With all the stresses in our life in today's day and age, we all need some way to relax and unwind. Having too much stress can not only cause mental problems and anxiety, but can also manifest itself in physical problems as well. Some of these include high blood pressure, hypertension, stomach ulcers, to name just a few of the many. It can effect our sleep habits, sex life and make the relationship difficult. It can effect not only personally, but everyone around you as well.
So how can we rid of all these stressors? Although there are many different ways to do this, and each person has their own, many are starting to take on meditation as a way to relieve stress and anxiety that occur in everyday life. It is not hard to do, is cheaper than therapy, and is very effective. The idea behind meditation is consciously relax your body and mind through various techniques, each having its own methods. Some methods I want you to focus on certain things, as a quiet and relaxing place on the beach, while others simply allow your mind to wander, like sleep, but in a different state of mind.
No matter how you try, there are things they all have in common. The first is that they include deep breathing exercises. Deep breathing is a number of different things. For one, the breathing exercises to get you to focus on something other than stress. You are focusing on your breathing, counting the length of time you breathe in and out. It also gets more oxygen into your bloodstream, which is good for your cells and brain, in order to function properly. It slows your heart beat, because it should not work as hard to pump oxygen through your body. All these work together to help you begin to relax.
the next thing all these techniques have in common is that they need to do every day, at least once a day for twenty to thirty minutes. Some say they need more time, some say less. Many of us do not have that kind of time during the day, but if you spend just ten or fifteen minutes twice a day, and then a longer period of time before bedtime, you will get the same benefits.
Common to all forms of meditation is that you must be in place with little or no distractions. You can use the music if it helps you, and there are verbal things that you can tell that you're focused on meditation, but what is happening around you. It is best to sit in a comfortable armchair, with the lights dimmed. You do not want it dark, or chair so comfortable that you fall asleep, because meditation is not a dream, but a higher state of consciousness.
Many companies today are beginning to realize the need for meditation in the workplace, in order to keep stress levels down. Some companies even require employees to be ten to twenty minute break for meditation, and have rooms set aside for this purpose. The idea is to be more productive to do, but the lost time of employees getting sick from stress at work.
