively can slow down your thought process and in turn reduce your anxiety symptoms. A good distraction that can provide some relief as well as help you have more peaceful and positive feelings.

Is there anyone who doesn’t desire to be happier and have more peace of mind? In today’s world, there’s a lot of emphasis put on obtaining status, money, power, results and achievements, but those things don’t bring true happiness. On the flip side, there are many that in the midst of all of it all instead search for quiet moments, relaxation, and inner peace through meditation. A lot of people have found through practicing meditation that happiness does not depend on our outer circumstances, but has more to do with our inner attitude instead. Meditation has been known to help individuals reflect and relax and in turn reduce stress, but it also has many more benefits to offer.
There are studies showing that doing meditation can provide many health benefits. Meditation can help a person reduce the stress in their life by teaching them how to switch their minds off from the everyday worries that come. A lot of the benefits that are seen are directly related to helping a person decrease their stress level and results like lower blood pressure, pain relief, and decreased anxiety as well as many others are noticed. This doesn’t mean that doing meditation will give you a guarantee of good health, but many believe there’s a link between your mind and your physical health.
Being able to have control over you thoughts is a phenomenal thing. Often people find themselves a victim of their own negative thoughts. Some people even think that it is pretty much impossible to be able to control their thoughts. The art of meditation not only teaches you that it is possible to do that, but that you can even learn to stop them completely using the right techniques. Meditation can help you clear your mind and bring it more under control which in turn helps you keep things in perspective and creates more peace of mind. It makes it easier to obtain more happiness in your life and gives you the ability to achieve whatever you want to.
Start practicing meditation today and see what benefits you will find!

Do you usually forget what you just read or forget someone’s birthday? If so, you don’t have to accept that you have a bad memory and are going to just have to learn to live with it. The good news is that each person can do things to individually improve their memory. Whether you are looking to ace that test you have next Friday, win on Jeopardy, or just want to remember where you put your keys at, there are things you can do to you start doing today to improve your memory.

First of all, you need to have a good attitude about your memory. Don’t get stuck in the rut of thinking that your memory is bad and there is nothing you can do about it. Make a commitment to yourself to take proper steps towards improving your memory and don’t beat yourself up about it.

You can start off with doing things to actually exercise your brain to keep it growing and developing new nerve connections. Try new things that challenge your brain like puzzles and games such as crosswords or Suduko, learning a new language or how to play a new instrument. Additionally, make sure you are eating well and getting enough sleep so that your body has the right building blocks to help your body and improve your memory.

Also, try to reduce as much stress in your life that you can to help make remembering easier for you. Stress is a very damaging thing for both your mind and body and needs to be eliminated as much as possible. Exercising regularly is not only good for stress relief, but it also helps you be more alert and improves your circulation and also can help ward off memory loss that comes with aging. Doing meditation can also help you with improving your memory and has been found to actually increase the blood flow to your brain to help you to be able to focus better. It is also very good for reducing stress in your mind and body as well.

No matter who you are, everyone has to deal with stress in their life. No one gets a free ticket to avoid having anything go wrong or having feelings of being overwhelmed. When trying to control the stress in your life there are a few different things you can do to make it better – you can change your thinking, change your lifestyle or change your behavior (or a combination of any of them).

If you want to change your way of thinking, one technique used is called reframing. Reframing is used to change the way we look at something so we feel better about it (like the glass is halt full or half empty scenario). It’s about realizing that there are different ways to interpret things. Getting rid of the negative thoughts or feelings that cause stress in your life is so important. It makes not only your life, but also the lives of those around you and who you associate with so much better as a result. Everybody has bad days and everyone has bad things that happen to them. You need to make sure to accentuate the positive and spend more time focusing on the good things that happen in life, rather than the negative. Learning to enjoy your life more and latch on to the good things that come will help you have a better attitude and less stress.

Making changes to your lifestyle can also result with having less stress and less complications from that stress too. Eating good and healthy foods, drinking enough water, exercising regularly, and getting proper sleep can make a huge difference for your well being as well as your attitude and how you react to things that happen. Also, there are so many good things you can do that can help you relax and decrease the stress in your life like doing yoga, practicing meditation, deep breathing, hydrotherapy (warm, hot bath), listening to calming music, and taking a nice nature walk. Doing these things regularly can be very beneficial to your mind and body and help you relax and de-stress naturally.

If you experience chronic pain you know how frustrating and depressing it can be to deal with on a daily basis. Well, there is help out there available for you, if you know where to look. As a form of alternative medicine, meditation is practiced to help a person receive physical relaxation as well as mental calmness. In general terms, meditation is time spent sitting in a relaxed position and atmosphere for an uninterrupted 5 – 20 minute time period and clearing your mind of the many thoughts that typically occupy it.

Meditation can be used help with many things such as elevating your mood, lowering skin temperature, decreasing blood pressure, significantly reducing stress in your body, lowering adrenaline, and even altering hormone levels to bring more balance and peace into your life. And you don’t have to do meditation for months and months before seeing or feeling any results. The benefits of meditation can even be felt during your first session – the first time you do it!

It wasn’t always the case, but nowadays meditation is considered to be a part of mainstream health care and very beneficial for people to start practicing. A study done back in 1972 (regarding transcendental meditation) showed that doing this type of meditation had a direct effect on a person’s metabolism by lowering some biochemical byproducts produced in the body by stress like lactic acid, decreasing blood pressure and lowering the heart rate while also promoting good brain waves.

Meditation is even being used in hospitals now to assist in treatment for chronic or terminal illness cases for reducing stress and helping to improve immune systems. Medical personnel agree that mental factors like stress really do contribute to the decrease in a person’s overall health and wellness. Therefore, there are a lot of studies and tests being performed in order to research and discover the effects of the mind and body on illness and disease.

So, do a little research and find a center near you that offers meditation classes and start to learn how to practice meditation and in turn improve your overall health!

Many people today have heard about meditation and might be curious about what is really involved with practicing meditation. Although there are a variety of different ways that meditation is practiced (different meditation techniques and such), there are basic and common things that underlay the majority of all meditation practices.

The first step for meditation is having a quiet mind. It sounds like a pretty easy to do, but to be really effectively at it really does take practice. Throughout the day there are many voices that creep up into your head focusing on what you need to be doing, where you need to be going as well as problems or concerns in your life that you need to resolve or make better. During meditation you need to let your mind ignore all the outside influences that surround you that are vying for your attention and just let you mind become clear and quiet.

Another step of meditation is the ability to focus on being in the present (the right now) instead of focusing on the future or the past. Being able to experience each and every moment that comes and then let it go to experience the next one is such a great thing! It also takes quite a bit of practice to learn how to focus on the here and now because we seem to always be thinking about our future or our past instead of enjoying where we are at the present moment.

Lastly in meditation you strive to obtain an altered state of consciousness. Over time, by practicing the first two steps of quieting our minds and focusing on the present, you can achieve an altered level of consciousness. It’s a state of mind that isn’t like your usual awake state or sleeping state – it’s somewhere in between. Meditation has been known to increase brain activity in a particular section of the brain that is associated with positive thoughts and emotions. So if you’re interested in having that in your life, look into practicing meditation as a regular part of your life!

Remember the carefree days of childhood? When we were in the midst of it there were many times we thought life was so hard. Now we know how easy most of us really had it back then. In our world today as adults there is so much hussle and bussle around all of us and so many things vying for our precious attention that it is hard to stay on top of it all. We are constantly being pulled in a hundred different directions. Just in normal day to day life we have issues to deal with such as work, spouses, children, errands, bills, cleaning, yard work, house work, staying in touch with friends and family, exercising, cooking, and the list goes on and on!

Many of us have a consistent desire to escape the craziness surrounding us and to find a way to bring more peace and quiet into our lives. We crave more time to ourselves where we can relax our bodies and clear our minds and look inward and gain focus once again. Meditation is a great technique to learn to help us be able to do just that. It can also provide many spiritual benefits to you as well.

Meditation brings your body, mind and spirit into harmony with each other and increases your wisdom and compassion which in turn can create a deeper relationship with God. It provides peace of mind and happiness and helps you keep things in perspective so you don’t get so overwhelmed with the things you have to deal with. You can experience things like attitude changes, increased acceptance of yourself, enlightenment, and better see your purpose in life during times of meditation. These spiritual elements of meditation are very beneficial to each of us and can help you achieve that sense of peace you have been searching for and need in your life. So look into learning meditation and find out for yourself the great benefits it has to offer for your mind, body and spirit.