Friday, July 26, 2013

OMMMMM

Lately I have been trying something called Transcendental Meditation.
I was always curious in practicing meditation or yoga but could never squeeze in the time to do it. Over the last year I attended two yoga classes but was soon stumped with uni work, actual work and my internship to continue going.

I came across an article for this type of meditation the other afternoon and I was interested so I did some research on it and tried it out.
This type of meditation is quite simple actually, you find yourself a comfortable place to sit, you close your eyes and just release everything inside of your mind. Some of us (including myself) have trouble doing this because we are the type of people who always have something to do or want to be doing something productive. However, for this to work, you have to really focus on well, nothing...I couldn't focus on absolutely nothing so I focused on my nose, then my eyes, then my mouth, then my arm and so on. Not focusing to the point you are thinking "Oh, I need to get a nose job" or "Oh, my arms are so fat." Just focusing on your arm, it's functions, what it looks like, etc. I also found myself thinking of places that relax me and make me happy. A place in particular was in Alaska, in nature and by the mountains. I imagined myself breathing in the fresh air and getting away from the daily hustle and bustle. I focused on this and mentally put myself in this place. Once I did this, I was sucked in and I could feel the beginning effects of this type of meditation. Once you find yourself slipping into a careless, relaxed, free, open and euphoric state of mind, continue for another 15 or 20 minutes (if you only have 5 or 10 you should still do it!). Towards the end, you feel extremely satisfied and well rested; it's almost like sleeping for 24 hours straight in the most comfortable, warm, soft bed in a dark, clean, fresh-smelling room.
After the 15 minute session today, I felt very relaxed, stress-free, cleansed in a mental and emotional sense and energized. I already can't wait for my second session later tonight! It is suggested that this type of meditation should be practiced twice a day for 15-20 minutes each time, meaning a total of 30-40 minutes each day.

Also, if you have an sort of chronic neck or back pain, this is perfect for releasing tension. I was relieved to find out this really relieved some of the tension in my neck and upper back. I was in two car accidents over the last 3 years that gave me the pleasure of experiencing whiplash and worsening the previous whiplash injury so I'm not stranger to tense neck and upper back muscles. I've been trying everything in the books, going for various massages and to numerous doctors for relieve, which turned out to only be short-term relieve. Frustrated and tired, literally, of feeling so drained, tight and getting tension headaches, I searched for different yoga and meditation techniques that would help me out.
I found my match, finally!
I don't want to jinx it and have it screw me over in the end, so knock on wood, but so far, so good.

Travel on wanderlusters!

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