Let’s get right to it - Meditation isn’t just about sitting with your eyes closed & focusing on keeping your head straight for a few minutes while you breathe slowly & deeply.. I mean it can be, but let’s be honest, not all of us find it fun or easy to just sit quietly and sometimes it just doesn’t do the job. So let me make this as simple as possible:

D o w h a t m a k e s y o u h a p p y .

That means, lay on your bed and listen to your favorite music, go for a run, eat your favorite food, or take a hot bath - The point is to do something that gets you in a zone that feels good and to really absorb the experience. Meditation is in the detail of what you’re doing and how you feel when you’re doing it. I personally find my meditation revolved around music, whether I’m cooking, cleaning, driving, or sun bathing - Listening to music is my meditation. I typically throw on some slow vibey music and breathe to it, feeling my body slowly fill up and then relax with each breath. Or if I’m cooking, I pay attention to the texture, smell, the way it cuts, cooks, tastes etc.

Of course I believe the traditional way of meditating, sitting with your eyes closed and breathing, is a practice everyone should try. So, if that’s something you’d like to know more about I would start with candle light meditation:

Sit on a chair, bed, floor, or cushion and set up a candle approx 2ft away at eye-level. Light the flame, set a timer for however long you’d like to meditate and find a comfortable position, keeping your spine straight by lifting your chest. Stare at the tip of the flame and breathe deeply through your nose. Keep your eyes open, staring at the candle for as long as you can - Then close your eyes for a few breaths picturing the flame. When you start to lose focus or when your mind starts to wander, open your eyes and stare at the flame, repeating until your timer goes off.

The effects meditation has on the brain:

Brain Function: Increases whole brain function by synchronizing the right & left hemispheres of the brain while increasing balance & amplitude in alpha, theta and delta brain-wave patterns
Mood: Increases dopamine & serotonin levels by stimulating regions of the brain which are associated with happiness and positivity
Cognition: Improves cognitive function, mindfulness and the ability to sustain focus by increasing grey matter, brain volume and cerebral blood flow
Stress Reduction: Decreases stress and anxiety by down-regulating cortisol & adrenaline creating a state of deep relaxation in which our breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure and metabolism are decreased
Focus: Improves focus by causing an increase in cortical thickness in regions of the brain responsible for attention
Gyrification: MRI scans have shown that meditation increases Gyrification or cortical folding, which allows the brain to process information faster. The extent of gyrification is highly implicated as being positively related to intelligence

Source: synchronicity.org/meditation

ice cream.png — Meditate

For a healthy brain

COVID-19 is a virus which enters our body and then multiplies in our upper respiratory system before attacking our lower respiratory system. It’s caused stress & anxiety in most of us while we watch the number of cases around the world increase and creep closer to home. Medical Professionals are researching ways to tackle the virus, bringing their focus back to the Breath - Why not take that as a sign for you to maybe focus more on your breath?

Great News: Focusing on your breath, will help decrease stress & anxiety! I’m sure you already knew that, but when was the last time you made time to practice or learn deep breathing?

Here’s a quick breathing sequence you can try while practicing ‘social distancing’ from home:

POSTURE: Sit however you feel comfortable, it can be on a chair, on the ground with your legs crossed or stretched out in front.. or just lay flat on your back. Whatever your decide, make sure your spine is nice and straight.

EYES: It’s best to close your eyes, otherwise draw the shape of a square (at least the size of your hand) on a sheet of paper and focus on this while you breathe.

TIP: Roll a blanket/sweatshirt or use a pillow to tuck underneath your tailbone. This will make it easier to sit up straight.

THE BREATH: Visualize or focus on the shape of a square. Starting from the bottom-left corner, inhale slowly as you travel up along the side of the square. Hold your breath as your travel along the top to the top-right corner. Exhale as you travel down along the other side, hold your breath out as your travel along the bottom to the start.

Continue this breath 5 times. Move slowly, control your breath, inhaling and exhaling through your nose at the count of 1-2-3-4-5.

Screenshot_20200319-111938[8044].png — COVID-19

Breathing Sequence