1. Raise Your Confidence and Reduce Pressure with Meditation

    June 22, 2013

    benefits of meditation

    by Colin Zauner

    There are many situations in your daily life that can contribute to pressure, anxiety, stress, and loss of confidence. If you want to raise your self confidence and alleviate pressure, all you have to do is adopt meditation in your daily routine.

    Meditation is just one of the most effective anti-stress remedies when done regularly. Meditation state could be facilitated by different techniques which include visualizations, affirmations, breathing, mantras, and many others. Though it can be difficult at first, regular practice will make meditation effortless.

    To boost your self confidence, you should learn about affirmation meditations. This is done in a sitting position. You must be relaxed and comfortable, while closing your eyes. You can choose a daily affirmation and it must be said [silently] in an engaging voice. Do this for ten minutes, and don’t forget to observe proper breathing.

    You can also do visualizations. Try to visualize yourself in a confident or self-assured state. This is something that you can do every day and almost anywhere. If you are busy at work, you can squeeze this into your schedule without difficulty. I know some people who, to release work stress, schedule a 5 min slot for silent meditation every 2 hours when in the office.

    To be able to learn everything about yourself and your go deep into your thoughts, you have to practice mindful or present moment meditation. This is an ancient technique, and it is one of the most effective relaxation tools that you can find.

    Meditation also helps you to maintain your inner energy (read on Qigong to see how to improve and increase your energy), here is what you can do:

    ·    Spend more time with people having positive energy and positive mindset

    ·    Calm your mind and meditate. While you are in a relaxed state, you must try to feel the energy that is flowing inside your body. Visualization can serve as your protective shield.

    – You can also increase your energy levels through meditation. There are various ways to reduce pressure and increase positive energy. Just sit still and pick a quiet place inside the room or office. Hang out with positive and energetic friends and avoid the ‘energy vampires’ – negativity draws energy away. You also need to spend more time outdoors. This is your chance to ease the stress and burdens of daily living. Enjoy the sun and fresh air as you stroll at the park or go shopping.

    Meditation should be effortless and it is a great opportunity to do nothing. There are many mindless activities that you can do prior to meditating. For instance, you can stare at the starry sky, read magazines, take a walk, and even watch your favorite TV show.

    Did you know that laughter is one of the best things that can elevate energy levels? This helps the body in boosting the levels of endorphins (or “good hormones”) and it decreases stress or anxiety.

    Start practicing meditation today, your mind needs as much relaxation as your body.

    Image Credit: Mark Sebastian

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  2. 5 Tips To Improve Focus With ADHD

    April 20, 2013

    ADHD and focus

    by Kelli Cooper

    Inability to focus is a hallmark of ADHD; if you are one of the 50 percent of people diagnosed with this condition as a child, who continues to battle the symptoms into adulthood, you may find that this problem comes with much more serious consequences at this stage of life. It can lead to angry bosses and angry spouses; maintaining relationships can be a challenge since people may perceive your behavior as lack of interest. You certainly face a challenge in reigning in this behavior, but there are many coping strategies recommended by psychologists — when applied with consistency and diligence these strategies can help.

    Meditation

    Meditation is all about strengthening the mind and research on specifically looking at its effects on adults and adolescents with ADHD have produced encouraging results; many have reported a reduction in symptoms, such as inattentiveness, as well as less depression and anxiety—both of which may worsen symptoms of the condition. These benefits were achieved through sitting for just as little as 15 minutes a day, so lack of time is no excuse! Find a quiet spot and start reaping the benefits of this simple practice. This practice will help set the stage for a clearer mind that you can bring to all tasks requiring greater focus, whether it is a report for work or a one-on-one conversation.

    Background Noise

    If your inability to focus is rearing its ugly head while you are trying to read, study or complete some other task, some background noise can help reduce distractions. It can be as simple as a fan or some music at a very low volume. A white noise machine may also be a good investment. It is almost like a cocoon that helps bring you into the zone.

    Write it Down

    When everything we need to get done is swimming around in our heads, we may find it hard to focus on the task at hand; we worry we will forget the ten other things we need to get done. By trying to keep all this information in our current space of thought, it is impossible to give our full attention to the present. Never underestimate the simple task of writing things down. Make a list of all the things you want to get done; it is written down, you know now you will not forget and you can relax a bit.

    Have an Accountability Partner

    Most of us could use some outside support in juggling our lives, and this is especially important for people with attention issues; an accountability partner can help you stay on track with everything you need to do. Make a deal with a friend, family member or someone else you trust that you will send them a list of things you need to do each day, and as you finish each task, you will notify them through email or text message. When we make others aware of our intentions, it can motivate us to make good on them.

    Get Moving

    ADHD can cause a lot of fidgeting and urges to get up and move; if you are like many people with this condition, you may feel a need to fight this and stay put. But, research on school children has found that getting up and moving around may actually be beneficial to information processing in an ADHD-brain. So, while you may need to exercise some restraint in not getting up every two minutes, allow yourself to take some breaks and move around a bit. It will help expel some of that nervous energy and refresh your mind.

    Image Credit: Chapendra

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  3. Top 7 Benefits of Meditation: How does it Help Your Body?

    April 19, 2013

    meditation

    There are different ways to achieve a peaceful and happy life. One of the things that you can consider is meditation. Meditation is known to be very effective in soothing person’s mind and maintaining a good psychological and physiological health. In this article, we will talk about 7 main benefits of meditation.

    Relieves stress

    One of the things that can make you healthy is the absence of stress or ability to handle stress. When you are meditating, you are slowly releasing yourself from stress. This is one thing that can help you go on with your everyday work without carrying loads of negativity caused by stress. Spending some time meditating can make you get every single piece that is causing stress out of your system. It is a very important activity that is proven to relieve you from the negative effects of stress.

    Improves the function of the brain

    Meditation can help you clear up the mind and make it function well. The activity encourages your brain to focus and disregard all types of disturbances. This can make you think clearer about your goals and helps you make better decisions. The mind is connected to the body. When the brain is healthy, you will surely have a healthy body. If the brain can relate to the world with positive attitude because of meditation, it can also bring a positive effect to your body.

    Helps heal depression

    Meditation is done in order to achieve peace of mind and focus. People who have anxiety and depression can be treated with the help of meditation. When a person is experiencing anxiety and depression, he needs sometime to understand how he can gain peace within him through meditation. Your emotions can be balanced with the help of this activity. People who have been doing meditation are found to become emotionally stable.

    Helps fight high blood pressure

    One of the advantages of meditation is its ability to eliminate stress that can cause high blood pressure. It encourages relaxation that is highly recommended for people who are experiencing high blood pressure. Few moments spent meditating will surely help you go away from stress that can cause undesirable effects to the blood pressure. The relief that it can give to you is very important. Though you need to consult your doctor for the treatment of your high blood pressure. Meditating is just something that can help maintain low blood pressure.

    Increases your immune system

    Being in a relaxed state allows the body to regenerate and build the immune system. This is effective for people who are experiencing terminal illnesses such as cancer. It is proven by studies that most cancer patients can increase their level of survival with this activity. Cancer cells can increase when the person is stressed out. With the help of meditation, you are increasing anti-cancer agents inside your body that can be very important in combating diseases.

    Helps avoid heart disease

    Heart diseases can be caused by the environmental factors such as stress and problems. With this, it is recommended that people should be avoiding stressful moments in order for them not to acquire any disease related to the heart. When it comes to avoiding heart disease, one should understand that taking a deep breath and meditating can help make the heart function well.

    Helps in the treatment of bowel problems

    If you are experiencing problems like constipation, meditation and relaxation can be a part of the treatment. This is something that researchers have found out. It also aids in problems related to bloating.

    The seven things presented above are just few of the helpful effects of meditation. If you want to be healthy, you need to consider your diets (e.g. medifast diet), and the peace inside you. Sometimes, meditation is a better cure than diet.

    Image Credit: yogamama.co.uk

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