At this point, with everything that we know about the benefits of meditation, most people would probably agree that picking up this daily habit is a good idea. A clearer mind, more emotional stability, and a better attention span are all things that everyone can benefit from.

So why isn’t every single person who knows about these benefits actually meditating? The answer, in a majority of cases, is simple: Time.

Finding Time to Meditate

In today’s world, we are all busy. Most of us don’t have a lot of free time. On top of that, we are constantly focusing on something (or someone) that needs to be taken care of. Whenever we do have a free moment, it’s likely that we’re responding to a text message, reading an email, or checking something else off of our to-do lists. This is a natural instinct.

Our minds like to be engaged in something. When you’re waiting at a doctor’s office, commuting, or sitting on a plane, you’re often looking for something to do. So why not make that something meditation?

Waiting time may be your only free time. So use it for something beneficial that can help calm you down and aid you in accomplishing whatever is next in your day.

Related: The New Science Behind the Benefits of Meditation

How to Meditate While You Wait

When I suggest this idea of using any waiting time you have to mediate, people often point out that public environments aren’t exactly set up for quiet reflection. This is true. You might find yourself in a crowded, noisy, place with no room to sit. That’s okay—you can still meditate there.

There are two main ways to engage the mind: outwardly and inwardly. In order to focus the mind inward when there are a lot of distractions around, we use something called body point meditation. There are 27 body points from head to toe, and by working your way through them from bottom to top, you can practice a form of meditation that has real benefits without necessarily having to actually sit down and be completely still. You can even try it with your eyes open if you need to stay aware of your surroundings.

This type of meditation is very grounding, because it directly connects your mind to your body. In order to do that, you need to be present so that your body is with you, your mind is with you, the moment is with you.

You may even find that this type of meditation withdraws you from a noisy, distracting environment, so it’s a great way to help yourself focus when you’re feeling overstimulated. When you’re disconnected from all the activity around you, you’re almost numb to all external sounds and movements. Your mind is engaged into the movement on the points. It’s a shift of activity from outer to inner.

Related: Why You Need to Disconnect (Not Just from Tech)

Try Body Point Meditation Right Now

To practice body point meditation, simply bring your awareness to the sole of your left foot. Then to the sole of your right foot. Then your left shin, and your right shin. Next, move to your calves, then knees. Once you work your way through your legs, move on to your palms, hands, forearms, and upper arms. Then, work your way up your spine, taking notice of the lower, middle, and upper regions.

Continue on by slowly working your way to the top of your head, breathing deeply throughout. In this way, you engage all 27 points of your body and get the chance to truly check in with yourself.

Once you finish, you can reverse the order, and go from the top to the bottom. Another option is to focus on your breath and start counting backwards from 27 to 1. With something as simple as bringing your attention to your body and breath for a short period of time, you can still have a fruitful meditation practice, no matter how busy you are.

The post How to Meditate Anywhere (Even While Waiting in Line) appeared first on Sonima.

You got married. You got fired. You graduated. You had a baby. You moved. You survived an illness. We’re all dealing with some form of change all of the time. And while a greeting card may exist for the particular type of transition you’re currently experiencing, one thing Hallmark never covers is exactly what you’re supposed to do with the cascade of emotions that accompany any major change, positive or negative, in life.

The good news is, when we wake up to whatever moment of change we are in—major or minor—it becomes a lot less scary and out of control. By figuring out where we are and where we can expect to go, we can begin to gain clarity. We can resist less, open more, and navigate through the waters with some ease.

A helpful map that I like to use is an adapted version of the Transition Framework, developed by William Bridges, PhD, in his bestselling book Managing Transitions. He describes three major stages of transition: Endings, Middle Zone and New Beginnings. Even though these stages overlap and sometimes loop back onto each other, they are helpful guideposts as we begin to chart our journey.

ENDINGS

I always seem to be the last one to realize I am going through a major transition. I notice things seem to be off. I experience periods of depression and anxiety. I long for times past and start thinking if I can engineer my life just right, I can get back to that place in the past where, even if I wasn’t happy, at least I was comfortably unhappy. It always takes more time than I expect, but at some point, either I realize it myself or someone says to me: “Yael, you had a baby earlier this year,” “You moved just a few weeks ago,” “Your job just changed dramatically.” Oh yeah. Right. I am experiencing a transition.

Endings happen at the start of a transition and they are marked by a tremendous amount of grief. Even if the change is a good one, whenever a change happens, the “old you” has to die in order to make way for the new you to emerge. After the birth of both of my sons, I first experienced profound denial about the fact that I had a baby at all. I tried to keep apace with my work responsibilities, despite being on maternity leave and sleeping 2-3 hours at night. I strove to be a hip Brooklyn woman who just happened to have a baby, when in truth the baby was taking over my life, my body, my heart, and definitely my sleep, and resisting that truth was causing a lot of suffering. I needed to accept that the baby-free woman was gone. That life was over and was never going to return. Cue the sense of loss, the tears, the sadness and grief.

And yet, once I opened up to the grief, even though I felt sad, it felt better than fighting with the truth. Once I acknowledged the loss, I could be more present for the new reality that was slowly taking shape. If you are in the Endings phase, you have to be very gentle with yourself. You are shedding a skin, and it can feel very tender, emotional, and difficult. As much as you can, remember that grief is a natural part of this process (even for the good changes) and treat yourself with a lot of kindness as you say goodbye to what is gone.

MIDDLE ZONE

The Middle Zone is the gap. Once you have moved through the grieving of your old life, suddenly you are thrust into a new space with no instructions and no experience of the terrain. It is a time that feels chaotic, uncomfortable, confusing, and disorienting.

These periods are also often marked by low productivity, needing to be alone, a feeling of suspension in time. This is all normal and natural. The old structures that held up your life are gone, and yet you are not comfortable in your new way of life.

When I graduated college, I felt very float-y, very lost. I wasn’t exactly depressed, but I also wasn’t jumping for joy every day. My identity as a student was over (for the time being) and I hadn’t yet started working full-time. Each day was a dizzying vertigo of trying to figure out who I was and what I was supposed to be doing with myself.

It is very hard not to fill this type of silence or gap with distractions, anxiety, or excessive planning. And yet, if you can stay off your phone and open up to the feelings of not-knowing, you will discover a great deal of creativity in this period of time. The Middle Zone is where our new route takes shape, one step at a time. It can feel out of control, but if we practice mindfulness and breathe through it, we will see that we are not just drifting…we are being guided somewhere new.

Related: The Simplest Change You Can Make for Better Health

NEW BEGINNINGS

About two years after I started meditating regularly, I was walking down the street and I stopped suddenly. Wow, I thought, apropos of nothing in particular, I haven’t had a panic attack in about a year! Previously, I was having them about 2-3 times per week. That is what New Beginnings feel like—sudden realizations that you are making your way in new waters with more confidence and skill than you thought possible. Don’t get me wrong. It takes time and lots of work to get there, and New Beginnings can often include many “backslides” back to old patterns and ways of doing things. These “backslides” should not be taken as failures. Change happens in a spiral—not a straight line—gradually getting us to where we need to be. Slowly, eventually, we get there.

The bottom line is, no matter where you are in the transition process, be gentle with yourself and understand that everything changes, and you won’t be in this uncomfortable spot for very long. Breathe. You will make it through this time. YOU’VE GOT THIS.

The post A 15-Minute Guided Meditation for Times of Transition and Change appeared first on Sonima.

Can mindfulness techniques or a meditation practice help me achieve my goals in the new year?

Sincerely,
Resolute

Dear Resolute,

This is such a meaningful and timely topic. I am a deep believer that the path of mindfulness can provide you with effective resources to achieve your goals this year. In this article, I will draw from applications of mindfulness in organizational settings to discuss how this technique can help you stay focused on your endgame.

I acknowledge this is a very large topic, and I am limited in how much I can get into in a short article. Therefore, I am going to highlight a few conditions that I believe need to be present for accomplishing goals.

The first is that you need to know what your goals are. Seems simple enough, but many people struggle with this. As you prepare for the new year, I suggest you take time to reexamine your values and where your passions lie. It is helpful to look across all domains of your life, including personal, professional, physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and so on. If you’re not clear about your goals, meditation can help you. A sacred pause and reflection is likely most needed for you in your life right now. As you sit with this question and listen for the answer, it may get things moving forward for you. Spending regular time with this type of inquiry will help deepen the process.

Related: A Meditation on Intentions for a New Year

After you list your priorities, rank them in order so that you know where to specifically direct your focus. As human beings, we are all confronted with limited time and energy. Therefore, we must remember that, ultimately, everything is connected. This concept means that shifts in one area of your life will likely bring shifts in others. Once you have your organized list, identify your starting point. Break down bigger goals into smaller, actionable steps and figure out what is the easiest way to get the momentum going.

The second condition is to train yourself to notice when your focus has waned. One symptom of reduced focus is mind-wandering. When your mind is not focused, goal-directed behavior diminishes. Researchers suggest that mindfulness may be an effective antidote to a wandering mind. For instance, one study published in the journal Emotion demonstrated a relationship between higher levels of dispositional mindfulness and lower levels of mind-wandering. They also found that eight minutes of mindful breathing attenuated mind-wandering. This suggests the importance of establishing a daily practice in order to train focused attention. With more efficient focus, you will likely find yourself moving forward with greater ease and freedom.

A third condition is to ditch multitasking. Research has shown that media multitasking is associated with higher depression and social anxiety symptoms. In my clinical experience, I can say that clients who experience depression and anxiety find it very difficult to accomplish goals. Minimizing behaviors that feed these unhelpful states of consciousness is in service of goal completion. Mindfulness has also been shown to effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and mood problems among clinical populations.

Related: 3 Ways Meditation Puts You in the Success Mindset

Even though you still may be able to finish disrupted tasks efficiently and at a similar level of quality, researchers have found that we tend to make up for interruptions by working faster. This has numerous consequences, such as increased stress, frustration, time pressure, and effort. Mindfulness, through its emphasis on single-pointed focus, trains the practitioner to stay focused on the task at hand and minimize task switching.

Furthermore, researchers found that those trained in meditation stayed on tasks longer, made fewer task switches, and reported less negative emotion after they completed their task as compared to their counterparts, trained in relaxation. Improved memory for the tasks performed were also found both in those trained in meditation and relaxation. These findings clearly suggest the importance of developing a regular mindfulness practice in order to maximize the opportunities to achieve more with ease and gracefulness.

My perspective is that the more we stay connected to our values, the more we can offer to this world and receive back. I am reminded of the poet Rumi’s words, “Now is the time to unite the soul and the world. Now is the time to see the sunlight dancing as one with the shadows.” Mindfulness is a practice that keeps us connected to ourselves and our community. Mindfulness gives us the mental and emotional clarity to draw from all our inner and outer resources to move forward and accomplish with integrity.

The new year is a beautiful time to clear open the psychological and emotional space needed to create a vision and forge ahead. We, as human beings, are always an unfinished project. We must remember—and stay connected to—our creative power and our natural belongingness. Even when we are confronted by great challenges (and life has no shortages of them), we must remember to dance between sunlight and shadow, becoming one.

I invite you to hold the intention in this new year to accept all that comes, and from that place of stillness and love within your own heart, to meet each moment with dignity, courage, and authenticity. Trust in yourself. Trust that the path of mindfulness will allow your authentic self to bloom and your muscles of courage to flex and move you toward your goals. There are many great resources and meditations on Sonima to get you started with a practice.

I wish you the best in the new year and thank you for writing in.

Many blessings,
John

The post A Mindful Approach to Your New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Sonima.

1. Meditation changes your perspective.

Meditation works at so many different levels, but one of them is that you start to love and respect your mind and body more. Through mediation, you have the power to make your mind your best friend instead of making it your worst enemy. And through improved mental health, you can gain the perspective needed to approach health issues from a place of love.

Normally, pain and sickness are seen as inconveniences. Let’s say you’re having pain in your wrist. You probably think: “This is so annoying.” This is not a healthy attitude. Think of it this way: If a child falls down, you approach that child with love. You tell them it’s going to be okay. You ask them what they need. You don’t ask them why they fell.

Meditation allows you to treat your body like that child who stumbled. You can begin to look at that painful wrist as part of you that happens to be suffering. Instead of feeling resentful, the rest of you is looking at that painful part, giving it love, and saying, “It’s going to be OK.” Instead of having a negative attitude toward it, you actually treat the part of you that needs healing like it’s your own small child.

2. Meditation helps you recognize oneness.

The whole mind, body, and soul mechanism is organic and intertwined, and mediation allows us to actually feel the connection between these three components. What happens in the mind, we can feel in the body and vice versa. That’s why good mental health can be so helpful in dealing with a physical issue. Mental health can also be helped by improving physical health.

During meditation, you innately tap into this connection between your mind, body, and soul. Take the universe, for example. When we are looking at it from the outside, we see it as separate components: humans, planets, stars, and so on. But the universal body is also just one complete unit.

When you realize that everything within you—your mind, soul, and body—is actually just one unit, you notice that when something is wrong with your body, every other component of your being is rushing toward it to heal and protect it. And just as there are millions of cells that make up one body, we are each just like one little cell vibrating in this universe, which is connected with all other cells in the universe. The whole universal organism rushes toward us to protect, heal, and provide the sources we need to get better.

This oneness is the greatest achievement of meditation. By changing your perception of what’s outer and inner, you begin to feel secure in the fact that all the components of your being are intelligently talking to each other to provide you with a way to feel better.

3. Meditation helps you let go of fear.

When it comes to life-threatening illnesses, the fear of death is a major obstacle. Meditation gives you the courage and the ability to detach from your fear, and the strength to accept your problem as it is. You become a compassionate third party to your illness, rather than an active participant.

When you approach a serious illness from a very fearful or depressed place, you can make it even worse, because your body is affected by those emotions. Meditation can enable you to step back and see yourself as one small part of the larger universe, and recognize that your body is only one part of your being. If you have a life-threatening or life-changing health issue, meditation can help you think: “How can I do my best?” rather than “I’m so scared.”

Related: A Three-Minute Meditation for Dissolving Fear

4. Meditation helps ease the pain.

One technique that I’ve used frequently with those who are dealing with health problems it to meditate on the part of your body that hurts or the source of the disease you’re suffering from. Hone in on it and focus on it.

Say you have an injury in your spine, and the pain is traveling down your whole back. Meditate on that one small area where it’s starting, and you’ll feel that you can talk to this pain and soothe it. It may sound strange, but it really makes a difference.

Think of meditation as exercise for your mind. Your body reacts to the fitness of your mind, and it doesn’t take long for your perception to change.

The post 4 Ways Meditation Helps You Handle Health Issues appeared first on Sonima.

But there are two lesser-known ways that meditation can help you work smarter—ones that are certainly worth knowing about.

One of the most overlooked benefits of meditation is an improved relationship with time. When the mind is more present and focused, you have an enhanced understanding and comprehension of a given topic or task. When that becomes a regular part of your working style, it profoundly impacts your ability to learn and work at a high level.

Most often, people find that they’re able to achieve more in a shorter period of time. Say, there’s a given task and it normally takes you half an hour to do it. Surprisingly enough, after getting into a consistent meditation practice, you may be able to do the same task in 25 or even 20 minutes. I have seen this phenomenon many times in my students, and it’s amazing because in the workplace or at school, time has a lot of value.

Why does this happen? Well, through meditation you can relax, and you can transfer that aura of calm to your efforts. Relaxing allows you to be so focused and attentive that you are able to do the same task with much more ease. When you do anything in this peaceful state of mind, you can achieve more in less time. Say you’re scatter-brained and you’re trying to retain or learn something. You’re not present enough and your mind is all over the place. It’s going to take a long time. But if you’re calm and relaxed, it’s going to be no sweat to get the job done.

If you’re able to complete your regular tasks quicker, then you might use that extra time to take a break. But you also might use it to learn more, do more, achieve more. And that’s where this enhanced relationship with time can really start to help you excel.

Secondly, your self-esteem improves through meditation. That might not seem like a concept that’s related to productivity, but it truly is. Meditation improves your priorities deep down inside. It gives you this feeling of “yes, I’m a good human.” And that lifts your self-esteem up. Self-esteem isn’t really connected to vanity or intelligence, as we often assume. Confidence comes from the satisfaction in giving or doing something for others.

The more you do for others, the better your relationships will be, professional and otherwise. It’s really quite simple: If you’re more compassionate, then have more friends and colleagues who hold you in high regard; meditation enhances this compassion. Even your communication skills get upgraded because you’re better able to relate to others, express yourself, and deliver your thoughts outwardly, either vocally or through writing.

So how can you get these benefits, and how often do you need to meditate before you start noticing them?

To me, this question is almost like asking: How many days should I eat? And then when should I stop eating? Meditation is like food for your mind and soul, and in order to reap the full benefits, you need to do it every day.

Related: A 5-Minute Meditation to Start Building Your Practice

In terms of how long it will take to notice the benefits, it depends. When you start exercising or eating healthy, for example, you start to see certain results. Meditation works the same way. In the first week, you might sleep a little better. In two weeks, you might start to feel more focused. In three weeks, you might feel less stressed, and so on. The rewards of a daily practice build up over time.

As far as what type of meditation you should do, any kind will work. The key is that you integrate it into your routine. Just as you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you meditate, too. You have to keep it up. So find a type that you love and that you can do long-term. Guided meditations are a great place to start, but I would recommend developing an internally-led practice with the help of a teacher or through your own research, as it’s more likely to become a lasting habit if it comes from within.

The post How Meditation Can Help You Work Smarter appeared first on Sonima.

Going green is so good for you, and we’re not just talking about spinach smoothies. Studies show that being in nature can improve memory, promote sharper thinking, enhance the ability to focus, and improve mood as well as immune function. Living in a city is no excuse. You can find patches anywhere and everywhere. Make it a habit to get fresh air at least twice a day to soothe your mind and restore mental energy. Listen to this guided meditation as you head out for a stroll, no matter where you live.

1. Urbanites, Hit the Streets

City life is most challenging when it comes to connecting with the rhythms of nature. Circadian rhythms can easily get screwed up by all night dining options, street lights, honking horns outside your window, etc. What is less clear is how to get your fix of nature effectively and mindfully. Commit to finding ways to be outside, breathing fresh air, and connecting to the essential rhythm of the place. It may be a rhythm syncopated by car horns and more concrete than green pastures, but it is still possible to find the beauty in all of it.

On a concrete jungle walk, determine that you will stop at every light and look around at the architecture of the buildings. Look up at the sky. Notice how many trees line that block or planters, or not. Take a few deep, relaxing breaths, drop the shoulders, feel the weight of yourself on the sidewalk, and carry on. Make your way to a riverside or park, and sit there for at least five minutes to enjoy quiet contemplation.

With open eyes, make an effort to soften the gaze so that you are taking in the scene almost in peripheral vision. No major focus or intensity of attention. Just breathe and notice how it all feels. You will likely notice patterns of movement, sound, and smell. You can feel your seat on the bench or in the grass. Breath and notice the rhythm of life carrying on around you.

2. Mountain Folks, Take a Hike

Set out on your hike with a sense of self. Stand still and tall before you start. Feel your feet grounding, your head rising, and your breath filling your lungs. Listen to the sounds of nature around you. What can you hear, smell, taste? Take a final deliberate deep breath and head off.

If you have a companion, make an agreement that while you might talk as you walk, each time you stop, you will do so in silence. You will stop. Inhale and sweep the arms overhead and exhale, letting the arms trace a graceful arc around your body. Inhale and exhale two more times like this. Then stand. Gaze softly at the horizon or lower, unless you are feeling tired, in which case, gaze skyward.

Now watch, listen, smell. Feel your skin and notice the quality of your breath, deep and full. Watch the birds and bees and anything else that attracts your attention. Observe without engaging it. If you start thinking or attaching memories, then acknowledge and let them go easily, returning the focus gently on other aspects of the present experience.

Related: A 5-Minute Walking Meditation for Mind-Body Connection

3. Beach Babes, Find Your Flow

Walk down toward the shore. Feel the sand between your toes, its temperature and texture. Once you find a dry spot near the water, take a comfortable seat. Soften the gaze toward the horizon and let sensation arise and dissipate. Engage with the rhythm of the sea. Notice the smells and the sounds. The rhythm of the waves, the undulation of the water. See the movements of tiny birds along the shore, or hear the wail of the wind. Inhale and exhale in a gentle rhythm so quiet that you hardly notice where your body touches the air around you. Just be a gentle observer and when thoughts or memories or desires or to-do lists arise, redirect the mind to the ever-moving water, the soothing sounds in the air and your own breath…even the sounds of your blood flowing through your body.

The post A Meditation to Enjoy the Great Outdoors appeared first on Sonima.

One of the greatest tricks that has really helped me live a happier, healthier life is establishing a rhythm to the day. This allows me to sustain just the right amount of energy needed to get me through my daily tasks without feeling depleted. Staying evenly energized isn’t just good for your productivity, but also your health: Ayurveda teaches that if you overheat or have too little energy, you are prone to a host of systemic problems including attention and memory issues, bad temper, a low immune system, restlessness or interrupted sleep.

In Ayurveda, we understand the world as a place regulated by natural rhythms and laws. We each have a distinct, easily accessed, innate ability to cultivate our minds and bodies to subvert negativity and aim for the positive. Our systems appreciate regularity, and reward you for routine. Set yourself with a healthy mental and physical hygiene program and you’ll find yourself more productive, less stressed and anxious, better rested, and with a stronger immune system.

Here are three strategies to prepare yourself for balanced success. Use these morning, afternoon and evening meditation tools, which are all much more effective than coffee or chocolate, to tackle your to-dos with vitality.

1. Rev up your engine and set yourself on a clear course.

Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion. First thing in the morning, when your eyes open to the sunlight, take a few deep belly breaths. Then do a quick survey of your system: Are you feeling sluggish or ready to seize the day? If sluggish, take a few more vigorous breaths, massage your scalp, and rotate wrists and ankles before getting out of bed. If you’re up for it, roll out of bed and do a few simple rotations of all joints, including the hips to lubricate them and get the blood and lymph flowing.

Once you’re standing, and if appropriate, do a few forward bends, hands on hips, then stand and reach for the sky. Repeat three times. Execute three graceful side bends—right, left, right, left—to open up the side waist. Lean against the bathroom sink and alternately stretch your calves. If you are into body brushing, now’s the time for it, followed by some body balm or lotion applied smoothly along the long bones and in circular motions over the joints.

Next, try setting an intention for the day. An intention is formed by the heart and mind, a solemn vow or determination, that is meant to harness the will and your focus in harmony with the mind and body. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask what you want to accomplish today. Is it something specific at work or does it relate to your behavior or a relationship? Focus on what it is and decide on at least one good, simple way to address it. Make it practical and doable. If nothing comes to mind or you find yourself settling on negative thoughts, try reframing it. Instead of “this is hard, I can’t do it,’ tell yourself, “this may be difficult, but let’s see how I do with it today!”

Related: A Nighttime Meditation for Setting Intentions

2. Avoid the afternoon slump without reaching for caffeine or sugar.

By mid-afternoon, no matter how effectively you’ve primed your physical and mental self that morning, many of us have stopped breathing deeply. We get tired and sluggish. We are getting less oxygen to the brain and nervous system. We have allowed our shoulders to get tense and hips to tighten. The logical solution may be to grab a coffee or candy bar. Don’t do it! Instead, follow this standing meditation (the complete guided meditation is in the above featured video) to get naturally reinvigorated in five minutes. The practice is simple: 30 seconds of deep, slow breathing followed by 30 seconds of quickened breaths accompanied by physical movement.

3. Unwind, detach, and sleep well.

By the end of the day, our shoulders may have tensed up all over again. A to-do list of things unaccomplished has likely built up. Sleep hygiene basics give us some snooze-happier tricks based on the idea that to sleep well, the mind and nervous system need a reset. Dim the lights as the evening goes on. Turn off electronics. Drink some sleepy-time tea to ease into a relaxed state. Gentle stretches may help set the mood by your bedside. Practice Alternate Nostril Breathing, followed by a few long, deep breaths.

Once complete, take out your journal or a piece of paper and make a list of any lingering thoughts or to-do’s. You can refer to your morning intention(s) here. Now, the priority is calm, worry-free sleep. This is a great time to sow the seeds for something positive that you would like to ponder in your dream. Be creative, but practical. Lay a thought or two in your mind that may feel like a resolution or a desire you can cultivate in your sleep. Now dream on.

Related: Sleep Better Tonight with This 90-Second Workout

The post 3 Daily Practices to Keep You Energized appeared first on Sonima.

We have several basic natures, or qualities, that we are all born with, and one of the most important is love. Everyone wants to receive love. Everyone wants to give love. Somewhere deep down that’s who we all are. Each person alive is also a product of love. This is why love is so crucial in everyone’s life, and why many people search for mates to share their love with.

The problem is, the stresses and events of life take us away from our basic nature. The pure love, peace, happiness, and bliss we are born with gets slowly diminished as we go through our daily lives. Many people react to this by looking for love outside themselves in another person.

But think about it this way: If you have lost something inside your house, and you are looking for it outside your house, you’ll never find it. Love works the same way—and you’ve probably heard this idea before. You must discover love of yourself before someone else can truly love you.

Related: 20 Most Brilliant Insights Ever Shared About Love

So how does meditation factor in? Well, when you start to meditate and reconnect with your own flow of love within yourself, it begins to flow from you to other people. Everyone wants have a piece of it, and you become a very loving and lovable person. In that state of being, it is easy to love and be loved in any relationship—romantic or otherwise.

Bridging the Disconnect

Take any romantic relationship. It starts with love and great memories. After a period of time, things start to feel less fun, less exciting, and maybe even less loving. What has gone wrong? Love has died down.

When love starts to diminish, people’s preferences outside of love start to take over. When love is lost, the relationship itself becomes lost, with both partners searching for the love they want to regain in each other, which often causes more harm than good.

When it comes to romantic relationships, there are four types of people:

1. Mind-based: These people connect at the mind-level with their partner, and are attracted to intelligence and the intellectual aspects of their partner and their thought-process.

2. Body-based: For these people, sexuality and physical attributes are key, and they primarily connect with their partners in a physical way.

3. Heart-based: Emotions are very important, and these people come from a place of heart intelligence.

4. Energy-based: These people connect with the energy of their partner and feed off of it. If they don’t like the energy they’re getting, they start to feel unsatisfied.

All relationships contain a bit of each of these four elements, but most people strongly identify with one type over the others. Problems occur when love has taken a back seat, and you are body-based and your partner is mind-based, for example. Without the strong presence of love, this mismatch suddenly becomes more obvious, and creates a disconnect.

There are always going to be mismatches and disconnects, but the key thing is that there is a connection in the relationship, and that connection is normally at the level of love. When these other aspects become more dominant than love, then your relationship is going to face some challenges sooner or later.

That doesn’t mean the relationship is doomed, but it does mean that you need to find a way to come back together. If you can take care of the love part, those mismatches won’t matter much. You need to nourish that love, and the way to do that is meditation.

Using Meditation to Get Back to Love

Meditation is essentially going inward and not getting caught up in the tendencies of the mind so that you can connect with the very core of who you are. As I mentioned earlier, love is a big part of that. There are three levels of meditation:

Dharna: When you are focusing your mind, you’re concentrating outwardly. Perhaps you’re performing an action in your daily life mindfully by giving it your full attention.

Dhayana: This is what people normally consider meditation and is focused on awareness. It can be inward or outward, like being aware of your breath or noticing things in your environment.

Samadhi: This is the deepest level of meditation, which has a very spiritual significance. There are different levels, but for the common person, it means letting your mind go into a “zero zone,” or reducing your thoughts as much as possible, and yet being aware of it. Gradually, you get to the point where there are no thoughts coming. It could be for only 10 seconds, but in that short time, you are connecting with your very basic nature.

All three forms of meditation will help you connect with the love that is already inside you, but getting into the “zero zone,” even if only for a few seconds, is essential.

If you’re interested in trying this out and rediscovering love in your own relationship, know that both partners must participate. It doesn’t matter where, when, or how you meditate, or whether you even meditate together, but you both need to find that love you lost somewhere along the way. As that begins to happen, you’ll notice that your differences suddenly don’t matter so much, because while you might mismatch in some areas, you’re matched in your love.

When you’re connecting at the love level, the “honeymoon phase” is never over. In love, there is total acceptance—no matter what your natural love preferences are. But it has to come from within.

The post How Love and Meditation Are Intertwined appeared first on Sonima.

Creativity 101: The act of living is an art, according to Ayurveda, and the art of life is in the practices that cultivate wellness. It just so happens that the best practices for this are linked to greater creativity, which, in itself, contributes to greater happiness.

Studies show one must be creative, generative, positive, engaged, present, and mindful to optimize overall health, good immune function and more. Doing creative things is also a proven mood enhancer, however, what this looks like can be different for each of us. What remains the same is the mindset that allows for creative impulses to flow. We all need to partake in practices that involve unrestricted observation as opposed to restrictive repetition. We need to start training our minds to notice everything from inner sensations to mood to feelings as well as smells and tastes in the present moment, keeping the attention flexible and unrestricted.

Related: Finding Your Story Through Poetic Meditation

When you have taught yourself to be more open to experience, you will increase your creative impulses because creativity thrives in a mind that is open, receptive, flexible and non-judgmental. The undeniable truth is that acts of creativity—be they poetry writing, pottery, painting, writing, creative problem solving at work or openly, empathically resolving an argument—are keys to increased happiness and satisfaction. At the very least, states of creative thinking are known to improve memory, reduce rigid thought-processes and encourage flexibility all around.

In many respects, creativity is the art of being open to what is. Here are four basics to think about incorporating into mediation or life, in general, without judgement or expectation:

1. Act with awareness and attention.

Even for a few short minutes, engage with undivided, un-opinionated attention.

2. Observe everything around you.

Notice internal phenomena, like bodily sensations, emotions, memories, thoughts and external ones like sights, sounds, smells, touch.

3. Notice, but don’t overthink it.

Observe without analyzing, and experience your surroundings without processing it judgmentally.

4. Accept the situation.

Start turning away from “I can control and change this or that” to “It is what it is.” From “I cannot do this, it’s too hard” to “This may be difficult, but let’s just see what I can do with it today.” Laugh or shake your head, but don’t evaluate the present moment experience.

You can be serious and still take yourself lightly. Negativity has a deleterious effect on creativity, closing the mind, while judgement-free, mind-wandering optimism makes for the freedom of thoughts, which is so essential to creativity.

Ready to get your creative juices flowing? Train the mind to attend, observe, notice, and accept without too much focus or analysis to the phenomena that passes your mind’s eye without judgement, without distraction. I have found that a short meditation practice, like this one (listen to the video above!), primes the pump for regular sessions of creative work.

The post A Meditation to Tap into Your Creative Side appeared first on Sonima.

Nearly 20 percent of new teachers in the U.S. leave their profession within the first five years, claims a 2015 federal report from The Institute for Education Sciences. Nearly 1 in 2 teachers state that the anxiety and disappointment felt at work is not worth the effort. The trickle-down effect is clear and supported: A 2014 Gallup poll called State of American Schools found that teachers are just as stressed as nurses. Penn State University researchers also confirmed that teacher retention is problematic and, as a result, student academic performance and social adjustment suffer.

The time has never been better for holistic lifestyle interventions. Many organizations, such as Bent On Learning, Holistic Life Foundation, Learning to Breathe, Mind Up, and Pure Edge, Inc. are already introducing mindfulness, yoga and meditation to teachers, administrators and students who desperately need the tools to improve their well-being.

“The health crisis in schools is profound. We’ve got stress, burnout, obesity, and this leads to mental and physical problems,” says Chi Kim, chief strategy officer of Pure Edge, Inc., an East Coast-based nonprofit founded in 2011 to offer wellness programs in schools and communities.

At a pop-up yoga conference in New York City last spring, researchers and long-term yoga and mindfulness practitioners further discussed the emerging relationship between wellness and healthcare. Among the attending experts were yoga researcher Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD, and Ashtanga yogi Eddie Stern, who was one of the principle writers behind Pure Edge’s curriculum. One of the most important topics reiterated throughout the event was the necessity to bring wellness to schools.

“Humans have a great capacity for self-regulation,” says Khalsa, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and research director for Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Massachusetts. “A healthy lifestyle can regulate gene activity at a cellular and molecular level. As yoga, meditation, and breath work enter the schools, we see a profound impact. Lifestyle diseases, such as depression and diabetes, can be influenced by these healthful practices.”

Studies show that mindfulness- and yoga-based skills, conscious breath work, and body awareness improve academic performance and emotional regulation. Mindfulness-based practices also reduce anxiety and increase attention, according to a study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies. Research also reveals that mindfulness strategies enhance executive function in kids, supporting positive behavioral changes. In addition, a yoga practice promotes confidence and strength along with compassion and self-acceptance.

“Yoga helps teens gain control of the prefrontal cortex, which helps with decision making. This affects their ability to focus and determine healthier habits,” Khalsa explains. Children and adolescents benefit most from these practices while their brains are still developing.

Related: The Yoga Boom in Western Medicine

Pure Edge supports the development of social, emotional, and academic learning competencies “with an open heart and an open mind,” according to the organization’s mission. It is particularly helpful in school populations impacted by PTSD, student trauma and anxiety, and symptomology related to ADHD.

“Our primary goal is to help foster community success through focus. Building resilience is key,” says Kim. The curriculum, which is the subject of ongoing research conducted by Stanford University, has served more than 300,000 children, grades K-12, across the country. Its mindfulness-based practices encourage students and teachers to deepen their emotional self-regulation, find calm, and manage stress. Movement-based exercises consist of seated twists and body-awareness techniques that bring individuals into the present moment.

“When kids feel safe, supported, and calm, they can focus better on the challenging tasks they have to complete,” says Dawn Brooks DeCosta, principal of Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School in New York City. The school has been facilitating Pure Edge mindfulness-based practices, such as “brain breaks,” which offer an oasis for kids and teachers, allowing them to foster self-value and resilience.

One of the biggest issues that Pure Edge is working on now is caregiver burnout.

“Adults have to manage their levels of stress in order to be their best for the children,” Kim says. Makes sense, but in our current round-the-clock work culture, caregivers, too often, succumb to burnout, forgetting to practice self-care first. This is often the hardest part of the work—getting parents, teachers, and others to implement the caregiving for themselves. Pure Edge has helped more than 6,000 educators and administrators, most of whom report that the breathing exercises they learned were useful for balancing emotions and self-care.

“Teachers are 110 percent givers, all the time. They feel guilty for taking time to take care of themselves. Our core intention is to bring them calm, and make self-care more socially acceptable,” says Kim. “To be present, you have to feel valued and loved. And once that comes from within, we can share this with others.”

If you are interested in learning more about Pure Edge, the curriculum is available to anyone, free of charge. A simple practice that can help soothe your nerves—as well as your kids—at any time is Mindfulness of Breath, an exercise Pure Edge uses to facilitate connection. Try this easy, four-step balloon breathing technique whenever you need to feel insta-calm.

Balloon Breathing

1. Find a comfortable seat.

2. Imagine your belly is a balloon and start to breathe consciously, inflating with air for three counts and gently exhaling for three counts.

3. Repeat three times, or as many as you wish.

4. Notice how you are feeling calmer, refreshed, and more at ease.

The post Why Schools Need Yoga and Mindfulness appeared first on Sonima.

Cancer doesn’t just happen to the body. It also affects the mind and the spirit. While cancer treatments are solely focused on fighting the disease on a cellular level, integrative medicine can additionally help patients rebuild their energy and morale while strengthening their resolve to get better, too, which are all crucial for recovery. At the Mount Sinai’s Dubin Breast Center in New York City, the psychological department offers a myriad of ways to approach this next-level mental and physical care with programs ranging from hypnosis, family therapy, and couples therapy to yoga, meditation, massage and crafts.

“We can improve quality of life. Symptoms and side effects of the cancer treatment don’t have to be as bad. You might be able to speed up your recovery a bit. You don’t have to be as distressed as you go through the different steps,” says Guy Montgomery, the director of psychological services at the Dubin Breast Center. “We want to help people get to a place where they want to be,” he adds. In this video interview with Sonima.com founder, Sonia Jones, Montgomery further explains the important role integrative care can play in a patient’s treatment and recovery.

Related: Is Integrative Yoga Therapy the Future of Healing?

The post The Many Benefits of Integrative Care for Treating Cancer appeared first on Sonima.

“The diagnosis felt totally out of the blue. I had tingling in my arms, but I thought it was carpal tunnel syndrome. When an MRI revealed that I had lesions on my spine, my doctor told me the bad news and I felt my world crumble,” says Adelsberger, now 35, who was born in Vienna, Austria, but has been living and working as an event planner in New York City for more than a decade. “It had never crossed my mind that I might have MS,” she says. “After getting over the initial shock, fear, and sadness the first few months, I had this feeling that this was not going to end badly for me. I was not going to watch myself deteriorate and end up in a wheelchair.”

“I Wanted to Secure a Normal Life”

Grappling with this difficult diagnosis, Adelsberger got to work studying the disease and lining up her best options for treatment. “When I looked into all the MS drugs, my understanding—and I’m not a doctor—is that it helps a third of people, a third stay the same, and a third experience worsened symptoms. I thought, ‘Why would I take something with a two-thirds chance that it won’t help me?’” she says. “At that point, it was clear to me that changing my diet was my best option at securing a pretty normal life.”

A summer of research led Adelsberger to an important paper published in The Lancet in 1990. The study followed 150 MS patients on a low saturated fat diet (less than 20 grams per day) for 34 years and found improvements in their health and lower death rates compared to MS patients who consumed more fat than the recommended amount. “Is it really possible that diet can make such a difference?” Adelsberger recalls wondering. This hopeful discovery inspired Adelsberger to take a holistic approach to her treatment. “I felt that I had to work with the disease from every angle—diet, fitness, and the mind. So I took a reiki class, got certified in energy kinesiology, and took a nutrition class to understand the science of fat better,” she says.

Eventually her insatiable hunger for knowledge led her to the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) program in October 2011 with Australia’s George Jelinek, who had written a few books on the topic, including Taking Control of Multiple Sclerosis and Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis. In 1999, Jelinek founded—and lives by—the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) program that promotes a rigorous diet and lifestyle plan to improve health and manage MS symptoms without any medication.

“It was so mind-blowing for me to find this program. I felt like this was the best option I had to stay healthy even with all the diet restrictions,” says Adelsberger, who admits being Austrian and culturally inclined to enjoy sweets, like cakes, pastries, and chocolate, made the transition extra hard. “When you start the OMS diet, you think it’s super restrictive, but it does allow you to have sugar, coffee, and alcohol in moderation. The longer I’m in it, the more mindful I’ve become.”

Not a Cure, But a Recovery Plan

There was good reason for Adelsberger to heed Jelinek’s advice. Having watched his mother suffer and pass away from the disease in 1981 and then confront his own diagnosis at age 45 in 1999, Jelinek has had a lifetime of experience with MS. His background as a former professor in emergency medicine and editor-in-chief of a major medical journal for 25 years, plus his current position as the head of the Neuroepidemiology Unit at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne in Australia, have all granted Jelinek access to the top medical papers on MS, which inspired him to write a few (about 150) of his own. With all this personal and professional knowledge at his fingertips, Jelinek was able to devise this strict plan, which has helped him live symptom-free for almost two decades.

“I’ve been following this plan for 17 years and not only am I perfectly well, but in fact, I’m healthier now [at age 62 than when I was first diagnosed]. I have no symptoms. No doctor is able to find any evidence that I had MS. I don’t use the word ‘cure,’ but rather ‘recovery.’ This is a program that I have to work at for the rest of my life to improve my health and stay well,” says Jelinek, who has led retreats around the world to spread the word about this alternative treatment to MS. “What drives me to keep going has come from living a life with my mother and watching her deterioration. I’m really motivated to ensure as few people as possible have to live how she did at the end of her life,” he says.

What Is the OMS plan? The backbone of the program—diet, exercise, stress management, sunlight, vitamin D and omega-3 supplementation, and, when needed, medication—is completely spelled out in both Jelinek’s books and his free website, OvercomingMS.org, which receives 100,000 visits per month. Below Jelinek shares a quick overview of the natural remedies for MS that are the most important pillars of this plan.

1. Diet and supplements

The plant-based whole-food diet, which includes seafood and omega-3 fatty acid supplements (20 to 40 mls of flaxseed oil daily) and no saturated fat (nod to that The Lancet article), is designed to be anti-inflammatory and anti-degenerative. “MS is an immune-based disease that causes an inflammatory response. MS also causes degeneration. This diet combats both,” Jelinek explains.

2. Vitamin D

“MS is more common and active the further you are from the equator. So the less sun you get, the greater the risk,” says Jelinek, who recommends 15 minutes of sunlight daily, plus a vitamin D3 supplement of at least 5,000 IU and up to 10,000 IU daily. “Vitamin D has a dramatic effect on the immune system. Like the diet, it’s very anti-inflammatory and helps protect the central nervous system.”

3. Meditation

“When you look at the medical literature, there’s a lot on the effects of stress on MS. Not only does it have a role in triggering stress in susceptible people, but there’s an obvious role in precipitating relapses once you have it,” Jelinek says. “Meditation changes how your mind and body respond to stress. So people who regularly meditate—and I’ve been meditating for more than 40 years—respond differently to stress than the average person. Meditation has also shown scientifically to have anti-inflammatory effects, pushing the immune system away from inflammation.” The OMS plan recommends 30 minutes daily.

Related: Deepak Chopra’s Advice for Getting Started with Meditation

4. Exercise

“I recommend regular vigorous exercise—at least 30 minutes about five times a week and preferably outside,” says Jelinek, who swims 1500-meters a day and runs at least once a week. Similar to the diet and supplements, exercise also has an anti-inflammatory and anti-degenerative effect. Plus, it lifts your spirits. “Exercise makes you feel a lot better, whether you’re getting better or worse. If you’ve got a disability, it’s important to get a specialist, like a trainer, to help you build up your fitness, starting with a progressive resistance training, adding heavier weights over time.”

5. Medication

“It’s certainly necessary for a lot of people with MS, especially in the beginning, if they are having trouble gaining control over the illness. It takes a while before the body starts to really change and, in the meantime, you may need help to get some stability with the illness before you can continue on your own,” he notes. Consult your doctor to decide what’s the best approach for you.

Feeling Healthier Than Ever

Since adapting the OMS lifestyle, Adelsberger (pictured above meditating) has had only one big relapse of symptoms in 2012. For about 10 days, her right leg and arm stopped working for 20 seconds a few times a day, which caused her to occasionally walk “like a robot,” as she describes. These momentary symptoms would most often occur whenever she’d sit or stand. “They say relapse happens when you have a significant amount of stress in your life and you’re low in vitamin D,” says Adelsberger, who doesn’t recall feeling extra stress at the time, but did up her daily dosage of 10,000 IU of vitamin D.

While her right side remains slightly weaker than her left today, she feels herself becoming stronger through yoga, which she practices twice or more a week, as well as dance and running. Similar to Jelinek, Adelsberger feels she is in a better place than before her diagnosis.

“I’m definitely healthier today. I drink a lot less alcohol, I’m very aware of what I eat, and I try to exercise more—and for different reasons than when I was in my 20’s. Now I use fitness to stay out of the wheelchair,” she says. This new perspective has influenced her body image, too. “I like my body a lot more now. I’m much more mindful and appreciative. I do believe the body can heal itself. If you give your body the right fuel, it is willing to cooperate.”

The post How Natural Remedies Helped Ease My MS Symptoms appeared first on Sonima.

As a young athlete, I felt like losing the ability to participate in sports was a death sentence. After discussing options with my parents, who were determined to find another way to heal outside of traditional medicine, we decided against the brace and I began treatments with a chiropractor three times a week. Because I was young enough, my bones weren’t fully ossified and we could decrease the curvatures in my spine significantly and relieve the physical pain. He told me I could be the athlete that I dreamed of becoming but was required to stay away from high-impact activities. He encouraged me to consider swimming to strengthen the muscles around my spine without stress, encouraging my body to straighten, untwist, and heal naturally.

I joined a swim team and after winning my first swim race, I had found my dream sport and prescription. In four years, I would become one of the best swimmers in the state and in six years I would be part of the two-time Big Ten Championship Swim Team at the University of Minnesota with no back pain and a miraculously improved spine (curvature reduction in double digits). My recovery story was featured on the front page of the local paper and on TV and my experience sparked a lifelong passion for learning about and sharing with others the healing potential of water.

Scientifically speaking, water is a dynamic equilibrium between liquid and gas states and is the most abundant compound on Earth, covering over 70% of the planet. Water has the power of constant change; when cold, it crystalizes and freezes, when hot, it steams, when touched, it ripples. It makes up between 65% and 78% of our body (depending on age), comprising over 70% of our brain, heart, skin, muscles, kidneys, lungs, and liver. Even 31% of our dry bones are water. The more water we lose, the more we deteriorate and when we are only 50% water, we die. We are water in human form.

Water’s structure reacts to any irritation. Its molecules are organized in clusters that work as “memory cells,” so to speak. Within each memory cell there are 440,000 information panels that are responsible for the interaction with its environment, making it nature’s single most malleable computer, according to Rustom Roy, a renowned materials scientist and professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University who passed away in 2010. Whatever water hears, sees, and feels becomes a catalyst for its change as it copies, memorizes, and transports information. Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto demonstrated this with his water crystal project. In this study, Emoto played music, displayed words, and prayed to water while it was freezing, and when the water was frozen it created crystal shapes distinct to each stimuli. When the words and music were positive and loving, intricate crystal shapes appeared, and on the contrary, when sounds and words were negative and harsh, chaotic, incoherent shapes formed.

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This research is especially interesting in light of water’s prevalence in our bodies. “Water serves as a transporter of energy throughout your body…carried by blood and bodily fluids, it is the means by which nourishment is circulated throughout our bodies…this flow of water enables us to live active lives,” wrote Emoto in his New York Times bestselling book The Hidden Messages in Water. This begs the question: What if we can utilize our thoughts and words for positive change while we are in water? Could we rewire our body and mind to default to the balance and peace it feels when in water?

In my experience being in water can serve as a reminder of our natural human state: flowing, changing, self-aware, and resilient. It is all-pervading and in constant flux. In many cultures water is seen as holy and paramount to spiritual enlightenment. In Sanskrit “Narayan” is the name of God in his infinite all-pervading form and translated as “the one who moves in the infinite waters and is also the water itself.” In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu Narayan, God, is known as a universal form beyond the ordinary limits of human perception seen seated in and part of the water. In Christianity, water is blessed and used to cleanse and purify the body and soul before prayer and serves as a centerpiece for welcoming people to the faith in baptismal ceremonies. In Judaism, Mikvah is a ritual immersion bath of natural water (rainwater or spring) used for the purpose of nullifying impurity.

In addition to its spiritual symbolism, water has long been thought of as an element with medicinal and therapeutic qualities. In 2000 B.C. the Ancient Egyptians practiced bathing rituals in hopes of curing ailments. In the Old Testament people soaked in mineral waters for physical healing. The Ancient Greeks used water as a healing agent. Native Americans sat in sweat lodges as a way of purifying the body and mind.

The modern application of water healing is a practice called hydrotherapy, which originated in 19^th century Europe as a method of treating anxiety, pneumonia, and back pain. In the early 1800s, an Austrian farmer named Vincent Priessnitz pioneered the use of water as a treatment for a variety of maladies, often using methods of dipping parts of the body alternately between hot and cold water. While his method was disputed by medical professionals, his “water-cure” was renowned at the time and made him a household name across Europe.

Today hydrotherapy is commonly used as a compliment to traditional hands-on physical therapy. Water helps the body feel weightless and buoyant while providing a natural resistance to movement, making it a perfect medium for rehabilitation and fitness training. Water exercises can help tone muscles, increase range of motion, ease arthritis pain, improve joint flexibility, relieve muscle spasms, decrease inflammation, facilitate low-impact aerobic exercise to support weight loss, and speed recovery from injuries allowing exercise to begin sooner than on land. Other hydrotherapy techniques and tools include underwater massage, water jets, mineral baths, cold plunge, and hot tubs.

Being in water can also improve emotional health and mental well-being. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Swimming can improve mood in both men and women. For people with fibromyalgia, it can decrease anxiety and exercise therapy in warm water can decrease depression and improve mood. Water-based exercise can improve the health of mothers and their unborn children and has a positive effect on the mothers’ mental health. Parents of children with developmental disabilities find that recreational activities, such as swimming, improve family connections.” For me, it provided a second chance by nourishing my mind, body, and soul and reminding me that I was healthy and strong.

How You Can Experience the Narayan Effect
Whether you seek to experience water’s potential for physical healing or mental and emotional balance, these are a few ways you can experiment with this powerful form of therapy.

1. Take cold showers.
It may sound alarming or impossible to do, especially in the winter, but some research shows taking cold showers can increase alertness, improve circulation, ease muscle soreness, and reduce stress. When cold water hits the skin and limbs, surface blood vessels constrict, resulting in a warming and tightening effect on your skin and muscles. Blood flow is redirected to deep blood vessels, thereby helping to limit inflammation and swelling and increasing the volume of blood returned to the heart.

2. Try a bathtub meditation.
Practicing mantra meditation in water could enhance the practice’s soothing impact as the sound vibrations can affect the composition of water in the tub and in your body. This, combined with the experience of being in water, can help soothe the nervous system and relax intense emotions.

Here’s how to try it: Fill the tub with warm water to bellybutton level and sit in a comfortable position. Add essential oils if desired, close your eyes, relax your shoulders, and place your elbows by your sides with your palms facing up, floating on the surface of the water. Call upon the water in your body to merge with the water you are submerged in, inviting the healing properties of water around you and within you to connect. Imagine a circular energy flow starting with the water and entering through your hands, spreading into your entire body and back out into the water. As you imagine the water circle, take an inhale, suspend the breath and chant, “I am water. I am flow. I am balanced. I am strong.” Exhale, letting go of any tension and pain into the water for it to be recycled into health and wellness on your next inhale. Try this for a minimum of 11 minutes, once a week to start, to access a meditative state, and timing yourself if necessary. Increase time to 31 minutes during times of trauma, distress, anxiety, pain or when you feel emotionally overwhelmed.

3. Schedule time in a flotation tank.
The documentary “Float Nation” explored the effects of water floatation tanks, known as sensory deprivation tanks or Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy, and found that floating allows the physical and mental body to let go and feel weightless and turn just about anyone into a “anti-stress ninja.” Research shows that floating helps lower cortisol levels, which relaxes the nervous system, alleviates pain, and reduces negative effects of stress in the body. If you can’t find a flotation center, try filling up your tub with Epsom salts, baking soda, and 10 to 12 drops of your favorite essential oils. Turn off the lights and float on your back with calm mantra music playing and ears underwater. Slowly begin to let go, releasing tightness in each part of your body and letting go completely. Allow your thoughts to float by without following them, as you would in meditation.

4. Swim in natural water.
Just being in a natural body of water such as a stream, lake, or ocean can also provide a restorative meditative experience. Sit in the water with the water just below your belly button and place your hands on your knees with palms facing up. Open your senses to the sound, taste, look, touch, and smell of the water. Take in the sensation and visualize love, gratitude, and peace for yourself and the water you are joined with.

5. Start swimming.
This low-impact exercise is an incredible workout and research shows it can help lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety and depression, and improve the mood of fibromyalgia patients. To maximize the mind-body experience of swimming, practice visualization as you move through the water. Picture each stroke bringing you closer to your optimal health and strength. Integrate a personal mantra as you move to cultivate a positive and peaceful mindset.

6. Hit the pool for an aquatic workout.
Many gyms and YMCAs offer water aerobics and other aquatic group fitness classes. Before and during your class, imagine the water dancing and flowing within you. See the water move without stagnation inside you and be energized by its ability to glide through any pains or aches you may feel, turning them into areas of strength and grace. Actively stimulate and encourage the flow of the water to extend into your limbs and muscles while visualizing a powerful mantra of healing.

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7. Try aqua cycling.
Aquacycling is a relatively new type of group cycling done in a pool with bikes that uses water as resistance. It was developed to heal a knee injury by an Italian physical therapist and it is a low-impact full-body workout for all fitness levels. During classes at Aqua Studio NY in New York City, where I teach a Mantra Flow class, students are encouraged to mentally and physically create a three-way partnership between their body, the water, and the bike for the purpose of injecting strength and healing into their bodies, minds, and hearts.

The post The Radical Healing Effects of Water appeared first on Sonima.