Meditation and Relaxation for All bodies and Any body
- Take a Seat and see what happens aka Meditation
With this busy many people tend to find this time not the most joyous but rather the most stressful. Relationships are strained, stress levels are increased, and upset bellies are amongst a few of the unwanted festival delights. The answer – slow down; Yogis call this process Meditation, I say find a seat, close your eyes, feel your breath and see what happens.
Meditation takes time, patience and energy. Meditation makes us face and be confronted by those things we don’t necessarily want to think about; states such as suffering and unpleasantness can lead the mind to distraction itself as a way of coping with life. But those parts of the Self need to be addressed so that we can learn how to live life with awareness and clarity rather than with fear and doubt.
Benefits of Meditation- amongst many others:
1. Lowers oxygen consumption and decreases respiratory rate.
2. Increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
3. Calms the mind and develop inner peace.
4. Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
5. Decreases muscle tension (any pain due to tension) and headaches.
But it does take time and that’s fine. There are not many ‘rules’ to meditation but try to follow guidelines below and always seek the support of a qualified Meditation Teacher:
- Before you start the practice, write down how you feel don’t think about it too much its a quick way to de-clutter the mind.
- Sit on a chair or floor – if this isn’t possible lie down but you may fall asleep!
- Breath naturally (in and out through the nose)
Types of Meditation
It must be noted that although some meditation practices can seem quite simple, it is advised that you learn seek guidance from a Meditation Teacher so that they can guide you through your practice.
I find that writing down how I feel at the start and end of each practice can help me to ‘sift’ through clutter and unnecessary thoughts.
Mindfulness Meditation
Observe thoughts entering the mind – however busy the mind is, acknowledge each thought but let them pass and come back to the breath no matter how many thoughts enter the mind, let them don’t get frustrated and keep coming back to the breath – the breath is our friend and support
Mantra Meditation
Chant a Mantra
- with each inhale say to yourself – I am breathing in
- with each exhale say to yourself – I am breathing out
Don’t sit for too long period of time between 5-10 minutes is a great start.
Tratak (candle) Meditation
This type of Meditation can allow us to steady the mind. In Yoga we say that where the eye goes the mind follows so that if we can fix our mind on a single point such as the candle then our mind becomes focused and clear.
- Mrs Ali (my mum) enjoying Tratak Meditation
- Place a candle just below eye level not too close to you
- Sit comfortably and feel the natural breath
- Gaze at the tip of the flame without blinking – it is ok if your eyes water, try to soften the gaze rather than stare at the flame
- After a minute close the eyes and visualise the flame internally until the image disappears.
Meditation is a learnable skill and there are times it can be difficult. But it doesn’t take long to find our seat, and with faith on the Self, we learn to look at things from a different view point, we learn not to live in ignorance, we acknowledge fear, anger, frustration and doubt but rather than those unwanted guests of suffering taking over our lives we learn how to breath them away. We learn to see the world clearly, acknowledge relationships beyond bad and good. It is then we can start to live our life for two main reasons – to be content and at peace.
With a couple of moments each day, when nothing else matters we feel as if time has stood still, and we embrace the pure bliss of silence and for that reason I cherish the moments of sitting and just being.
Start slow, be gentle and kind with yourself and once you have accepted who you are the rest will follow…I promise
