Do you need to calm down? Is your anxiety or pain level too high, or your body reacting to stuff all over the place? Then, one of the techniques I recommend, and am using myself for food hyper-sensitivity, is meditation. You can read a much larger blog post about the steps I am taking to calm my hyper-sensitivity down here on TGF (I didn’t want to bore you all with it!), but it suddenly struck me this morning that many of you would benefit from this meditation programme that starts today!
Here’s a bit taken from that post which might suit some of my lovely Purehealth family:
My Fave Meditation Technique
I have read countless books on meditation, breathing, para-sympathetic triggering type techniques, watched many videos and lectures on neuroscience and availed myself of what seems like zillions of downloads. For this calming down stage, I found the one that works best for me me is the simplest and takes 15 minutes. Go figure. And I got it for free, so bonus!
I know it sounds cheesy but I joined the Oprah Winfrey/Deepak Chopra 21 Day Perfect Health Meditation Challenge. I needed help; someone to hold my hand, something that was easy to do, didn’t take too long and would get me into the habit. It takes 21 days, so they say, to develop any new habit, and that’s why it is a 21 day challenge. I did it really early on, then forgot about it as I got more complicated about stuff. In retrospect, I should have stuck with it for longer.
Basically, even though they are really well-known celebs etc, they do know their stuff and Deepak’s credentials are second to none in this field. I have quite a few of his CDs etc now and there’s not one I haven’t liked. It might just be that he has a superb deep, nourishing sort of voice that I respond to. (So does P and that’s why I fell in love with him on the phone, which is a whole other story..). Anyway, the way it works is that they do free programmes and then you can purchase if you want to. I’m not sure if the free version goes after the 21 days as I bought it anyway so I could download and keep it. Either way, there are regular free ones and loads of resources on the main website too.
How It Works
Each day’s meditation starts with a little chat from Oprah and then a positive healing type message from Deepak. This is followed by a ‘centreing thought’ – an affirmation if you will – and then a 10 minute meditation where you breathe and silently say the day’s mantra in your head. The point of the mantra is that if you are focusing on that, you are not focusing on anything else and you can drift into what they call ‘the gap’, the stillness and silence that is so nourishing for our parasympathetic nervous systems. It takes practice, of course, as does anything worthwhile doing.
NB. You may be way beyond me here, of course, but bear in mind the lesson I am giving here is to start right back at the beginning and have the intention of not over-stressing your mind and body. To go right back to basics with meditation. Do you need to do that? I didn’t realise I did for months!
You can read tons on the t’interweb about meditation generally, and about mantra meditation specifically so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel there. I will say one of the best books about meditation types I have read is DavidJi, someone who actually who worked with Deepak for years and he explains the various techniques and gives you little trials to have a go with. The book can get a bit ‘deep and meaningful’ if you know what I mean, but I found the explanations about the various methods of meditation very useful and enjoyable. I’m sure there are other, probably better ones, but I haven’t read them and this one worked for me.
Suffice to say, he now rates mantra meditation, specifically primordial sound meditation (no, never heard of it either!!), as the best, having tried loads over the years. Useful to know. After I read that, I thought: ooh, I know a good mantra one; the 21 day challenge!
I’m sure there are others but that 21 day thing works for me. I repeat it twice a day, either doing the same day twice or moving on and just repeating the whole programme in a shorter time. I’m sure I’ll move onto others in time. One thing I do know is that I like meditating and find it very beneficial. Very calming.
One thing I did like about it specifically was the positivity. Again, cheesy, but I noticed how negative I had become in my own self-talk especially, but also to everyone else. So, I specifically wanted someone to talk to me positively. I also wrote down the centreing thought or something that was said on a piece of paper and stuck it on my notice board, repeating it every time I walked past it. And, I do think it made a difference.
In fact, there is even a part of the site where you can write down your thoughts and answers to some questions after each day’s meditation if you like – confidentially, of course – and I found that helpful. I didn’t do it every day but it has been interesting to go back and look at what I said last time. I find there is a definite shift in my thinking, which is nice to see. Not so negative. Most of the time 😉. Of course, journaling (writing stuff down to you and me), is a known technique for helping heal emotions specifically so that part of the programme is also good to do.
Free 21 Day Programme Coming Up on 3rd November 2014!
I was lucky that the Perfect Health programme came up as I needed it. I am happy to say there is a new 21 day challenge due to start on 3rd November. It’s called Energy of Attraction – Manifesting Your Best Life. You can see more about it here and join in if you like. It’s not a specific health one, although there is a lot of cross-over I find in these kind of things and it may just help you get into the habit of meditation or simply try it, as I did. Worth a look.
I have embraced meditation this year. I do something called the Faster, Deeper Bliss method and it takes 20 minutes. The aim is to do it twice a day. I don’t always manage that, but I feel way better in all ways if I do.
I used to think meditation was for hippies. I’ve changed my mind. It works. It’s good. I look forward to it and feel better after it. I’d recommend anyone with a stressful life give it a try.
Excellent! Me too, Sue. Do you have a link for the Faster, Deeper, Bliss method for us please? I like the sound of that!
Also, if anyone is really struggling to achieve calm and balance and to reduce stress there is something else to try and that’s something called Zentangle. It’s an organised and structured doodling art. I stumbled across it this summer via a friend and I’m hooked. It is so calming because you have to concentrate on the pattern and pen and nothing else. It’s meditation with a pen.
It’s beautiful and creative and I recommend it to everyone. Looks like I’m going to have to teach some of my WI ladies now I’ve raved about it. Google it or look it up on YouTube and see what I mean. There are simple beginner books on Amazon and I use artist sketch paper and draw the 3.5cm squares on it because it’s not easy to get the correct tiles here in the UK. You do not need to be artistic to do this. You learn each pattern in steps. I’ve just got my head around a new and quite difficult one this morning. I’m so pleased I’ve got it. It’s fun. And it’s very relaxing.
Ooh, that sounds fun too Sue, thanks. A creative meditation. Again, any links for us to follow pls?
Sorry, I should have provided links.
For Zentangle, http://www.zentangle.com is the main site, from whence it began. But you can Google it for all sorts of links, or YouTube search for demonstrations, there are too many to link. But if you are on Face Book then you could have a look at this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/138987966166025/?ref=br_tf
This is where people use Zentangle patterns in all sorts of ways (today there is a picture of henna’d hands in Zentangle patterns) and also in colour. The patterns are the specific Zentangles but the use is more creative doodling. There are some 3.5cm square tiles in black and white too.
Then this group is more the traditional. Using the small tiles and only in black and white.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/squareonepurelyzentangle/
This group sets a goal each week if you want to join in. A specific pattern. This week’s has been a really hard one for me. But there is no pressure to upload your entries or anything.
Then for Faster, Deeper Bliss go to: https://www.facebook.com/Stillnessproject for Tom’s page (he has a lovely voice, I find his voice alone worth listening too).
Or his website http://stillnessproject.com
I paid my fee to learn with him and I’ve found it well worth it. It’s a lovely way to spend 20 minutes. and I really helps me. I also enrolled to his mentoring and love to listen in to those sessions. I usually listen in whilst either doing a Zentangle or something similar! I have to listen in after the event because he’s in Australia and I’m in bed when they go out live. But I can send in any questions I have for him to address if I want to.
Sounds fab, thanks Sue. I shall have a look at all those, as I’m sure others will. Really fancy the doodling; I have been wanting to do something with colouring pens for some odd reason now for weeks so there’s providence for you 🙂
As a child one of my favourite things to do was to colour things in colouring books. I preferred coloured pencils over felt tips, but I did both. When I became an adult I missed that. I learnt to use watercolours and paint a little, but there is stress in doing that, especially when drawing with perspective isn’t necessarily a skill (I’m not good at perspective, all my paintings had to be free of buildings!). But just in this last year I saw young friends of mine having fun colouring things. So I looked. There is a world of adult colouring books on Amazon! Just go and look. Search “adult colouring book” and see what you find. So far, to date, I’ve not had any dodgy search returns, even though searching for “adult” anything makes me think it’s kinky.
I have bought 2 colouring books this year and they are fantastic. I love them. Again, like Zentangle, they are completely absorbing and a kind of relaxation/meditation. You can’t colour something carefully with a temper running in your head of a stress going on in your body. Light a scented candle, sit at a table with a task lamp on it, perhaps play some music, although I don’t, and colour away. Play is so important for humans. But the last few decades have removed all sense of that for some adults. The pressures have built up to an insufferable level in our worlds. We have to take back control and focus inwards. Give our bodies good nourishment from both food and creativity.
Here are the books I have to get you started.
The Secret Garden, so beautiful, but because of the paper quality it’s really best suited to colouring pencils.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Garden-Inky-Treasure-Colouring/dp/1780671067/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415120653&sr=1-1&keywords=adult+colouring+books
The Art Therapy Colour Book, super paper quality. You can use all your favourite felt pens in this one. Beautiful designs and ideas in this book. Hard backed. Just lovely. Put it on your Christmas list.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Therapy-Colouring-Book/dp/1782432221/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415120706&sr=1-3&keywords=adult+colouring+books
Meditation, art/creativity and reading. These have been the secret of my stress recovery. Cut the plug off the TV and get going.
You are a love, thank you Sue; just what I needed! perhaps we are getting back in touch with our inner child or some such thing like that! Ooh, new pencils…
And then, when you start looking, you realise just how much things like felt tips and colouring pencils have come on in the world!
Well, my work is done here, I have hopefully fuelled some Christmas stocking ideas with creativity. Wish I was on commission!