Totally Meditation

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Relieving muscle tension and anxiety video

This simple technique once learned can be used to reduce stress and muscle tension.  I sometimes use this as a natural sleep aid.

As you follow this meditation it helps help you to relax muscles and  aids in relieving muscle tension.

When you release physical tension it allows the mind to become calmer as anxiety fades away. This is because the unconscious mind interprets tense muscles as being on guard against perceived threats so when physical tension fades anxiety is also likely to fade.

That fight or flight response was great in caveman days when you needed to avoid man-eating dinos, not so great now when the “threats” are likely to be deadlines and too much to do in too little time!

There is a huge amount of research showing the nasty effects of chronic stress, and here are just a few of them.

  • high blood pressure
  • heart problems associated with high blood pressure
  • increased perception of pain – and let’s face it if you think you are in great pain you are!
  • headaches
  • relationship difficulties

Please watch this video and leave a comment in the box below!

To your health 🙂

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Download this Relaxation Meditation – mp3 to Reduce Stress

Hello!

man listening to meditationI would like to introduce my first relaxation mp3 to you.

The purpose of this free mp3 is to help you learn a simple and effective method for reducing physical tension, and at the same time reduce stress. I sometimes use a version of this progressive muscle relaxation technique to help me sleep when I have insomnia.

I hope you find this technique as useful as I do!

Disclaimer – this is my first audio recording so I am giving it away free until I get the process perfected, then I will likely record a longer version, put it up for sale and remove this free version from the site, so if you like it please download it now 🙂

To download it to your own computer right click on the link below and choose where on your computer you would like to save it.

I would love to get your feedback about this mp3! Could you please leave me a comment below to let me know what you think of it? (the comment shows up after it is approved, I do that to reduce spam)

totallymeditation_relaxation_meditation_1

To your health!

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Back To School Shopping With Less Stress

In the rush to get your kids (or yourself for that matter) back to school, taking time to meditate often gets overlooked. Here are some quick and easy ways to keep your cool – Back to School Shopping with less stress!

  • If you get claustrophobic in a crush of people, practice deep breathing meditation. The next time you feel your frustration level rising, pause where you are, take a good deep breath filling your lungs completely and as you breath in think the word “calm”.

Taking a deep breath when you feel frustration rising lessens the feeling of claustrophobia by getting more oxygen into your system and surprisingly, just thinking  the word “calm” can help you feel less stressed. Our bodies react to our thoughts, so thinking the word calm (or whatever word or phrase works best for you) can trick your body into NOT releasing more stress hormone into your system!

  • In line ups a great way to keep your cool is to take a moment to change your focus from “How much longer do I have to wait in this @!%$&^ line up?!” to something like –
    • Thank goodness I am just about finished!
    • Oh good, I have time to look at magazines without having to buy them 🙂

By changing how you think about a situation you have more control over how you feel about it.

  • For the poor person left waiting for their shopping partner to be finished, instead of stewing about how she/he said it would only take 5 minutes and that was 10 minutes ago you could –
    • Take a minute to practice deep breathing
    • Take this opportunity to people watch, (discretely mind you!)
    • Find a quiet spot to read a paper or catch up on your email or texting

If you KNOW you will have more than 5 minutes to kill because the person you are waiting for always underestimates how long she/he will take, why not do something you enjoy with that extra time? Pretend it is bonus free time. One of my (ex) friends ALWAYS took 15 minutes if she said she was leaving for 5 minutes. Sometimes I watched people, sometimes, I walked around the mall a couple of times if I got restless. Other times I found a place to sit down and just day dream. Now I would do a couple of mindfulness techniques to keep me pleasantly occupied.

There are of course a lot of non-meditation stress reducing tricks you can use when shopping. You veteran shoppers will probably be familiar with these

BE ORGANIZED!

  • Write down which stores you are  going to go to and in what order.
    • Communicate your plans to anyone you will be shopping with BEFORE you go so you can adjust your plans to take their requirements into consideration
  • Write down exactly what are you buying in each store (or looking at, in the case of comparison shopping) so you don’t end up forgetting things and having to revisit those over-crowded stores!
  • For expensive items decide ahead of time what is the most you will pay for it. This keeps in store decisions calmer because you know ahead of time what you will and will not pay.
  • Schedule a rest break part way through your shopping trip, especially if you are doing a lot of price comparison shopping, so you can go review your notes while you give your feet a short break.
  • Keep a pen and paper with you when you shop so you can write down things you will buy “if you can’t find anything better”
    • Write down the store, the item and the price.
  • Give yourself more time than you actually think you need in case there are unexpectedly long line ups or trouble finding parking etc. The shopping is so much more enjoyable if you are not rushing through crowded stores seconds before closing trying to make rational decisions!

I hope these techniques help make your back to school shopping a more peaceful experience 🙂

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Labyrinth Meditation

The difference between a maze and a labyrinth is that a maze has several paths and directions like a big puzzle, and a labyrinth is a single path that leads to the center. Large labyrinths can be very complex but if you look at them from the top down you will see there is a single path that eventually reaches the middle (as you see in the photos)

If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has a labyrinth close by, try a walking a labyrinth meditation. (The Labyrinth Society www.labyrinthsociety.org has a link to a labyrinth locator at http://labyrinthlocator.com)

This kind of meditation is great for people who find sitting meditations difficult because they fall asleep or get too restless.

Both of these meditations use one of the senses as a point of focus. Choose the one that best suits you. Or, experiment with using your sense of smell or touch as your focus.

Meditation using your sense of hearing
Walk at a relaxed pace.

As you walk, pay attention to everything you hear, without judgment. Imagine that the sound of birds twittering is no better than a lawn mower, just different. It is only a matter of perception that makes one sound seem better than another. Remind yourself to just listen and NOT judge what you hear.

As you walk, breath deeply and allow your shoulders to relax downward. If you sense any muscle tension take a few deep breaths as you walk. Focus on sensing that the air you breath is helping your muscles to relax.

If the sounds seem to be too distracting try switching your focus to one of the other senses for a few steps and notice how the sound seems to diminish as you change your focus. Either stay with your new focus as you complete your walking meditation or switch back to your sense of hearing.

Meditation using your sense of sight
As you walk at a comfortable pace, place your attention on what you see.

Really notice the colour, shape and texture of objects. Notice also your reaction to what you see. Do you have a physical reaction to what you see? For example a beautiful flower may elicit a deep inhale of satisfaction or the sight of a slug may give you a little shiver.

Rather than passing judgement on what you see, try to be impartial. Remind yourself you are just seeing, not judging. When thoughts and words come into your mind release them, bringing your focus back to just seeing the world around you.

According to Wikipedia.org – the cultural meaning of labyrinths

Prehistoric labyrinths are believed to have served as traps for malevolent spirits or as defined paths for ritual dances. In medieval times, the labyrinth symbolized a hard path to God with a clearly defined center (God) and one entrance (birth).

Labyrinths can be thought of as symbolic forms of pilgrimage; people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment. Many people could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel. Later, the religious significance of labyrinths faded, and they served primarily for entertainment, though recently their spiritual aspect has seen a resurgence.

Many newly made labyrinths exist today, in churches and parks. Labyrinths are used by modern mystics to help achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind. The Labyrinth Society[34] provides a locator for modern labyrinths all over the world.

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Visualization as meditation

Once again I find a new category is in order, “Visualization” There are many types of visualization exercises, so my first post is an overview.

Visualization meditations may be one of the more approachable types of meditation for people who (like me) find it easy to imagine, to visualize.

There are thousands of products available online. You could search for a specific type of visualization you feel would be beneficial for you. (Perhaps “visualizing good health” or “meditation for good health”, likewise you could concentrate on wealth, happiness, relaxation etc. You get the idea 🙂 )

Once you have found a couple of web site that look promising, see if they have “samples”  you can download or listen to. Some will give you a part of a meditation, some will even let you listen to a whole one – bonus!

This is really important because you want to find something that feel right to YOU. Some people love background music, some people find it distracting. Likewise, some people have voices that guide you into the meditation easily, others not so much!

Where I live there are several new-age, religious or metaphysical type bookstores. These can be a great resource, (especially the few that will let you listen to a CD before you buy) because you can talk to the staff and find out what is popular and why.

In upcoming posts I will give some simple written examples you can try.

This site will eventually have resources I’ve found useful, and I will record a few short visualizations for you. I am looking forward to doing that!