MEDITATION TIP #1: Sit tall with a straight spine or lie down with eyes closed. The breath is through your nostrils and you want to slow it down since simply slowing down your breath to eight breath cycles is dramatically calming. Inhale… abdomen fills with air (relaxes and expands), then the chest expands followed by the upper ribs and clavicle lifting. The exhale happens in reverse order with the clavicle relaxing, then chest emptying followed by the abdomen pulling in and up forcing out any remaining air (navel point pulls in and up toward the spine).
Practice:
Over time I began to find the balance to compliment my competitive Type A athletic personality. How did I do this and get to this place? The simple answer is through meditation. The great thing about this is you don’t need anything— all you need is you and your breath! I learned it’s important to also be still and quiet so you can listen to what your body, mind and spirit are telling you. Otherwise you just continue repeating the same ingrained habits and patterns over and over again—overriding or ignoring the “true” messages they are delivering. These ingrained habits and patterns are
much like a record that gets stuck in a groove and keeps playing the same thing over and over again. Through meditation (sadhana, daily meditation practice) you can find balance, relaxation and focus on what really is important to help you lead a healthier and happier life. Things that may have bothered you before or caused you a great deal of stress or anxiety no longer bother you to the same degree. Like “water off a ducks back” you can be “in the eye of the hurricane”. I’ve often said you can’t control your external environment, but you can decide what you bring to the situation and how you perceive it. ♦
Find a quiet space in the morning, afternoon or evening to practice your long deep breathing for 3-11 minutes. If your mind wanders try counting backwards from 27 to 1 (Inhale 27, Exhale 27, Inhale 26, Exhale 26 and so on) or mentally say the following mantra Sat Nam (pronounced Sut Nom… Nom sounds like mom). Inhaling Sat, Exhaling Nam. Check in throughout the day to see if your breathing is shallow and in your chest or expansive and in your belly. You can set your watch to go off every hour or two as a reminder to do this.
MEDITATION TIP #2:
SUSAN AGRIOS
Susan Agrios is founder, president and CEO of Training by Agrios, dedicated to helping and motivating others to lead healthier lives, and has 18 years of experience as a personal fitness trainer/strength and conditioning specialist. Susan is an international elite athlete and has also won medals in weightlifting and cycling at the World Master Games. Susan is also an Internationally Certified Level 2 Kundalini Yoga and Meditation teacher with advanced training in Yoga Nidra. www.trainingbyagrios.com WELLNESSALBERTAMAG.COM
LEI SURE
It’s important to remember. The mind follows the breath. The key to controlling the mind is controlling the breath. Yet of all the positive changes a person can make, learning to breath deeply, and completely is probably the most effective for developing higher consciousness, and for increasing health, vitality, and connectedness in one’s life.
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