Meditation Made Easy: 5 Fun Ideas

While meditation has a strong reputation as a stress buster, not many of us can manage to sit there and do nothing—even for a few minutes.  Recently,  government officers in Central India were ordered to practice daily meditation for 20 minutes during work hours. The move was meant to help them de-stress, but many complained that the forced silence was actually more upsetting than healing.

If only the administration had thought of these fun, easy ideas that can help you revive your happy self without the slightest stress:

Smile meditation: Sit in a comfortable corner or lie in bed. Close your eyes, and smile. Conjure up positive, happy images in your mind, as if turning the pages of a family album. If you’re lying in bed at night, imagine that you have an open sky overhead, filled with brilliant stars. If you meditate before getting out of bed, stay there awhile, eyes closed, and imagine that the sun is pouring gentle gold on your entire being. Keep your eyes relaxed and your jaw muscles loose. Don’t worry about how long your meditation should be. Just think of happy things, and smile.

Candle meditation: why is ‘candle meditation’ done anyway? Simple: it helps you focus your restless mind on a moment. And the flame of the candle is a vital element of nature: composed of fire and light. Place a lit candle on a low table, and sit cross legged before it. Gaze at the candle for as long as you can, without blinking; try for 30 seconds or one full minute—it does not matter. Eyes watering a little? No worries. When your eyes feel tired, close them and imagine the flame in your mind’s eye.

Read the rest here...

Take "Ten Zen Seconds" to Reduce Stress and Be More Creative

Life can get very challenging sometimes. Even activities that are supposed to be fun - for example, creative things like writing or painting - can be stressful if you get bogged down in the details. But now there's a technique that can help you relax and focus on what you have to do with confidence. It's called "Ten Zen Seconds."

This technique was designed to help people relieve stress, get centered, and take control of their lives. It was developed by Dr. Eric Maisel, who is a licensed family therapist and specialist in the field of creativity. Dr. Maisel has found a way to combine the techniques of Western cognitive psychology - thinking - with those of Eastern mindfulness - breathing.

The Ten Zen Seconds technique is called "incanting." It combines breathing with specific thoughts like "I am taking action," "I am free of the past," "I am equal to this challenge," and "I trust my resources." If you're familiar with affirmations, these will seem similar. They're shorter and simpler, though, and they're always synchronized with breathing - a five-second inhalation and five-second exhalation. The first part of the thought is "said" in the first five seconds and the last part in the second five seconds - for a total of 10 seconds.

This technique is based on theory, but it isn't just theory. It was tested by real people who helped refine the process down to 12 basic sentences. That made it even simpler. But the testers also came up with some very creative ways to use their Ten Zen Seconds - for example, at the beginning and end of a specific task like washing dishes or writing an article.

The Ten Zen Seconds technique has some advantages over other forms of self-help. For one thing, it's fast - 10 seconds is not a lot of time - so it can be used even by people who are in a hurry. 

Continue Reading..

Zen Meditation in 10 Easy Steps

The Zen meditation approach is a great introductory experience to meditation. With this brief overview along with the simple 10 step process, you’ll be on your way to cultivating resilience, clarity and relaxation.

Enkyo Roshi from The Village Zendo in Manhattan is a Zen Master in the Soto and Rinzai traditions. Over three days in a Zen retreat, which is also known as “Sesshin,” we trained together in sitting awareness techniques of meditation, theory and walking meditation.

Studies recently released show that Zen Meditation thickens the grey matter in your brain. Your brain grows in size after just 11 hours of cumulative practice. After just eight hours of practice (spread over a few months), you achieve the psychological benefits of a more positive outlook on life. This minimizes your self-defeating inner monologue or “rumination” as it is called. Recent studies also show that Zen Meditation treats chronic pain as effectively as medication.

Good posture and consistency are the most important elements of successful personal practice. Also, it is important to dedicate and “build in” a time and space where you can practice every day. Early morning practice is best as it brings a rested mind and a quiet household, both of which are very much needed for a resonant session.

Creating the time for quiet contemplation also opens up the opportunity to set an intention and visualize your perfect day before you start. This enhances your ability to achieve the kind of day you want.

As Harvard University’s Daniel Goleman describes, meditation heightens your self-awareness and you carry this state with you throughout your day with regular practice. You heighten your senses, memory, connection to yourself, the activity you are doing and the relationship to those around you.

Here’s how you can approach seated Zen Meditation, usingEnkyo Roshi’s instructions:

5 Ways To Increase Your Happiness

I’m not sure why, but most people are reluctant to admit they would like to increase their overall happiness. Maybe it’s because in doing so, one also has to confront the fact that they aren’t as happy as they would like to be – a vulnerable admission. It could also be that they don’t know how. An unfortunate truth, today’s society is less than equipped at helping people to cultivate this much sought after human emotion. Let’s face it, who wants to sit in meditation for 30 minutes a day when you can just as easily go out and buy a new wardrobe and get a haircut to feel better about yourself…at least in the short term.

Erica Sofrina recently published this Care 2 post on happiness, highlighting just how “in control” we are when it comes to increasing our own. Most powerful about Sofrina’s article is that her happiness-building suggestions are focused on harnessing that internal relationship with self, rather than acquiring the latest trend in sunglass fashion. Her 5 tips on cultivating happiness are below:

Five things you can do that will increase your Happiness:

1- Keep a gratitude journal – Each night, write down three things you’re grateful for from that day. They can be simple gifts and appreciations of the day or big meaningful events that occurred. As you go to sleep, go over the three gratitudes in your mind, taking in the good feelings associated with those you expressed.

2 - Do something that stirs your creative juices, without letting the inner critic stop you from enjoying the process. Read or write a poem. Sing, draw or paint. Dance to your favorite music or new music. Try something you haven’t done before. Be wild and spontaneous!

3 – Write down 10 things that bring you joy. Commit to experiencing more of them every week. Make a “joy” date with yourself or someone else, doing one or more of the things on your list. Do this without judging yourself.

4 - Spend time in nature every week. Be present with the beauty of what you see, hear, smell and sense. Breathe it in. Later bring in the memory and experience of this place. Savor it. Use it as a resource for renewal anytime you need it. 

5 – Practice Self-Compassion

 

How meditation can change your life

Here is why meditating may just change your life around completely

In the fast-paced lives that we lead, stress and fatigue are the most common problems that scores of people suffer from. Meditating for a few minutes daily is known to work wonders in bringing a calming and balancing effect in your life.

 -Meditation will help you change your attitude towards life, and provide peace of mind and happiness. It helps you achieve a better understanding of yourself as well as others.

-It is known to increase energy, strength and lower oxygen consumption. Since you're in a calm state of mind, it increases blood flow and slows your heart rate.

-If you suffer from high blood pressure, give meditating a shot — it reduces anxiety and panic attacks and also enhances immune system.

-For people suffering from depression, insomnia or even obesity, it increases serotonin production, which is known to regulate your mood.

-Have a hard time with PMS every month? Start meditating for a few minutes daily and see the difference during those painful days of the month.

-Meditation will develop your intuition, make you more alert, increase will power and make you less aggressive.

-Since it helps you clear your head, meditation improves your concentration levels, memory, creativity and also makes you feel rejuvenated.

-Do you suffer from insomnia? Meditation will be the perfect solution for you. A few minutes of meditating daily will reduce your dependency on pills to fall asleep and you will also require lesser sleep to recover from sleep deprivation.

-Meditation calms down the nervous system and gives you relief from those awful migraine and headaches.

-Not only will it boost your self-confidence, it will also make you a more stable person, which in turn will manifest in improved relationships.

-Meditation gives you a greater tolerance when it comes to reacting in situations, increases your sense of responsibility and helps you in attaining better judgments.

Read more:
 

Golf Flexibility

A Step-By-Step Guide

In this golf flexibility guide we’ll look at a step-by-step approach for creating a performance-boosting golf stretching program…

We’ll outline important topics like:

    Why flexibility makes you a better golfer.

    How often you need to stretch.

    What stretches you should select for your routine.

    How long your should hold each stretch.

    How quickly you can expect to see results.
 
We’ll put it all together with a sample golf flexibility routine that you can begin using today.

An important point about these guidelines…

I’m a great believer in exercise routines that give you the most rewards for the minimum amount of your time and effort. Like most amateur golfers, you probably don’t have the luxury of spending 2 hours a day working on your fitness. The guidelines below (and sample golf stretching routine) are based on that philosophy.

Does Improved Flexibility Really Make You A Better Golfer?

It seems like common sense that the more supple you are, the better you’ll be at swinging a golf club. And it appears that sports science would agree…

Golfers with a good level of flexibility tend to hit longer drives and shoot lower scores [1] and a program of golf flexibility and strength exercises can improve swing mechanics, increase swing speeds and even help with shot accuracy [2-4].

If you currently have poor mobility in a number of key areas (we’ll come on those in a moment), a golf flexibility program will benefit you in a number of ways:

    It will improve the efficiency and mechanics of your golf swing because you’ll have greater range of movement to put yourself in key positions.

    It will increase your swing speed (and therefore your carry distance with each club in the bag) because you’ll be able to make a fuller backswing. You may also be able to make a more rapid, more powerful downswing with improved flexibility.

    It will help to redress any imbalances in your body – that are the result of golf or day-to-day life – reducing your chances of chronic injuries [5,6].

    It will leave you feeling healthier and younger – one of the characteristics of youth is unrestricted movement.

Whatever your age, a golf flexibility program is well worth the relatively small amount of time and effort it requires.

Golf Flexibility Training Helps To Prevent Golf-Related Injuries

There’s a simple logic behind this..The more flexible you are, the less prone you may be to injuries such as strains and muscle tears [5,6].

The golf swing, is quite an explosive movement that can stretch muscles and joints beyond their normal range of movement – so the greater your flexibility, the further your body can stretch before it gets injured.

Over time, golf can have quite an unbalancing effect on the body…

Certain muscle groups, joints and connective tissues are used more often than others. They become overly strong placing weaker, neglected areas under inordinate strain. Or they become tight – and have a knock-on effect on surrounding muscles and joints.

Golf isn’t the only culprit of course…

Sitting for long hours behind a desk for example, can have the same negative effect on our posture and musculoskeletal system.

Stretching helps to place our body back into alignment. Alongside a good strength training program, it helps to redress imbalances and improve posture. The net result?

A flexibility program can reduce our risk of back problems and chronic, overuse injury [7,8].

Different Types Of Stretching

There are a various types of flexibility and different types of stretching:

DYNAMIC Stretching

This involves using speed of movement and momentum to stretch a muscle group. Unlike static stretching below, a dynamic stretch isn’t held for any length of time. Instead, repeated movements are made that temporarily stretch a muscle group through its full range of motion.

A good example of a dynamic stretch is kicking an imaginary soccer ball with a straight leg. At the end of the movement, you’ll feel a stretch in the hamstrings.

Dynamic stretches are not the best way to increase your range of motion (which is what we want to play better golf). But they are very good for releasing muscle tightness [9] and preparing the body for explosive exercise. For that reason, we use dynamic stretches as part of a golf warm up.

STATIC Stretching

This involves stretching part of the body until a slight tightness is felt in target muscle group and then holding that position for a period of time.

A classic example of a static stretch is sitting with legs outstretched, feet together and bending forward to touch your toes. This statically stretches the hamstring muscles.

Static stretching is a very effective way to increase your overall flexibility long-term [10]. As a golfer, it will help you achieve all of the benefits we discussed above.

Incidentally, static stretching is not suitable immediately prior to a round of golf – even though you’ll see a lot of golfers stretching on the first tee.

There’s quite a lot of evidence to show that static stretching before sport (including golf) has no effect on preventing injury and can actually reduce swing speed [11,12].

PNF Stretching

This is an advanced form of stretching that is very effective at increasing range of motion. However, it’s not necessary or suitable for most club-level golfers.

I’ll be putting together a PNF stretching article and routine for more serious golfers later on.

How Much Time Does A Golf Flexibility Program Require?

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends 3 stretching sessions per week to improve flexibility, with each session requiring no more than 10-15 minutes.According to Tiger’s official website, he spends over 2 hours every day on his fitness and 40 minutes a day stretching. Most of us have neither the time nor the inclination to make that level of commitment. Fortunately, we don’t have to…

While some Fitness Experts insist you have to stretch everyday, research has backed up the ACSM’s guidelines of 3 sessions a week [13,14].

That’s something we can all find the time for. Why not stretch in the evening whilst watching TV – muscles and tendons are often more supple late in the day anyway [15,16], so it may boost your results.

How Long Should A Stretch Be Held For? 

The Advantages of a Meditative Space in the Workplace

If you're a business owner looking for ways to offer nonmonetary benefits to your employees, providing a meditation space may be an appropriate option. A meditation space is a dedicated area, typically an enclosed room, where employees can temporarily escape from work pressures during breaks or before starting their work shift. Although meditative space in the workplace isn't a common employee benefit in Western countries, it may offer a number of advantages.

Reduced Employee Stress

    Meditation may help reduce your employees' stress. Offering a dedicated meditation space may encourage employees to proactively manage stress caused by tight deadlines, interactions with co-workers and customers, and long work hours. This may help employees improve focus and productivity and can aid in minimizing tension in your workplace.

Low-Cost Benefit

    Employers in competitive markets commonly struggle to find benefits to offer employees without dramatically increasing business costs. Traditional benefits, such as matching retirement-plan contributions and health insurance, may attract talented employees but substantially increase expenses. Providing a meditative space serves as an attractive addition to your company's benefits package but costs your company little aside from the initial cost of decorations, meditation mats and pillows.

Decreased Absenteeism

    The potential for decreased stress offered by frequent meditation may help improve the body's ability to resist illness and disease, which may translate to decreased absenteeism in your workplace. It may also reduce missed work days triggered by tension and a negative work environment. A reduction in absenteeism may help your team maintain productivity, meet production deadlines and improve overall morale.

Reduced Turnover