Mindfulness, Meditation and Calming the Mind
Have you ever been unable to sleep because you can’t switch off the continuous stream of thoughts that seems to be messing with your head? Do you find it hard to concentrate or focus for the same reason?
Multi-tasking and competition have become such a big part of our society that we now have trouble switching off.
Why is switching off so important for us?
Being busy is good in many ways, but our ‘being busy’ can quickly become unproductive, simply because our mind is ‘all over the place.’
For our minds (and bodies) to perform better, we need quality rest. Mindfulness practice and meditation are a fantastic way to stop the inner chatter, which mostly consists of self-criticism, re-hashing the past or worrying about the future. Inner chatter is stressful and produces stress hormones, which will keep us ‘hyped up’. This hype compromises our immune system, our blood pressure rises and our general well-being becomes undermined.
‘Mindfulness meditation practice is for the mind what fitness training is for the body. We slowly learn how to control that inner chatter so we can experience the real ‘peace of mind. In the same way as we cannot run a 10 kilometer run after a couple of practice sessions, it takes time and practice to better control the mind too.’
The beauty of mindfulness meditation is that you can use it in many ways. Some meditations can lift your mood, some are designed to help with specific healing and others are simply quieting the inner chatter and stop you from worrying or giving yourself a hard time.
Mindfulness Meditation practice will:
- Aid decision making
- Aid better sleep
- Aid focus and concentration
- Aid immune system
- Aid feelings of well-being
- Reduce feelings of stress and anxiety
! Now there is research that proves that meditation can repair the telomeres, the protein caps at the end of our chromosomes, that determines cell growth. Meditation therefore helps to inhibit the production of cancer cells.
Please click on the link below for this research report
http://www.sciencealert.com/world-first-evidence-suggests-that-meditation-alters-cancer-survivors-cells
Also a Harvard University study reveals that an 8-week mindfulness meditation course improves the brain. To read this report please click on the link below:
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/
For more info about classes & courses in Brighton and Malvern please ring me on 0402828389