Meditation is often referred to as an exercise for the brain, and it is through this mindful practice that the pituitary gland in the brain secretes hormones called endorphins, which result in a feeling of overall wellbeing.
People often use meditation for stress relief, but there are many other benefits of creating a meditation practice, such as:
-relief from anxiety
-emotional health
-a greater self-awareness
-improved sleep
-pain relief
This site is a great resource to begin your meditation practice: https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-meditation-guided-practices/
emotional health
I Greet This Day With Love In My Heart
A few months ago, one of our clients shared Og Mandino's writings with me. As she told me about "The Greatest Saleman in the World" I was entranced by the message of the little book. I purchased it as well as the part II of the book and commenced reading when I received them. One of the principles in "The Greatest Salesman in the World" is, "I greet this day with love in my heart."
When I read this principle and the entire chapter's poignant message, I thought about its application to health and well being. When we are on a mission to get healthy and stay healthy, it isn't always enough to eat whole foods and drink water. I believe health and well being include how we love ourselves and love others, how we relate to our world, our relationships, our environment, our thoughts, our emotions, and more. Og Mandino's scroll number 2 reminded me of relishing in all that life brings to our path and uses to help us and teach us. Emotions influence physiology and physiology influences emotion. The ping-pong effect inside our cells and tissues refuse to allow us to compartmentalize true health and well being into cookie cutter symptom-driven solutions. It is moving us into the deep evaluative model of wholism for true healing. Like peeling the layers of an onion, aspects of health and well being are multimodal. Therefore, our health and well being are also influenced by how we show up to live life and how life is expressed through us.
I often share with people that we experience the same physiological responses during excitement or anxiety, and it is our interpretation of those physiological responses that label it excitement or anxiety. The same feeling inside the belly and the fast heart beat can be interpreted by two different people as either excitement or anxiety. The determinant of their respective interpretations is usually a result of past experiences, how they believe the situation is showing up for them, their values, and their overall outlook on life. Therefore, following the maxim of greeting and living each day with love in our hearts can influence the interpretations of experiences. The ripple effects on feeling healthy and well can be monumental. Mandino's scroll encouraged seeing life and all that it offers from a place of welcome and acceptance which can then transform the interpretation of our experiences.
Practicing such an axiom can increase our feelings of happiness which encourages the secretions of happy neurochemicals that fuel various aspects of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and well being. To put this statement into practice, for the next 30 days, decide to love and see the love in everything and everyone.