World Meditation Day

World Meditation Day takes place on the 21 May. Meditation is a discipline that calms and focuses the mind helping with the demands of everyday life and with specific challenges.   A practise originating in Asia centuries ago, meditation has become a wellness mainstay in Western countries over recent decades.

Meditative Techniques

There are many different meditative techniques including mindfulness, movement, visualisation and mantra meditation. https://mindworks.org/blog/different-types-meditation-technique/

 Mindfulness Meditation: Mindfulness meditation encourages awareness of both yourself and your surroundings. It  focuses on the present and being engaged in the moment, usually achieved through a breathing technique.

Movement Meditation: Often meditation involves keeping still and remaining in one position. However, movement meditation focuses on movement of the body through yoga, martial arts or even walking in nature.

Visualisation Meditation: Visualisation meditation inspires focus by creating images within the mind – streaming water, rolling mountains, bustling leaves, It can also include envisioning achieving different goals in your life.

Mantra Meditation: A mantra is a word or phrase that is repeated continuously during a meditation. Mantra meditation is a great technique for those who lose concentration easily and can help with focus and intention.

Meditation for Health

The benefits of meditation have been widely researched, from mental to physical health, with evidence showing its potential for improvement in anxiety1, stress2, attention3 and sleep4, as well as blood pressure5 and pain6.

Meditation is accessible everywhere. There is no equipment needed to practice, with many different techniques to try and it can take just a few minutes a day. There are also many resources out there that can help support your meditative practice from YouTube videos to Apps like “Calm” and “Headspace”.

Love Your Gut

Don’t forget that taking time to relax can help you Love Your Gut!

This World Meditation Day, try out a meditative technique that appeals to you and reap the benefit of a calm and focused mind throughout your day.

 

References

  1. Chen et al. (2012) Depression and Anxiety, 29(7): 545-562.
  2. Goyal et al. (2014) JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3): 357-368.
  3. Basso et al. (2019) Behavioural Brain Behaviour, 356: 208-220.
  4. Ong et al. (2014) Sleep, 37(9): 1553–1563.
  5. Bai et al. (2015) Journal of Human Hypertension, 29(11): 653-62.
  6. Hilton et al. (2017) Annals of Behavioural Medicine, 51(2): 199–213.