Start A Meditation Regimen Today, You Will Not Regret It!

Start A Meditation Regimen Today, You Will Not Regret It!

Meditation is defined as the mind and body connected through breathing. Meditation is not only relaxing but can also help you become more attuned with your body and the environment around you. It is a highly enjoyable activity and there are so many variances to how you can practice it.

As a holistic care option for stress relief, meditation is wonderful. The emotional effects of sitting quietly and going within are profound. The deep state of rest produced by meditation triggers the brain to release naturally occurring neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. Each of these brain chemicals has been linked to different aspects of emotional well-being. This means you’ll be happier and less stressed as a result of meditation!

Here are several ways you can include meditation into your daily life as well as benefit from its wonderful health effects.

Yoga and meditation. Silhouette of man in moontains.

Meditate on the Breath

This is a method that will come more naturally to you as you continue to practice and become more comfortable with it. Start with 2 minutes a day and gradually increase from there as you adjust meditation into your daily routine.

You will need to choose a peaceful environment to practice, such as space outdoors surrounded by plant-life or in a quiet room with a large window.  Begin by focusing on your intentions for the day. Take a deep breath and inhale for 4 counts. Hold your breath for 2 seconds, then release for 4 counts in your exhale. Make sure to hold and extend your exhale.

You can also use visuals while breathing and this will help you to become calm. As you inhale, imagine your breath circulating along the back of your spine to your 3rd eye chakra. On the exhale, imagine a blue light filling up you solar plexus chakra, located just below the belly button. You can use various visual exercises while meditating. Over time you will be able to utilize favorite visual meditations as you observe what works best for you.

Meditate on the Chakras

While meditating on the chakras you will need to visualize the same color as the area of body you are concentrating on. Visualize your breath along with the chakra color. You will begin with the heart and move up and down the chakras.

Take 3 breaths in and out for each chakra. Inhale for 4 counts, hold breath for 2 counts, exhale for 2 counts while extending your breath. Start the cycle over again for each chakra.

Chakras are characterized by color and different areas of the body:

  • Violet –  top crown of your head
  • Indigo – third eye
  • Blue –  throat
  • Green – heart
  • Yellow-   pancreas solar plexus
  • Orange  – sexual power
  • Red  –   root end of the spine- survival

Moving Meditation

Meditation doesn’t have to be sedentary. Many forms of meditation also include movement while breathing. Tibetan Rites is a great moving meditation that utilizes all aspects of the body to move and communicate together. Tai Chi has similar meditational benefits.

A simple way to practice is to find a space outside and walk at a slow or medium pace while focusing on your feet. Notice when your toe touches down on the ground, when your foot is flat on the ground and when your toe points back upward. Feel the roll of your foot and observe sensory details.

Healing Benefits

Meditation is one of the best holistic care tools that has been around for millennia. It helps to counter the brain’s negativity bias, releases stress, fosters positive intentions, and helps one enjoy the peace of present moment awareness. A large body of research has established that having a regular meditation practice produces tangible benefits for mental and physical health, including:

  • Decreased blood pressure and hypertension
  • Lowered cholesterol levels
  • Reduced production of “stress hormones,” including cortisol and adrenaline
  • More efficient oxygen use by the body
  • Increased production of the anti-aging hormone DHEA
  • Improved immune function
  • Decreased anxiety, depression, and insomnia

As researchers have found, meditation can help you tap into your brain’s deepest potential to focus, learn, and adapt. While scientists used to believe that beyond a certain age, the brain couldn’t change or grow, we now know that brain has a quality known as plasticity, enabling it to grow new neurons and transform throughout our lives. Meditation is a powerful tool for awakening new neural connections and even transforming regions of the brain.

Improves Negative Thinking and Boosts Creativity

We each have an estimated 50,000 thoughts a day—unfortunately, many of these thoughts can be repetitive and negative as our brain naturally wants to find problems with things.  The mind tends to get stuck in thought loops that make it hard to be creative or inspired.

Regular meditation will help with acceptance and is a powerful practice for going beyond habitual thought patterns and into a state of expanded awareness.

Continued Peace of Mind

Having a regular meditation practice will continue to benefit you and your well-being.  A regular practice will lead to peace of mind, improved sleep and focus throughout the day. You won’t regret it if you just try it!

Relax Holistic can provide other great holistic care suggestions and practices to improving your life on a daily basis. Visit us today, we have three convenient locations in the Los Angeles area!

The Five Tibetan Rites

The Five Tibetan Rites

The Five Tibetan Rites are a 2,500-year-old series of exercises that have anti-aging and stress reducing benefits. Similar to the yoga that originated in India, these include a series of poses. They are fun to practice since they incorporate continuous movement.

Holistic care regimes can incorporate these exercises. Perform the Five Tibetan Rites first thing in the morning to increase your energy level for the rest of the day. You will also notice improvements to flexibility and strengthening of muscles with a regular practice.

We hope you enjoy doing these as much as we do, and that you look forward to waking up your chakras, focusing your body’s energy throughout, and increasing overall positivity.

Rite 1

This first position requires you to stand up straight with your arms outstretched and horizontal to the floor. Palms should be facing down towards the floor. Keep your body and hips square, arms at shoulder length and feet are hip distance apart.

Spin your body around clockwise while maintaining balance. The crown of the head should be drawn up toward the ceiling while keeping your focus on a spot in front of you as you count your rotations. You should experience some dizziness as you spin. Gradually increase the number of spins from two to 21. It is a good idea to have a chair or other piece of furniture nearby in case you become unsteady and need something to grab onto. Over time increase the amount of spins you can perform while keeping balance.

Rite 2

Lie flat on a floor or bed. You may decide to use a yoga if you decide to use the floor. With you back and legs flat, fully reach your arms along the sides of your body, while keeping finger close together and palms facing the floor. Place your fingers underneath your sacrum if you experience lower back issues.

As you lift you head off the floor, inhale deeply, tucking your chin into your chest. Simultaneously lift your legs into a vertical position, keeping knees straight. If you are comfortable doing so, extend your legs over your body toward your head. Hold this position for a few moments. Upon exhaling, slowly lower your legs and head to the floor, keeping your knees straight.

Breathing:

Inhale while you lift your legs and head, exhale while you release your head and legs back to the floor. Allow all of the muscles to relax completely on the exhale and lowering of the body.

Rite 3

Kneel on a rug or mat with your toes curled under. Place your hands on the backs of your thigh muscles. As you tuck your chin in toward your chest, lean forward as far as is possible. Return to original straight position. Next, slide your hands down the backs of your thighs as you draw your shoulders back and your head up towards the sky. Arch and open your upper back. Lower back should remain straight. Slowly return to an upright position and repeat.

Breathing:

Inhale as you arch your spine in either direction. Exhale as you return to an erect position.

Rite 4

Sit down with your legs straight out in front of you and your feet about hip distance apart. Arms and hands will be straight along your side, palms flat on the floor alongside your hips. As you gently drop your head back, raise your torso so that your knees bend while your arms remain straight. You are basically in a table-top position. Slowly return to your original sitting position. Rest for a few seconds before repeating this rite.

Breathing:

Inhale as you rise up into the pose. Hold your breath as you tense your muscles. Exhale fully as you come down to sitting position.

Rite 5

Lie down on your belly. Face your palms down and in line with the bottom of your shoulder blades. Lift you chest up by curling your toes under and drawing your shoulders back. Your arms should be straight. Look straight ahead of you. If you are more flexible then you can draw your head back with your gaze above you. Then draw your hips up and back, extending your spine, into downward-facing dog pose. Repeat by moving back and forth between downward- and upward-facing dog.

Then draw your hips up and back, extending your spine, into downward-facing dog pose. Then repeat.

Breathing:

Inhale as your lift your chest up. Exhale as you push back into downward-facing dog.

`positive thinking and relaxation with Relax Holistic

Holistic Care and Overall Well-Being

If you enjoy these series of exercises, you can gradually increase the num
ber of repetitions you do of each. Start off with 5 to 7 repetitions, and in no time, you’ll be able to do 21 repetitions of these poses in one session.

Relax Holistic can provide other great holistic health suggestions and practices to improving your life on a daily basis. Visit us today, we have 3 convenient locations in the Los Angeles area!