Meditation
Alan Hostetter
A Journey to Relaxation and Healing By Shawn Raymundo
W
hile you continue working on the New You, one way you can maintain a healthy, stress-free lifestyle is by meditating more often. xperts find that meditation can be a useful tool in easing anxiety. If meditation is new to you and you need a guide to get you on the right path, iHeartYoga in Dana Point offers classes on Meditation and Sound Therapy, which is an alternative form of meditation. The weekly classes are run by Alan Hostetter, a yoga and meditation teacher. Hostetter describes his hour-long Meditation sessions as a process wherein people don’t just come and sit down. “I take them through a process to get them into a meditation mindset that includes breathing technique (and) using your voice called vocal tuning,” he said. Then Hostetter has members participate in “direct and focused meditation,” during which they try to hold their attention on one thought or focus, such as the tip of their nose and on their breathing. After focusing on the sensation of their breathing, participants will focus their attention on the sounds as Hostetter plays a Tibetan Bowl or a Crystal Singing Bowl for a short period of time. This, he said, allows them to “focus on the vibrations in the room.” From there, Hostetter has the class go into “non-directed focus,” during which participants can let their mind wander and think of things that make them feel joy. “We focus on that for a few minutes and then we come out of it slowly,” he said. Hostetter added that everyone’s experience is unique, and based on “each individual’s journey when they come into the meditative mindset.” Following the Meditation class, Hostetter goes into the Sound Therapy session.
Hostetter begins by having the class do some “relaxing breath work,” as well as some guided meditation that incorporates a technique wherein he “takes students through a journey through their bodies.” During that process, he’ll start adding sounds with the help of devices such as the wind instrument called the didgeridoo. “They can focus on the sound waves of those specific instruments . . . entering the brainwaves, and they begin to listen, and it’s almost hypnotic,” he said. Aside from focusing on sounds during the Sound Therapy class, what sets it apart from the Meditation session is participants get to lie down and are comforted with pillows and blankets. “Oftentimes, they fall asleep,” Hostetter said, and other times, he’ll “hear loud snoring.” “That’s not a bad thing; that’s music to my ears,” he said. Hostetter said people are typically overstressed and, therefore, aren’t getting enough time to just stop, rest and let the body and mind have complete and total relaxation. By allowing the body to relax during the Meditation and Sound Therapy classes, he said, a “natural healing” can occur. Hostetter said meditation can be useful to help lower blood pressure, reduce levels of anxiety, and has even had a positive impact on depression. It can also be beneficial in preventing dementia and memory loss. “If, say, you have a fever or you have the flu, and your body is aching and you’re feverish . . . it’s almost always when you’re asleep where you break that fever,” he said. “When you’re in that deep rest, that’s when all those magical things happen.” Meditation classes are held Mondays from 9-10 a.m. and Fridays from 4:45-5:45 p.m. The Sound Therapy class is held Fridays from 6-7 p.m. Go to iheartyoga.org/schedule to book a class.