Relax, Meditate, Slow Down

Relax. Meditate. Slow Down.

Along with making definitive room for your workout in your busy schedule, you do need to get a little relaxation. Sounds counter-intuitive, but, so are lots of things! The world is yin and yang, black and white, good and evil. Life needs balance, you need balance. Without balance you are stressing too hard on one side vs. the other.

In short: To keep your mind, body and spirit healthy, you need to carve out some quiet time.



Do it by finding 30 minutes a day to sit quietly. (This will be the hardest part, finding the time!)

If you’re familiar with meditation, all the better. If not, just sit still. Sit in a quiet room: No TV, no radio, no iPod, no screens. Just sit quietly. Try to clear your mind. Try to think of nothing. Yes it’s hard to do, but with some practice you can calm the mind. If your mind is totally corkscrewed into a motor-head realm, start with 5 minutes. Work your way up to 30. Set an alarm, so you don’t have to worry about how many minutes have passed.

Why stillness and meditation matters: It helps aid in stress relief, sicknesses, and above all, peace of mind.

Here are some techniques that can help:

Count Your Breaths.
That’sright, just count. Count every inhale, count every exhale. It’s a way to clear the mind that you can do even when you’re walking.

Follow Your Breaths. This means focusing more intently on your breaths. If you’ve taken yoga, you’ve heard the line “go to your breath.” This is a variation. Relax, breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth; in through your mouth, out through your nose, doesn’t matter. Just focus on filling your lungs with air.

Visualize. Go to your happy place, in other words: Think about the cool breeze of the beach, the sunset, a very delicious mango shake or whatever you feel like thinking about, as long as it is positive. Not only will you start to relax. You really will reduce tension and stress.

Want more?Here’s a useful web site for further meditation techniques:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-491/Meditation-Techniques-for-Beginners-Demonstrated-by-Deepak-Chopra-Video.html