yes your entire self
Main Health Benefits: Reduced Stress with Increased Happiness Buddha was asked :
’What have you gained from meditation’? He replied ‘It’s not what I have gained,
let me tell you what I have lost; anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, fear
of old age and death’. Sympton Reduction - reduced stress, anxiety with
increased life quality Biological Markers - positive changes in cortisol levels
affecting the immune system Neuorplasticity - the brain's ability to change in
response to life circumstances & learning MINDFULNESS – FORMAL AND INFORMAL
There are two ways of practising mindfulness; the formal way and the informal
way. Formal mindfulness is better known as meditation. It involves following
established practices taking time out of your day to be still and silent, to
focus on your breath, to be aware of sounds, senses, thoughts and feelings. It
can also involve totally clearing the mind. Informal mindfulness requires no
conventions. It simply means bringing mindful awareness to everyday life, to
daily activities such as eating, walking, driving and housework. Informal
mindfulness is also part of your interactions with other people, at work, at
home and in your social life. People have been practising mindfulness for
thousands of years. It is stated it originated from ancient Buddhist, Hindu,
Chinese and Tao Te Ching philosophies. However, some may suggest that it has its
roots in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. To give an idea of dates; Buddhism was
founded around 400-500 BC by Siddhartha Gautama who was referred to as the
Buddha. My feeling is that I am just grateful for all those who have practised
before us from all corners of the world, inviting this practice into my life to
bring calm into the chaos. 'The role of such mindfulness practices is to keep
the mind properly grounded in the present moment, decreasing reactivity to what
happens in the moment. It is a way of relating to all experience - positive,
negative and neutral - such that overall levels of suffering are reduced and a
sense of wellbeing is increased' (Germet & Fulton, 2005). Today there are a
variety of definitions within the Eastern and Western approaches. We are
indebted to Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn for bringing the benefits of mindful practice to
the West through his Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme (based
on a type of Buddhist meditation called Vipassana). Dr Kabat-Zinn defined it as
'paying attention with purpose, non-judgemental and while in the present moment'
(Kabat-Zinn, 1994, 2005). Over the years, I personally have benefited physically
and mentally from mindfulness by: making time for 'non-doing' allowing me to be
still enough to tap into my 'inner voice' living my experiences in a
non-judgemental way, accepting as it is, letting go of my need to 'control'
bringing moment to moment awareness to my physical body, thoughts, feelings and
emotions What I have learned is that Life happens all around us; sometimes we
can select what we experience and other times the experiences are a natural part
of life. Either way, mindfulness practice has supported me to recognise the
difference if I only honour myself enough by giving time to do
mindfulness/meditation practice. Mindfulness is a way of life, a choice of
behaviour and thinking. WHAT IS THE UNIVERSAL LAW OF ATTRACTION (LOA) Main
Health Benefit: Learn to listen to your Inner Coach, not your Inner Critic In
accordance with the Law of Attraction, you attract into your life those things,
circumstances and conditions that correspond with the nature of your dominant,
habitual thoughts and beliefs, both conscious and subconscious. The basic
premise of the LOA is that like energy attracts like energy. The belief is that
as we came from ‘source energy’ in order to attract what we want, we have to
resonate with the energy of the Universe’s vibration by feeling, thinking and
visualising our wants/purpose in life. However, taking specific action is always
needed. As our focus is on LOA the more general lesson is that being positive,
proactive and loving attracts more of the same into your life. Meanwhile
pessimism, fear and lethargy will lead to a more negative experience in all
aspects of life. By working to live more positively even just today, you’re
already using the LOA to create a better existence. There are however 12
spiritual Laws of the Universe which are a network of interconnected spiritual
laws that can impact on every aspect of your life. These laws can be used to
assist in Law of Attraction work. WHAT IS NATURE THERAPY Main Health Benefit:
Boost your immune system with relaxed mind and body. Nature Therapy can also be
known as forest bathing, forest being or Japanese Shinrin-Yoku and describes the
practice that combines a range of exercises and tasks in an outdoor environment.
Garden therapy, horticultural therapy or ocean therapy may be viewed as forms of
nature therapy. Many studies show diminished stress, reduced blood pressure and
positive effects on the immune system.
