You may be able to manage stress and high blood pressure, get better sleep, feel more balanced and connected, and even reduce your risk of heart disease by engaging in mindfulness and meditation practices.
Meditation and mindfulness can help you let go of tension and feel more at ease and tranquil. These practices involve breathing, silent reflection, or continuous attention to anything, such as an image, phrase, or sound. Consider it a brief break from the tension in your life! Your body’s natural alarm system is stress. Your breathing quickens, your heart rate increases and your blood pressure goes up due to the hormone adrenaline released. It motivates us to act, which is advantageous when we are in real danger or have a task.
But when it lasts too long or happens frequently, the “fight or flight” response can hurt your body. An effective strategy for managing stress is mindfulness meditation.
Choose a strategy that works for you.
- There are numerous varieties of meditation, such as:
- Compassion (metta or loving-kindness) (metta or loving-kindness),
- insight (Vipassana),
- mantra, mindfulness-based relaxation techniques (MBSR),
- relaxation,
- Transcendental,
- Among others, Zen.
Simply sitting still and paying attention to your breath might suffice. When your thoughts stray (and they will!), gently bring them back to your breathing. Your ability to focus for more extended periods should be gradually increased. If you’re unsure where to begin, seek online meditation sessions, ask friends for ideas, or learn more about meditation techniques that interest you.
Transcendental meditation is a practice that enables you to direct your attention inward while maintaining awareness of external ideas and feelings without allowing them to distract you. Typically, you perform it twice daily for 20 minutes while sitting still and closing your eyes. An object of focus, such as the sound of a bell, chanting, touching beads, or staring at a picture, may be used during mindfulness meditation. Meditation can sometimes take the form of prayer.
Not all forms of meditation require that you sit down, cross your legs, and close your eyes. Yoga, qi gong, and Tai Chi are examples of moving meditation techniques.
