Life can be pretty chaotic sometimes. While a nutrient rich, whole foods diet and exercise regime is a great way to keep yourself healthy and happy, sometimes it's not enough. Stress can play a major role on your overall progress, especially your physical and mental health. Certain hormones that excrete during stress, like Acetylcholine and Cortisol, can hinder your weight loss journey or muscle building progress. This results in poor recovery, slower metabolism, and chronic health concerns over time. You can become frustrated with all the hard work you're doing, which in turn causes more stress and the cycle continues. Trust me, I have been there. From competing in Professional Figure Skating and Fitness Shows, to running my own business and pursuing academics at the same time, being organized and maintaining focus on all these areas in my life can become very stressful. However there is one tool I use to keep myself grounded and stay in the present moment to take care of my mental and physical health daily. That tool is meditation🙏
I think meditation is one of those underrated wellness practices and most of us don't understand it much to begin with. Meditating can be done anywhere, anytime and there is no wrong or right way to do it. Some of the benefits include:
- Relieving anxiety and depression
- Improves self awareness
- Increases grey matter concentration in the brain
- Creates a more Optimistic thought pattern
- Lowers Blood Pressure
- Decreases pain in the body, mostly due to muscle tension
- Ability to handle arguments and stressful situations with ease
- Lengthens attention span
- Boosts all avenues of health and progress (physically, mentally, spiritually)
- Helps combat addictions
- Strengthens cognitive function in the Hippocampus (short and long term memory)
There are so many benefits, the list is infinite! I encourage you to do your own research on meditation and see what works for you. The best part about meditation is that it is free and you can do it everyday. Do not think that you need to sit in a corner and close your eyes to reap the benefits of meditation. There are so many different forms you can do. Here are some of my favourites that I love to do:
- Drawing/Colouring/Art
- Mindful Walks
- Guided Hypnotherapy
- Stretching/Yoga
- Listening to Music
- Baking
- Hiking
- Biking
The main objective I hope for you to take away from these examples is to practice being and staying in the present moment. These are just some other areas of Meditation I love to do. They keep me calm, cool, and collected. They help keep me focused and relaxed. I also practice traditional meditation, but if you feel that one of these alternatives would fit into your lifestyle better, I highly encourage you to try. If you are wanting to attempt a traditional mediation, here are a few simple suggestions:
- Sit or lay down in a comfortable position
- Take 3 to 4 deep inhales through your nose, and exhales through your mouth
- Slowly start your focus at your feet and slowly let go and relax
- Work your way all the way up to your head, continue to just let go and relax
- You can move your focus to your stomach and focus on the movement pattern up and down
- Focusing on each Chakra of the body as you breathe is also very helpful for emotional or trauma build up to be released or discovered
Remember it's okay to drift off, fall asleep, or lose concentration. Do not judge yourself in this process, simply move back into whatever present focus you desire. Thoughts might come up and emotions might arise. Just observe them, allow them to go through without any judgement or attachment. Again, bring your focus back to the present. You will get better and better every day at maintaining your concentration. Your body and mind will thank you❤️
Maintaining your focus in the present will improve all aspects of your life and give you more emotional regulation throughout the day. The goal here is to train your brain to stay in the present moment as much as possible. Like any other routine, it requires consistency to see the benefits and to see the changes in your life start to unravel for the better. Both mentally and physically✨
What form of mediation would you like to try? What meditation are you already practicing? What are some of the improvements you have noticed throughout your journey? I would love to hear from you all💕