Meditation - More Than Just a Mindful Moment

Feeling stressed, anxious, tense, and worried then consider practicing meditation. Spending just a few minutes per day can change your brain and have a tremendous impact on your well-being. The best part is that mediation does not require any special equipment, can be done anywhere, and is free. Remember, only the meditation that you actually do will benefit you. With that said, I struggled to just sit down and meditate as my To-Do list kept taking over my thoughts. It wasn’t until I explored a variety of techniques and found which style worked best for me to get started.

Examples of meditation:

• Guided meditation. Also called guided imagery or visualization. There are great apps available for guided meditation. I like the apps called Headspace and Calm. Finding the one that you like is important to get the most out of your meditation.
• Mantra meditation. You silently repeat a calming word, thought, or phrase. In my coaching session, I teach the "Release Meditation" in which the participant repeats the word "release".
• Mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation is based on being mindful, and having an increased awareness such as on your breath, emotions, or muscle tension.
• Qi Gong. This practice generally combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement, and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance.
• Tai Chi. This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts. In Tai Chi (TIE-CHEE), you perform a self-paced series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
•  Mindful Walk. Simply going on a mindful walk – paying attention to all of your senses – can be a form of meditation.

Benefit #1: Calming and Relaxing

Practicing meditation stimulates the vagus nerve, the biggest part of our parasympathetic system (rest and digest) through breathing. It helps us to feel calmer and relaxed. In addition, mediation decreases the activation of the amygdala. The amygdala is primarily involved in the processing of emotions and memories associated with fear. Anxiety and worry are emotions that can be regulated by practicing meditation on a regular basis. 
 

Benefit #2: Better Memory

Meditation increases the volume (size) of our hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain associated with learning and memory. Yes, regular practice of meditation can change brain structures in the long term.

Benefit #3: Increased Focus

Brief meditation sessions can have an effect on improving attention spans. Meditation helps our brain to process visual stimuli. With increased visual discrimination we can focus better.

Explore and try out different types of meditation to find the one that works for you.