Relaxation Moments

Relaxation for The Mind and Body

Meditating Throughout the Summer

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Meditating in a summer environment can help you focus on the continuation of life. There is great beauty to be found in existence, and there is a season for everything. As you work to internalize an innate understanding of nature , you’ll be more likely to feel peaceful, complete, and where you should be in your life. When you meditate, you can use your surroundings to help you. Many people try to block out the world and simply look within themselves when they meditate. This can be very useful, but there are also other ways in which you can practice meditation. While you may want to avoid noisy streets and other distractions, you can certainly use warmth and nature to your benefit.

Warmth and Meditation

In order to meditate more easily and focus on what matters to you, you should be comfortable. That means sitting or lying somewhere that makes you happy and peaceful, but it also means enjoying the right temperature. If you’re too distracted on the fact that you’re too chilly, meditation will be more difficult for you. You can escape that challenge by staying warm and cozy during meditation.

The summer is ideal for meditating because the days are longer and the nights are warm. The soft noises of crickets and other small creatures can bring you peace and make you feel more connected with the world around you. As you start to relax and feel more comfortable, the warmth will help you focus on harmony and joy.

Avoid meditating in the extreme heat, as that can make you feel worse and result in a heat stroke. Instead, find a place where it’s simply warm and comforting.

Evenings in the summertime are often good for meditation, and the pitter-patter of rain can be peaceful as well. If you live in a desert environment, rain can bring about relief, great joy, and a deep appreciation for nature that you can use to help focus your meditation.

Grow and Develop Throughout the Summer Months

The object of meditation is growth, and the summer months provide several factors that you can use to speed that growth along, such as:

  • Warmth
  • Longer days
  • Quiet, restful, peaceful nights
  • Occasional rainstorms to renew and refresh you
  • A break from school or work
  • A stronger bond with nature and existence

There are many ways you can benefit from the warmth of summer when you want to meditate. The longer days are often helpful, and perhaps you’ll vacation, so you may have lower stress levels than you otherwise would. Even if you’re not able to take a break from work or school, you can still use meditation to help you feel better, calmer, and more relaxed.

Focus your mind on the beauty that summer has to offer. Blooming plants, quiet nights, small creatures and insects, rain, and the joy of being part of the cycle of life and existence can all be wonderful triggers for meditation and help bring peace and happiness.

Use what works for you. Everyone is different, and meditation is a very personal experience. The way one person uses the summer might not be the same way someone else uses it. Your meditation time is your own special getaway. Take the warmth, peace, and beauty of summer and use it in the way that feels most comfortable to you.

6 Incredible Health Benefits Of Mindfulness

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By Greg Thurston

Creator of Seven Minute Mindfulness

“Mindfulness” is a bit of a buzz word right now, but that doesn’t mean that you should discredit it. Being mindful is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind!

But you might not be sure what it is. Is mindfulness just being more aware? Or does it mean clearing your mind?

Being mindful, in one sense, is like simplifying things. Normally we try to multitask all day, worrying about 20 things while doing 10. That doesn’t work too well.

Being mindful means focusing on the present moment. Being fully here. It allows you to attend to what’s going on right around you and inside you. So it simplifies things because you can just enjoy the present moment.

You can mediate to be more mindful, and you can practice it throughout your day. Whatever you’re doing, give it all of your attention. Be proactive about putting down your other worries and being present in what you’re doing and who you’re with.

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You’ll gain inner peace, happiness and feel ‘uncluttered’ in your life.

Mindfulness a gift that we don’t give to ourselves much. In fact, our society teaches that we should be getting as much done as possible all the time, which leads to burnout, stress, health problems, and lower productivity.

Mindfulness, on the other hand, offers the opposite, so let’s take a look at all the benefits of mindfulness.

1. Mindfulness reduces stress

Let’s start with the biggie. In today’s world, we really battle stress from all sides.

If we carry around all the things we have to worry about, our mind never gets a break. That’s why so many people are completely burned out, feeling down, and stressed to the point of panic attacks or needing medication.

This kind of worrying steals away any chance of joy or relaxation in our day. You probably know how it goes: you’re sitting at your desk at work, stressed about a deadline, and also about a disagreement with your partner, and some tension you’re feeling with a coworker, and the company party you’re supposed to attend tonight…

Constantly carrying all of these things and feeling continued stress leads to:

  • Restless sleep
  • A racing mind
  • Low energy
  • Feeling irritable
  • Feeing defensive
  • Getting angry easier
  • Panic attacks
  • Constant panic
  • Headaches, body aches, migraines
  • Jaw pain from clenching teeth
  • Tight shoulders and back pain
  • Depression

As you can see, trying to keep everything on your mind leads to all kinds of problems, resulting in lower productivity and even worse things.

We might even feel guilty if we forget to worry about something. Do you ever do that? You’ll finally get absorbed in something and it feels really nice, but then you remember all the things that aren’t resolved, and you feel guilty for letting yourself have a few minutes.

But you need those minutes!

Being mindful and present will allow you to get absorbed in what you’re doing, give it your full attention so you can do better, and you’ll feel more clear and mentally energized.

Your body and brain wasn’t made to handle constant stress. It’s so much healthier to be present and put aside the other pressing thoughts.

Challenge yourself to be mindful in one activity a day: a walk, mediation, making a craft, writing, drawing, singing, or something else you enjoy.

See how it feels to let yourself be fully present with that one thing and not having thoughts about anything else. And then see how you feel the rest of the day.

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2. Mindfulness creates better health

Being mindful and present lowers our stress levels and also centers us, bringing many health benefits.

You might notice that you’re calmer after practicing mindfulness, your head feels more clear and focused, you’re more productive, and more alert.

Being mindful greatly benefits your mind, and that in turn benefits your body and overall health.

People who practice being mindful have higher brain function, an increased immune function, lower blood pressure, lower anxiety levels, and are more calm.

We’ve heard this for years, but experts were talking about meditation and yoga. Both of those are ways to be mindful!

3. Mindfulness decreases depression symptoms

When you decrease stress and improve your health, that can help with depression.

Mindfulness does that and more. It’s been considered an effective part of overall depression treatment for a long time.

Being mindful often helps people see and acknowledge their feelings, and that leads to better coping. Being mindful and let you say, “I see that I’m feeling that way, and that’s okay.”

Being mindful engages the observant self, so you can notice how you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking, but not get completely sucked into those feelings. You can step back and analyze the situation better.

4. Mindfulness increases Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is one of those fun words (in my opinion) that show you what they mean. Neuro, or brain, plus plasticity, or being flexible.

Think about how plastic can be soft and pliable.

Being mindful helps your brain increase its ability to change and adapt, which is pretty important to our survival even though we’re not back in the caveman era.

In a simple sense, neuroplasticity refers to how our brain grows, learns, and changes. When we change our mind or learn new things, we actually make new pathways.

But this has bigger scientific implications. When someone has a stroke and has to relearn how to walk, they’re actually learning how to re-circuit their brain around the damaged area.

Imagine how much stronger your brain will be if you practice mindfulness and therefore improve neuroplasticity. That’s a huge advantage for dealing with all of life’s curves and for any brain damage you might suffer.

5. Mindfulness helps you deal with illness

Studies have found that mindfulness helps people with cancer and people with chronic illness-even terminal illness.

I can see why being in the moment more would help someone enjoy life day by day. Research has found that mindfulness helps cancer patients reduce stress while relieving fatigue.

For many, mindfulness increases our spirituality and sense of purpose, and it helps people handle their emotions regarding their illness.

Mindfulness can greatly improve life for people with chronic pain, such as low back pain. It helps patients focus on something other than the pain.

6. Mindfulness helps recovery

We’ve seen all the ways mindfulness benefits our mental and emotional health. It also helps us physically when we need to recover from illness.

This is probably due to all the other benefits of being mindful.

We have better focus, we’re less stressed, we feel more at peace, and so we’re happier.

We’ve talked about some big areas where mindfulness helps. To zoom in a bit, here’s a list of more specific ways that being mindful improves our lives:

  • Better mental health
  • Less stress at work
  • Better emotional regulation
  • Less problems with alcohol and drugs
  • Less depression and anxiety
  • Better performance at school and work
  • Better relationships
  • Better self awareness
  • Less burnout
  • Better able to cope with ups and downs
  • More resilience

We’re just healthier when we’re more mindful, because people aren’t really made to multitask 5 things all day long and always worry.

We can benefit from slowing down and enjoying the present moment. Why let other things detract from what you’re doing? You can give those other things your attention in due time.

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This method will make your mind as calm as water…

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It will fill your life with joy and satisfaction…

And teach you how to easily defeat any life problems that you may be facing.

And it only takes 7 minutes!

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How to Write Your Own Affirmations

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Affirmations are used by many people, and they have the strong ability to lift your spirits to get through hard times. They are also good to set your mindset for relaxation and help ease stress.

Affirmations help us to keep a positive attitude about life. It’s only natural that we’ll get more out of these positive sayings if we formulate them ourselves. Writing our own affirmations makes them personal to us, which can then help us to get through our own individual situations.

When you start writing your own affirmations, keep these tips in mind:

  1. Make them personal. When you write affirmations, it’s important to remember to use “I” in them. They are personal to you after all.
  • Example: “I am having an exceptional day today!”
  • Use the present tense. Affirmations are built in order to change our feelings now, which is why you want to stay positive and strong in this moment. When you use the past tense, you get nostalgic. When you use the future tense, you get hopeful. The present tense helps you feel the difference right now.
  • Example: “I am feeling relaxed.”
  • Be down to earth. This just means to use your own style and try not to make your affirmations too formal or wishy-washy. You want to capture your own voice.
  • Bad Example: “Presently I feel the urge to enjoy my existence.”
  • Good Example: “I enjoy my life.”
  • Be short. Affirmations are meant to be short, simple and sweet. Stay on target and make your affirmation a one-liner. If it’s too wordy, try breaking it up into a few affirmations. The trick is to stick with one simple idea at a time.
  • Example: “I am in perfect health.”
  • Make it positive. Affirmations are positive statements, so avoid negative words like “not.” You’re using affirmations to make a life improvement and positive statements motivate you to make this improvement.
  • Example: “I am at peace with my mind.”
  • Make it believable. You don’t want your affirmation to sound like something out of this world. If it’s not believable, you won’t take it seriously and your subconscious will just dismiss it.
  • Example: “I am choosing to be happy today.”

Believe in the Power of Affirmations

When you say your affirmations, believe them to be true. Affirmations are truly powerful sets of words as long as you believe what you’re telling yourself.

Affirmations alone have been known to help people cure addictions. Women even use them during childbirth to help them stay calm and collected during natural delivery.

First, set your eyes on your goal and then write your affirmations to get yourself there.

Write Them Down

Practice always makes perfect. Write down the affirmations you’re feeling. Then go over the list above and make sure that your affirmations follow the rules. Once they do, start using your affirmations and feel the difference. Say your affirmations to yourself daily. Take deep breaths and keep your eyes on your goal.

Also if need be, tweak your affirmations. These positive sayings aren’t written in stone, so as you change, your affirmations can change, too.

It’s best to keep your affirmations in a place where you can see them. You can simply keep a list in your pocket or you can post them around the house. Paste them on the bathroom mirror, on your computer, or wherever you know you’ll see them each day.

Affirmations can make all the difference in reaching your goals. Give them a try and enjoy the benefits these positive statements can make in your life.

Benefits of Gratitude

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5 Benefits of Gratitude

There are many benefits of gratitude.  Showing your gratitude can be a great way to spread positive feelings in the world around you. When you think about it, reaching your goals starts with a single positive thought.

How do you feel when someone sincerely expresses his or her gratitude to you for something you did? Doesn’t it make you feel good about yourself? These positive feelings can lift you up, boost your enthusiasm, and motivate you to achieve even more.

Feeling grateful for what you have can produce the same good feelings.  Learning to be grateful for your blessings will help you forget about the stressful events in your life and will erase your negative thoughts and worries and will become a part of your relaxation lifestyle.

Here are some of the benefits of gratitude:

  1. Reaching your goals. When you feel grateful, it tends to be a lasting and selfless feeling. It’s much more than just a momentary burst of positive energy; it has staying power that will provide a great boost for you to reach your goals.  When you express your gratitude to others, ensure that you’re open and expressive. People don’t know what you’re thinking; hearing it can make all the difference.
  1. Strengthened relationships. There are many ways you can express your gratitude to your loved ones, including saying, “Thank you,” writing a letter, or giving them a thoughtful gift. When you learn to avoid taking your loved ones for granted, you’ll have a long lasting and loving relationship.  Showing gratitude is a two way street. Learn how to effectively express your gratitude and, just as importantly, to receive it as well.
  1. Improved communication. Gratitude can mean better communication all around. By expressing your gratitude to strangers, they’ll be more likely to show an interest in helping you, too. Gratitude is such a powerful entity that it can even help you communicate with your pets! They should be appreciated too.
  1. More effective constructive criticism. No matter how we express constructive criticism, it often makes the recipient defensive or even angry. No one likes a blow to the ego. In this situation, a grateful attitude can take you a long way. You can express criticism quite effectively when you also emphasize what you appreciate about them.
  1. Preserving memories. You can preserve memories in a positive way when you keep a gratitude journal. You’ll be able to enjoy your memories again and again when you read about these happy times in the future.

Ways to Show Your Gratitude

Showing gratitude is something you can do quite easily and all it costs you is a little bit of time and effort.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Tell your loved ones you care for them.
  • Hug a friend who’s hurting.
  • Smile at a stranger.
  • Write to a company whose product or service you really love.
  • Make time to listen to someone who needs to talk.
  • Spend some time out in nature, appreciating the beauty of creation.
  • Volunteer your services or help someone in need.

You can also show your gratitude just for being alive by treating others well and being kind to yourself. Relaxing and taking time to unwind from the stress of everyday life is very important, and you’ll be happier and healthier because of it.

Show Your Gratitude Every Day

Showing gratitude to others may seem like a selfless act, but it’s something that you also benefit from. When you show your gratitude every day, you change the way you think.

You’ll appreciate your good life when the majority of your thoughts remain positive. Negative thoughts can sometimes be overwhelming, and just because you have them doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. They happen to everyone, but you can strive to keep them to a minimum with the help of a grateful attitude.

One way to show your gratitude every day is to remind yourself of the big picture when a negative thought arises. If a petty argument with your spouse makes you feel angry and heated, take a deep breath and think for a moment. Remember that the argument is not permanent and, instead, feel grateful for the gift of this relationship.

Our days on this earth are numbered so we must cherish the time that we do have and enjoy the benefits of living each day as if it were our last.

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