SOUL
F E ATU R E
Give
Meditation By: BRITANY DYKE
a Go
It seems that most Unitec students do not understand what meditation is, why it is good for them or how to meditate. Yes ok, so meditation alludes to ideas of a far away land where a group of monks sit together in silence; but actually, meditation is now becoming so popular in our western world that guided classes are popping up all over the country. Meditation is now being practiced by people of all ages. and Aproven to be effective for anyone! It is known for helping people to deal with stress, maintaining a calm nature, fighting anxiety and even medical problems. This means that no matter what your background, meditation could be something to consider – it’s all in the mind!
S
o what does meditation actually do? Think of meditation as your brain waves best friend. When meditating, the brain waves' connect to the nervous system and calm it. By meditating often, the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems reverse certain functions, which then activates lower blood pressures, lower heart rates and overall lower stress hormones in the body. To put it simply, compare brain waves to little people knocking on the door of the nervous system every time you meditate. The brain waves continue to knock and remind the nervous system to calm your mind and body. With continuous meditation, brings continuous door knocking, and the nervous system almost gets so ‘worn down’ by the knocking that it gives in to these little brain waves and calms the body more easily every time. People that meditate often find they remain calm between sessions of meditation. This is because the nervous system is trained to stay calm knowing that the brain waves will come knocking if the mind and body were to become stressed or anxious. Learning how to meditate is not a hard process,
it’s a technique of breathing, positioning of the body and learning how to clear your mind. There are hundreds of YouTube videos explaining meditation and a great website: www.how-to-meditate.org that offers meditation for beginners, posture ideas and more. Take 5 minutes out of your day to check out the website and see for yourself if your mind, body, and soul, deserve a little meditation pampering. Give it a go with just a couple of minutes in the morning to get your day started on a balanced and rejuvenated note.
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