First Aid For Stress
Stress can be one of the most harmful elements in our lives. It affects our well-being on so many levels. Our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health are all subject to how we deal with stress. Mindfulness and meditative techniques are some of the most effective methods to naturally combat stress.
What Happens During Meditation?
Meditation offers downtime for the brain, and being mindful gives you new perspectives. When you meditate you bring your subconscious into your conscious, so you can see the bigger picture of whatever is going on, become more relaxed and better able to see connections and solutions that can alleviate stress. Your task is to quiet all distractions long enough to hear the message. Your subconscious hides 90% of your mind’s workings, thinking it is protecting you. Mindful meditation helps bring the subconscious into focus so you can look at, and process, the information it gives you.
Acceptance of all that happens to you is key, even the stress that you feel must be recognized and welcomed in order to let it go.
Mindful meditation helps us to focus our attention, but also teaches us how to disconnect from the stress we may be feeling which is attached to an event or situation. When we accept our stress and see past it, we can turn situations around in our lives and in the lives of others. We can actually lift the vibration of the collective consciousness through our own awareness.
Uncover New Insights
Meditation shines a light on what may be keeping you from where you want to go. What is holding you back? What habits do you want to change? The only enemy you have is yourself. If you sit still for 10-20 minutes you are quieting the ego. The ego doesn’t want you to figure out its game, so it keeps trying to bring your consciousness back to your body. With practice, mindful meditation will redirect your ego to look at how your thoughts manifest your reality.
When we have bad habits, whether it be overeating, or drug issues, or obsessions, they are all messengers telling us we are not listening. Mindful meditation makes us stop and hear what our body and mind is saying.
Meditation for Grief, Fear and Depression
How does mindfulness play a role in dealing with some of the most common issues, such as depression, fear or grief? Meditation and mindfulness bring about the calm state you need to reinforce a more positive outlook and stop the patterns of negative thoughts and thinking. If we are mindful of our painful emotions, we realize that pushing them away only strengthens them.
If you try to stop the energy of your feelings, they hurt even more.
Meditation is not an escape but a lens to look through, so are painful feelings. A negative emotion is an alert for reflection and perspective. Along with focusing our attention on our feelings in order to process them, mindfulness includes the knowledge of the impermanence of everything in our lives. Emotions will change, and change back again.
True self-care is about being mindful of your emotions. Allow yourself to have them and move through them. Mindfulness allows you to focus on thoughts and feelings without putting positive or negative value on them. They are all valid.
Try out a quick meditation with me.
#LLLD
Derek O’Neill, fondly referred to as the Celtic Sage, inspires and uplifts people from all walks of life, offering guidance to influential world leaders, businesses, celebrities, athletes and everyday people alike. Distilled from his life work in psychotherapy, a martial arts career and study with wise yogis and Indian and Tibetan masters, Derek translates ancient wisdom into modern day teachings to address the biggest challenges facing humanity today. For additional insights listen to his free radio archives or order his books on Mindfulness, Anxiety, Stress and Depression.
Image courtesy of Natalia Figueredo.
