In this episode, Katie talks about the benefits of using
meditation. It's not always easy to carve out large chunks of time
for yourself, so Katie offers tips to bring peace to your mind even
when you are short on time.
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Meditation is one of the oldest ways to center yourself, regulate
your emotions, and de-stress. However, it's hard to squeeze in a
yoga and/or meditation session in between diaper changes, work
commitments, errands, driving here and there, cooking dinner,
washing laundry, rewashing laundry, folding laundry, sweeping,
and... the list goes on. What's a mama (or papa) to
do?
Meditation doesn't have to take place in a studio led by a yogi
master. Meditation is a lot simpler. At its simplest, meditation
refers to peace that comes from calming the mind. Here are three
ways to meditate even when you are short on time.
Use meditation to de-stress, calm the mind, and experience
peace
Fix your gaze
If you went to a traditional meditation class, you would learn
about
Drishti, which is a
term for focusing your eyes on one spot. Sometimes, as we feel the
stresses of life intensify, our roving eyes can add to the sensory
overload. Want to try it? Pick an object (a spot on the wall, a
picture frame, the corner of a rug) and fix your gaze on the object
for at least 30 seconds. This dramatically reduces the "overload"
sensations in your brain, allowing the motion to give way to
stillness.
Deep breathing
As any laboring mother can tell you, deep breathing is a helpful
meditation tool - not because it relieves pain, but because it
helps calm the body. Shallow breathing can contribute to panic,
while deeper breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous
system. The parasympathetic nervous system controls the
actions of a body at rest. Deep breathing is easy to do no matter
how busy you are. You have to breath anyway, so make it count.
:)
Share the moment
While we're on the topic of brain activity, when you make yourself
vulnerable and share with another human, oxytocin is released.
Oxytocin is nicknamed the "feel-good hormone." When you share your
stresses and feelings with another, you make yourself vulnerable
and can experience a boost in mood thanks to oxytocin. Try deep
breathing with a friend, spouse, or even your child. It's never too
early to teach the healing powers of meditation to your little
ones.
What is your favorite way to meditate? Subscribe to this
feed or go to
www.katietrudeau.com for more
information.