Celebrate Earth Day: Manage Stress by Embracing Nature

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it’s a great opportunity for you to indluge yourself a little bit and find a way to get out in nature as a way to relax and manage the stress in your life. If your life is harried and stressful and your first response is, “But I don’t have time!” you really need to take a break.

You might wonder what good it will do you to get out and embrace nature, so I’m going to tell you. Being outdoors in the fresh air where you can jest relax and let down can be very calming. Even if the closest you can get to nature is the corner of a city park, or the potted plants in the atrium of your building, that will do.

If you can’t escape to the woods, take a moment to appreciate our beautiful earth. Watch a nature video and meditate on the beauty and complexity of life on this planet. Take slow, deep cleansing breaths and focus on a particular plant. Then bring your focus to a single leaf or flower. Peer into the leaf or the petals of the flower. Witness the delicate beauty and be grateful for this moment.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to get out in the woods, or even for a walk in the park, take you shoes off and let your feet and your toes come in direct contact with the earth. If the sun is out, feel it shining on your face as you wriggle your toes in the grass or the soil. Feel a deep connection between yourself that goes deep, down into the center of the earth. Let your love and gratitude travel deep down into the earth and feel that gentle tugging sensation from the magnetic field at the center of the earth. You are grounded with the earth and you can feel a solid connection. You are standing in between earth and sky.

Sit and meditate or just do some slow, mindful breathing. Listen to the birds singing. Maybe you can hear a dog barking or children laughing. Embrace everything about this moment. Bask in the glow of this feeling of bliss and contentment. Wrap that energy up and carry it with you for the rest of the day. If something comes up that is threatening to steal your joy, let your mind travel back to those moment of bliss. Breathe deep and remember the smell of the earth, and the feel of the cool, damp grass on your bare toes and let the angst simply melt away.

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The Elements of Meditation

Written By: Elizabeth Alleyne

Meditation is the practice of being still for the purpose of relaxation and healing.
The purpose and goal of the meditation offered here is to be still and get to know God. God is where our ego thoughts are not. Meditation can be the ultimate relaxation tool once the practitioner is totally forgiving of self and the world as he sees it.

Conscious breathing is an important part of being able to relax the body for the practice of meditation. Conscious breathing is when we pay attention to our breathing and learn to breathe correctly. Most of us are shallow breathers. Our bodies benefit most when we can learn to breathe more deeply and consistently.

A disciplined mind is essential to the practice of meditation. It is a process that will take some time so relax and enjoy the ride. Being on purpose is what will help us to overcome our ego’s control of the mind. An anchor will help to bring your focus back to the meditation process.

When you begin a meditation session have a goal in mind, a focus for your meditation. Relaxation is a good beginning goal, or some idea or ideas you want to embrace – a passage from a book, or verse from a Bible.

Environment is important when beginning to meditate. Find a place with as few distractions as possible. Choose a comfortable chair, or sit on the floor against a wall for support. Ask any people around you to allow you a specific block of time with no interruptions. As you grow comfortable with the practice of meditation you may want to fix up a permanent area in your place of residence or have a special place in your yard that you design as you special meditation place.

Please feel free to share your meditation practice, tips, books, teachers or guides.

3 Simplest Meditation Techniques – Mindfulness, Breathing & Guided Meditation

By Katie Hoffman

Meditation has been known to relieve stress and tension and promote well-being. It relaxes your body and mind and heals the soul. It rids the mind of conflict and soothes the spirit. Regular meditation helps one cope with everyday pressures without falling victim to them. Meditation can be practiced in several ways. There are many techniques that help you get in touch with your inner self and bring relaxation to mind and body. Some of the simplest meditation techniques are mindfulness meditation, breathing and guided meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness implies awareness. So, mindfulness meditation aims at being aware of one’s inner self and the surroundings while touching on a higher level of consciousness. With mindfulness meditation all thoughts, feelings and emotions are acknowledged without making an attempt to suppress them. You have to play the part of a detached observer. In other words, you have to live in the moment without getting involved in it. There are several ways to practice mindfulness meditation. Most of them involve focusing on a certain object or a process. This could be focusing on your breath, performing a recurring exercise or simply chanting a mantra. There’s no specific posture that you need to take while doing mindfulness meditation. You can sit comfortably but you have to make sure that your back is upright in order to remain relaxed and alert. This is a very simple form of meditation and can be practiced at any time since all you have to do is sit and do nothing.

Breathing Meditation

Breathing meditation aims to clear the mind of distractions and make it calm and peaceful. Select a serene place to meditate and sit comfortably. You can take up any posture as long as you keep your back erect. Sit with your eyes slightly closed and focus on your breathing. Breathe through your nostrils and gain an awareness of how each breath enters and leaves your nostrils. Concentrate on this alone and make an effort to stop your thoughts from wandering. If your mind strays from the breathing process, bring it back to the task at hand. Do this as many times as is necessary. With constant practice, this will bring a sense of calm and peace to the mind. Even though breathing meditation is often considered as a prelude to other forms of meditation, it is a very effective technique to experience peace and contentment from within.

Guided Meditation

The deeper the level of meditation, the greater healing it brings to mind and body. Guided meditation aims at taking you to a whole new level altogether. Either your guru can guide you and bring you to this new state or you can use an audio tape to achieve a similar effect. You have to keep your mind free of all thoughts and focus only on the guiding voice in question. Here, you touch your inner self and unleash old resentments and emotions to create peace and harmony within. There are many audio tapes available over the internet that can be used for this kind of meditation. All you have to do is unwind and follow the instructions. Guided meditation is used to instill feelings of self-confidence and release feelings of insecurity.

All these three meditation techniques have a common purpose: To bring peace and reduce the conflict within yourself. Regular meditation will enrich your life and make way for a healthy and wholesome lifestyle.

Katie Hoffman lives in an apartment that uses a large wall mirror in the living room to expand the space and bring in some light. She also loves the large antique wall mirror in her entryway.

Article Source: 3 Simplest Meditation Techniques – Mindfulness, Breathing & Guided Meditation

What are the Health Benefits of Meditation?

Meditation has many unexpected health benefits. Who knew that simply sitting in peaceful silence would have such a healing effect on the body? The body’s desire is to be in a state of homeostasis – in balance with everything running like clock work. The practice of meditation can help to get your mind and body in a state of harmony and balance. If you want the body’s state of health to change you must first change your state of mind.

Correct breathing is an important component of the meditation exercise and that goes quite a ways towards bringing the body into balance. Correct breathing brings more oxygen into the system and helps it to circulate throughout the entire body. Every system in the body needs oxygen.

The peace of mind and relaxation that is achieved during the practice of meditation also contributes to helping the body to achieve balance. The state of total relaxation of both the body and mind that is achieved during meditation allows the body to heal itself quickly. Taking our minds off of the chaotic circumstances of our lives for just a little while invites a tremendous amount of peace and well-being.

Some of the health benefits of meditation include:

• Improved concentration

• Increases energy

• Increased blood flow

• Normalizes blood pressure

• Reduces anxiety

• Decreases muscle tension

• Increases the production of serotonin, which improves mood

• Boosts immune system function

• Relieves allergies

When I first began the practice of meditation I had an experience that really surprised me. I had a very bad cold, and I hesitated to do the meditation that morning, but then I thought better of it and did in anyway. My nasal passages were so congested that I had to breathe completely through my mouth. When the meditation process was begun I became aware that my nasal passages were clearing up a little.

As I continued to meditate they cleared up even more to the point where I began breathing through my nose without even thinking about it. Then my entire body began to feel better. When the meditation time was done and I gave a good stretch and went back to my life in this world the cold was back just as it had been before I started the meditation exercise. There is a lesson in that experience that spurred me on to continue to meditate for years to come.

When in a calmed and meditative state it is possible for the practitioner to assess the entire body beginning with the top of the head and moving slowly down to the feet. This process can alert you to any problems that exist so that attention may be given to that particular issue.

When you have developed a daily meditation practice you may begin to notice that you feel calmer and more steady. You may feel less prone to emotional responses and your ability to focus and concentrate will be improved.

Soon you may begin to notice a marked difference in your demeanor and how you handle the circumstances of your life especially on the days when you don’t meditate.

Do you have a regular meditation practice? Please feel free to share if it has had a positive effect on your health or well-being.