Meditation has been proven beneficial to alleviate stress, anxiety and intrusive thoughts and and greatly increases self knowledge. Studies have concluded that mindfulness meditation reduces high blood pressure, fatigue, chronic pain, sleeplessness as well as stress and anxiety. I sporadically offer meditation workshops in my Hoboken office, check back for updates.
What is meditation?
Meditation is not about “not thinking”. It’s about increased awareness and a better understanding of the self which enables us to gain more insight into our relationships. Through meditation we gradually become more aware of our needs and behaviors. Meditation reinforces the effort of getting out of one´s own head and instead paying attention to the world around us: we learn how to live in the moment and be less distracted by our thoughts, feelings and worries.
Meditation exercises:
Body scan/guided meditation for anxiety, depression and sleeplessness (10:51)
Counting breaths: A relaxation exercise (10:02)
Settle into a comfortable sitting position and close your eyes. After you hear the bell strike twice, start counting your breaths. Count each exhale. When thoughts arise, don´t judge yourself, just notice them and let them go. If you lose track of counting, start over. At the strike of the bell, open your eyes.
Walking meditation to enhance awareness
Walking meditation can be done every day, in every day life, while we walk around the house, in town or while taking a stroll. When sitting still, we turn our attention inwards. When we walk, we turn it outwards: listen to the sounds around you, notice other people, pay attention to what is going on in your environment. If you can, walk very slowly. It helps to get out of your head.
Humming meditation to soothe the mind (1:56)
Take deep breaths in and hum to yourself while you exhale. Humming meditation is a highly effective tool to get in touch with your body by listening to your own voice and noticing the vibrations of your body. It grounds you in the moment and drains away the nervous energy of the thinking mind.
Labeling thoughts: Creating insight and awareness into your own mind (11:30)
After settling into your meditation position, start paying attention to your thoughts and label them. You will hear the bell chime every two minutes in order to bring the mind back to the present moment when it starts to drift.
Labeling thoughts creates valuable insight into your own mind and creates knowledge of how you organize your life. The most common labels are:
1. Wanting: Thoughts about food, shopping, sex, entertainment, wanting/needing more of...
Explore: what is your relationship to sense pleasure in life? How much are you oriented towards sense experience? How much of your day is spent in pursuit/thinking about sense pleasure? Or is there an avoidance/fear of sense pleasures? What daily activities do you do that are influenced by the desire for sense pleasure?
2. Anger/aversion
Thoughts about previous or anticipated arguments, irritation, festering
Review your personal history with anger. What behaviors about anger did you learn from your family/friends/culture? What is it that makes you angry? As you grow older, do you find yourself more or less angry? What are the reasons fort his?
3. Planning
Thoughts about the to-do-list/plans fort he next hours/day/week? What does planning do for you? How much of your thought is invested in planning? What kind of things do you need to have control over/be prepared for?
4. Anxiety/restlessness
What are you worrying about? What effect does the anxiety have on your life? What triggers your anxiety/worry? How to do react to it? How does is affect yourself and others? What underlying beliefs do you have?
5. Doubt
What are the situations and beliefs that most often trigger doubt? How do you respond to frustrations and challenges in meditation or in life? What are underlying beliefs that trigger doubt?
6. Sleepiness/dullness
What energy type are you? When do you feel energetic/tired? What activities drain? What role does energy play in your life? What kind of exercise/movement do you practice in your life? Does the sleepiness prevent you from engaging?
