I’ve started to study mindfulness; I currently add meditation as part of all treatments offered at Your Wellbeing. Those of you who have been following my BLOGs will know how much faith I have in meditation as a support for any problem, whether emotional or physical. Mindfulness is another important tool and will help with everyday life in general. I am currently trying out a few of the techniques I’m learning and I thought I would share with you all. We do so many things on automatic pilot; sometimes we don’t notice the negativity (emotional and physical) and negative thinking goes unnoticed.
Have a go at some or all of the suggestions below and let me know how you get on.
When you are about to eat, notice your food, look at it, see the shape and the colour (and if it’s something you can hold feel the texture). Notice the smell. Just take a minute to really look, touch, feel, smell before eating. When you are ready to eat then chew the food a few times before swallowing. Notice the taste, notice how it feels.
Be mindful of your breathing. Being aware of your breathing will help you ‘still’ your mind. We all have many thoughts flying around our mind at a given time and sometimes we don’t know what to do with them. Allow your thoughts to just flow without judgement; concentrate only on your breathing. If your mind wanders, bring it back gently to focus on your breathing. Be aware of how this makes you feel.
Become aware of your body and what your body is telling you. Sit quietly or lie down and start to scan your body from the top of your head to your toes. Take time to do this. Feel every part of your body. Notice any sensations. When I do this with any clients I tell them to flush white calming, healing light through their entire body once they finish the meditation. Once you’ve done this, sit still for a while and think about what you noticed.
I talked last week about Emotional Freedom Technique and how emotional and physical disquiet can be the cause of blocked energy. Tapping or meditating will help release these blockages and allow your body energy to flow freely.
Walk in nature. I love walking with my husband and our dogs. Recently I’ve started to STOP and look at the things around me, the beauty. I have a ‘thing’ for trees…. Aren’t they amazing? I love to really look at their shape, colour, and height, anything I notice really. I will always pick a tree when out walking and just touch it, give it a little love, tell it how beautiful it is. Thankfully, no-one has yet called the police on me! I also either stand for a moment, or sit and just listen. I feel so energised and positive after our walk.
Do something you really love, be with it though. Make sure you are not doing that something automatically. Think about how it makes you feel to do this.
We have a short course of beginners guided meditations (all are FREE). They concentrate on breathing, body scan and body energise. Meditation is an art and it does take practice so please don’t give up after the first few tries and show yourself patience. Here is the link if you would like to try them out:
http://www.yourwellbeinguk.com/#!meditation/cjw7
We also hold free meditation sessions on the first Saturday of every month in Cheadle Hulme (UK). If you would like to join please email me at jo@yourwellbeinguk.com
Until next time, with Love xxxx