How to Meditate--rejuvenate your mind and body

Meditation is an effective way of treating stress and managing pain; meditation is an activity that calms the mind and keep it focused on the present. A mind in a meditative state is not clustered with thoughts or memories of the past or troubled by future events. There are two kinds of meditating technique which are concentrative and mindfulness meditation. In a concentrative meditation your attention is deep focused on a single sound, an object or one's breath which in turn brings you a calm, tranquil state of mind. While in mindful meditation, the mind becomes aware of but does not react to the wide variety of sensation, feelings, and images tied with a current activity. By sitting quietly and allowing the images of your surroundings to pass through your mind without reacting to  or becoming involved with them, you can attain a calm state of mind. Much research has been carried out in regards to Transcendental meditation (TM). TM brings about a state of deep relaxation in which the body is totally at rest, but the mind is highly alert. Studies show that meditation, especially transcendental meditation, is effective in controlling anxiety, enhancing the immune system, and reducing conditions such as high blood pressure. Meditation has been used successfully to treat chronic pain, control substance abuse and reduce stress.  The number one killer of beauty and long life is stress so please as much as you can get a good laugh and smile, watch more comedies and meditate. The steps below will help guide and teach you how to begin your first meditation.

You also do this:
        Meditation - sitting still and doing nothing
                                                                                 Start your meditation by focusing attention on your breath, consciously make the breathing deeper.

Observe any thoughts that arise, try not to identify with the thoughts, remember that you are not your thoughts.

You are not the thinker either. You are the awareness, the presence in which thoughts arise.

You are that which is aware of the world of form, the world of thought. When you find yourself occupied by a thought, try to get to the space before that thought arose or the space after the thought goes.

Focus upon the space between thoughts, on the inner stillness.

Do this: Learn to relax your mind by redirecting your thoughts to a peaceful place. Visualize yourself sitting on a beach sand gazing across on to the blue water, gaze out into the night stars in the sky. Feel the air and water as though you are on the beach while sitting in your quiet room. let go, feel the water, air, see the birds and trees go with the flow. This is how you can heal your mind, you can hypnotize yourself by focusing on an image or place you love that brings you warmth and inner peace. Creation of harmony within yourself and your environment is the key to a healthier you. Keep in mind that our emotional, mental and physical state determines our immunity to diseases.
Click here for relaxation/Brain wave Cd's. If you're using an FIR or other sauna as an aid, as you get uncomfortable, which you quickly will, try not to resist the bodies detox process; just relax and let it happen. Be here and now, even if you'd rather be somewhere else. After the sauna you will feel very relaxed and energized. Take a shower, stay relaxed and alert, avoid focusing on any troubling thoughts.
Continue with the deeper breathing, maintain your attention on the breath and in your body and not on any thoughts. Perform mental relaxation, by 'switching off' of the mind (a state of no-mind or not identifying with any thought) while remaining very alert and present is the essence of meditation.
Click here for relaxation/Brain wave Cd's. You don't need to do anything else. 

yoga posture for reducing stress

As technology speeds up the pace of life and we try to fit more into our busy schedules to maintain inner peace and contentment. we begin to worry and get anxious, our body becomes fatigued, irritable and more health problems occurs down the road. when faced with difficulties, our bodies respond with series of physical and psychological reactions that mobilize internal forces and prepare us to act; when in excess it could lead the body into other problems. Modern stress is of a different nature, we end up pumping high energy chemicals for low-energy needs. The price is high over long period of time, you turn the energy inward and you burn out. We can't control all life event but we can choose how we react to things that push our emotional buttons.- this is where yoga can help you regulate your body into its normal rhythm and prevent physical & emotional stress.

Pose Instructions:

         Lie back on the floor with the soles of the feet together and the knees spread apart, supported by folded blankets. Breathe deeply and slowly. To come out of the pose, put the soles of the feet on the ground with the knees bent and roll to the side.



You can also incorporate stimulating and restorative poses such like Virabhadrasana (warrior pose)



and bhujangasana (cobra pose) to energize the body and build strength. stay in-touch with your breathing while resting in Savasana (Corpse pose)

and Salamba Baddha Konasana (supported Bound Angle Pose) will help both body and mind to relax.

 Try Salamba Setu Bandha supported bridge pose,  helps your body de-stress, works the buttocks and thigh muscles.




Viparita Karani (Legs up the wall pose)
Jathara Parivartanasana (Reclining twist).

Author: Onyinye A

Yoga for Depression

                                                                       
                                       

Exercise and good nutrition is the key to a healthier you.                     PASCHIMOTTANASAN

  (Seated Forward Bend)

The number of Americans on Prozac and other anti-depressant continues to grow,($44 billion in sale). Although many others are finding relief by incorporating yoga and making lifestyle changes on their mat.

"Yoga postures can penetrate what Wilhelm Reich, the founder of the science of bio-energetics, called 'character armor', our unconsciously held patterns of physical contractions and defenses."

Pose instructions:

Sit on your mat with legs outstretched. Stretch the arms overhead and lengthen the spine. On an exhalation, reach the arms forward and rest the hands on the feet, calves, and knees, depending on your level of flexibility. Stay in pose, inhale deeply, and on each successive exhalation, let the torso sink towards the legs. After several breaths, reach the arms forward on an inhale and come up sitting.

Inverted postures works particularly well, it alters the blood flow, benefiting lymphatic drainage and the cranial sacral fluid. Increased blood flow to the head area = increased bio-availability of oxygen and glucose, and it is the two most important metabolic substrates for the brain."

Supported inversion and back bends for people suffering from a depression characterized by inertia or fatigue.

For anxiety a more active sequence is advised, modify your poses according to experience and physical energy level. Keep your eyes open wide while practicing, and move from posture to posture without pausing in between, to generate life force and focus the mind on the body.

Because there are different types of depression, some poses and sequences will work better for you than others. Listen to the needs of your body and mind and make modifications accordingly. Inevitably while you exercising you will face difficult thoughts or feelings, replace/balance these thought and feelings with positive images and thoughts- producing better feeling. As you create positive physical space within your environment as you do yoga poses, you'll create space within your consciousness.

Other recommended poses: 

Supported Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing Dog)

Viparita Dandasana (Inverted Staff Pose)

Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose or Backbend)


Written by Onyinye A