Blogs

What is Meditation?

“cleansing the mind and releasing the garbage from the subconscious”

“stopping the mind rushing around aimlessly”

It is a means of transforming the mind and raising awareness and seeing the true nature of things.

What does it do?

Meditation focuses the mind and redirects the thoughts. It changes the brain waves by helping them to slow down. We do this by focusing in on the breath. A simple meditation to use, to begin the transition from Beta or Alpha to the Theta State is to just simply focus on the breath. The breath and mind work in tandem, so as the breath begins to lengthen, brain waves begin to slow down.

The mind, heart, and body can improve with regular meditation. 

How can Meditation Help me?

If you’re looking for an easy way to lower stress and give your immune system a hearty boost then look no further than your local forest. Shinrin-yoku also known as forest bathing is a Japanese art of taking a solitary walk through the woods in order to bathe in the nature around you.

Shinrin-yoku translates as “taking the the forest atmosphere" or “forest bathing” and the best thing about this trend is no matter what the weather, it is still effective.

So where did the term shinrin-yoku come from?

Self-care is one of the most important things you can do, not just for yourself but for those around you. If you ever feel guilty for indulging in a spot of daily self-care then just remember that you can’t feed from an empty cup. So whilst self-care has become a bit of a buzz word within wellness circles, that doesn’t mean that it’s not important.
In fact, research has shown that by making sure that you practice an act of self-care at least once a day, you’ll find your stress levels will be lowered, your productivity will increase and you’ll feel happier and healthier.

Why do we fail at self-care?

Times are tough. We are more connected and switched on than ever and that’s having a major impact on our mental health and wellbeing. But meditation can help. Without meditation, we may find ourselves turning to alternative ways to cope with life’s stresses and strains.

Do you do any of the following?

• Ignoring problems or things going on around you?
• Procrastination and avoiding things?
• Trying to control everything?
• Quitting projects or not even getting started?
• Complaining or lashing out at others?
• Worrying?

Whilst most people prefer to start or end their day with a warm shower, studies have shown time after time that taking a cold shower could be beneficial to your physical and mental health.

One study from Virginia Commonwealth University claimed that cold showers can help alleviate low mood symptoms by sending electrical nerve impulses to the brain, resulting in an uplifting effect. Whilst in the Netherlands a studyfound cold showers to increase productivity and reduced sick days.

So it’s crazy to think that just a twist of the temperature dial can have such a huge impact on your life. Here are just some reasons why taking a cold shower is good for you.

It’s important that no matter what is going on in life, at work or at home, we prioritise at least a portion of our day to practice self-care. Of course, going to the spa, gym etc are great but if you’re low on funds or time then they’re not always accessible.

We’ve put together a list of 10 ways that you can practice self-care at home, for free. Please leave a message in the comments with your favourite ways to practice self-care.

What do you do for the first hour of your day? All the experts say that to be at your most productive you need to get up and get at it at early o’clock. Well, we don’t believe that here at Breathe, after all, we all work on different levels so whilst 5.30am starts may work for some, for others it’s absolute torture.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t get yourself a morning routine that will help us kick start the day, get plenty done and feel good at the end of it too.

The thing is, if we are honest with ourselves, most of us are stuck in the same habit when we wake in the morning. Our phones get picked up and we start scrolling, emails, social media, online banking  – it’s a habit that most of us with smartphones are trapped in.

These may seem like harmless actions but by wasting this time, we are not making the most of the first hour of our day – which whatever time you wake up, could be the most powerful hour.

Most people just don’t feel a sense of peace, of calm, of serenity, throughout their day. And who can blame them when stress, anxiety and tiredness are just accepted to be part of modern life.

But there are some simple changes that you can make to help you feel a sense of calm which should ease those pesky stress and anxiety feelings too.

The Habits of Feeling Calm

Only through balance we can exist and live as long as we can. Balance is key to our existence.

There are writings that say that no dis-ease can exist if the system is in balance.  An interesting concept and idea.

Balance is one of the fundamental laws of the universe. It applies to everything, either in the fact that it is balanced or in the fact that it’s in a state of flux trying to retrieve it.

As a part of the universe, the constant tendency to find balance applies to every aspect of our life. We are forever in search of peace and tranquility unconsciously.

Live your life on purpose.

BREATHING well can make a difference to your mind body and emotions in minutes.