Sunday, March 7, 2010

Meditation

Most of us by now know that meditation is good for us. Yet very few do it! We have moving meditation like Tai chi or qigong. We can stand still like a tree(Zhan Zhuang).We can sit or lie down. But still we tend not to make time for meditation. Is it because we are to busy to spend 15 minutes a day or do we really not fully understand the health benefits? The best way to protect ourselves from "chronic stress" is to spend 15 minutes every day in quiet simple meditation. Pick a time - relax your body - breathe into the nose and out the mouth (unless you can breathe out the nose easily) - smile at your heart and create a sense of well being. Then just be! This will elicit a relaxation response. This will reduce stress hormones. This will slow down the electrical activity in the brain. This will reduce inflammation and help your heart become stronger. This will strengthen the neural networks that connect heart and brain. This will increase immune-cell activity and maybe help us sleep better. All this for 15 minutes a day. Plus it's fun!


Tai chi thoughts: Remember! Nothing happens unless YOU take the first step! Dont you agree?