Studies show that meditating for twenty minutes a day can reduce high blood pressure. This is a fact that has now been recognized by the medical profession everywhere and continues to be studied as an alternative to medications. Along with a healthy diet and exercise, daily meditation gives that extra boost needed to reduce high blood pressure. Stress is a major contributing factor of high blood pressure and many forms of heart disease. Doctors are finding agree that meditation can reduce the negative effects of stress, lower stress hormones, and help you cope with future stress better. When your stress is under control, your blood pressure drops and stress hormone levels return to normal. You sleep better, create healthy eating patterns which increases general health. Breathing techniques that calm the mind and alleviate stress require focusing the mind on the breath. When you do this, you train your mind to step back and let go of the stressful thoughts yet after meditation you will have the clarity to deal with negative situations or make important decisions. In this moment of concentration, you can see your problems and daily stresses as they are: empty, transient, and impermanent. Every time you sit down in meditation, releasing your layers of stress, you are improving your blood pressure and creating more peace of mind. There is no faster, more effective way to calm yourself and get your life and your health back under your control than regular meditation. Please call me to discus a session to learn this important life skill. Tricia Monk 087 099 0970
1 Comment
From the start of the new year through to spring the media is full of articles about detox. Dry January is the by word for many to abstain from alcohol in and effort to cleanse the liver. There are diets to cleanse our digestive system. And spring has always been the season to de-clutter our homes and brighten our surroundings, a new beginning and new starts. So what if we could detox our mind, clean away our negative thoughts. What if in just a few minutes a day we could let go of fear and anxiety that prevents us from doing what we really want to do or being the calm, positive person that we would prefer to be. If we really want something we can always find a way to do it or get it. If you really want to be the person who doesn't lose sleep tossing and turning with anxiety . If you want to be the person who isn't afraid any more. If you want to curb anxiety, panic attacks, stress and stress related illness you can find just 20 minutes a day for the good of your mental and physical health. If you can't sleep those 20 minutes will be immediately recovered during a sound nights sleep. The minutes you spend stressing instead of doing will be won back, with the added benefit of peace, isn't that what we all crave? Time to spend how we choose instead of time spent paralyzed with panic or anxiety or deep in depression or wasted because we can't grasp information because we can't concentrate on information or study. In less time it takes to watch a TV program we instantly forget we could do something that enables and empowers ourselves. And the amazing thing is, we all have the tools to do this for ourselves. All we have to do is shut the door or find a quiet space outside. All we have to do is breathe, that is our emotional detox. Breath deeply in a way that cleanses our mind. Our breath is powerful. Remember when you were young and a grown up would say OK just take a deep breath and do it. It could have been something a little scary, something that made us nervous like jumping in a swimming pool for the first time or going on stage for our first school play. But remember how you felt when you jumped in the water and it was fun, how the applause made you feel after you uttered your first lines in the play. You'd done it and it didn't hurt and you could wait to do it again it felt wonderful and you were elated! But things change over the years, sometimes we don't have that caring face beside us to remind us when we're nervous that we really are capable. All we remember are the sniggers or the negative comments, the times when we got it wrong. When all we remember is the negative then the positive stops flowing. What we often forget is that everyone has to face fears, feels anger well up inside. Everyone has moments of anxiety, the difference is how some people cope in those situations. When you know you have a safe coping mechanism you then will have the confidence to face life with strength, calmness and clarity. Please visit my website www.purebreathworks.com for more information on how breath work could change your life or email [email protected] 0870990970 Om Shanti Tricia What is the best diet for weight loss? No it's not that miracle in a sachet. It's your State of mind. When our mind and body are in alignment health and vitality shine through. The better we feel within the better we feel on the outside, caring for ourselves is an outward sign of respect and we pass that down through to our families. Is love really about piling our plates with fat and sugar and heavy carbohydrates? What we're looking for when we eat is that feeling of fullness, contentment, satisfaction. Mindfulness is the new word bandied about but I prefer to use the word awareness. When we indulge in meditation it gives a chance to really step back and examine the reasons why......And to also realize there are other methods to achieve that sense of contentment. As adults we are all responsible for what we choose to put in our mouths...we are also responsible for the eating habits of our young children and raising them with awareness of the laws of cause and effect Be clear headed instead of impulsive. If we're honest with ourselves that extra bit of weight did not just magically appear overnight. Indeed, it took a series of less than optimal food choices over a certain amount of time. It's easy to say, “I'm on a diet.” But it's our actions when faced with choices that regulate our thought patterns. When we actually realize that the new diet fad doesn't work miracles, its the long term changes to the way we eat and the amount we actually should be eating, combined with physical movement that empowers us to take charge of the shape of our bodies. We forget the regret or guilt that comes right after eating the unhealthy food. Meditation enables you to control your inner thought patterns. This is crucial in the heat of the moment, thinking of the long term, leading you to make much better food choices then comes easily and naturally Meditation satisfies the same neurochemical “fix” within the brain that we get when we eat addictive food. Did you know that food can very much be an addictive “drug” which elicits drug-like chemical reactions within the body? Its true, eating that bag of Doritos not only tastes great but also releases many “feel good” chemicals, like dopamine and endorphins, which doubles food’s addictiveness potential. Meditation just so happens to do the very same thing within the brain, but healthily and naturally, in the same way that a jogger gets a “runners high”. What does this mean for people wishing to lose weight? Fewer unhealthy food cravings, less impulse to raid the fridge at midnight, and ultimately a better, healthier body and mind. Anxiety and depression lead us to overeat (emotional-eating). Meditation fixes all of the above. In a world full of difficult times, it becomes very easy to develop a seemingly permanent dysfunctional emotional issue, such as anxiety, depression, or addiction (food addiction). We all suffer from these issues, some more than others — emotional-eating is not often discussed. In fact, many studies strongly link stress levels within a society to obesity rate. Fortunately, meditation transforms how your body and mind react to stress. By raising the ceiling at which you mentally and physiologically perceive an event to be stressful, meditation effectively treats anxiety, depression, and addiction (yes, food addiction) from manifesting within your psyche. Meditation lights up the “willpower” brain region. Those who meditate have been proven to posses a higher level of willpower. Neuroscientific studies have shown very high activity in the “dorsolateral prefrontal cortex”. Its no coincidence that this brain region is also highly active in meditators. Meditators naturally have a highly-disciplined, good food-choice making brain, with the body to match. Your body won't change unless you do. so take the first positive step. If you suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive -Disorder a condition where negative or intrusive thoughts invade your mind followed by uncontrollable, often irrational behavior patterns which become a habit in order calm your anxiety then there is another or complimentary method of treatment. Typically OCD is treated with medication, while it might be a short term solution, prescription medicine doesn't deal with the root of the problem. Meditation is a healthier and natural alternative treatment. It has been used for centuries to quiet, heal and train the mind. There are no side effects. Meditation can be effective as it alleviates negative thoughts such as stress, guilt and anxiety. By gaining control of your mind via meditation impulses and compulsions can no longer control us. A clear focused mind can change your life and empower you. Meditation eliminates the mental noise or mind chatter and is the most effective way of achieving a quiet mind which quickly disciplines the sufferer to avoid falling back into their compulsive rituals. You know when you need help. It's when your compulsive actions affect the enjoyment of your life and those close you. So please contact me if you or a loved one is suffering, there is another way. |
AuthorTricia Monk Archives
August 2023
Categories
All
|