Meditation was the soft place I fell 7 years ago when my resilience was challenged in ways I never anticipated. If your anxiety and stress are zapping your energy and your resilience, meditation can be helpful. Try a free practice below...
There are lots of articles on what grounding is...you can do some exploring on your own for this topic. I'm not an expert on what grounding is or is not, all I know is that I am much more apt to notice when I'm NOT grounded than when I am. And yep...I'm working on it. Grounding for me is sort of like feeling mentally centered but on a much deeper, physical level. You might feel like your mind is calm when you're centered, but your whole body will feel drawn down and squared with the earth when you're grounded. Grounded is good.
Whether we believe it or not, we are powerful creators in our own lives. Our souls long to create and find moments of happiness and joy in the little things in life.
If you have been feeling less than your best and are looking to connect with the joyful side of yourself, you owe it to yourself to explore what makes you feel good. Sometimes that take some reflection and some exploration, but I do know that when I reset and recharge I usually feel better.
Try this relaxing body scan the next time you need to cultivate a little calm for yourself!
Peaceful feelings seem to be in short hand these days am I right? If you're anything like me, the new normal is a little exhausting and fearful or anxious thoughts may have you spinning.
But taking some time to to breathe deeply can be an anchor for you amidst the storms of life.
Explore this Whole Body Breathing Meditation whenever you need a few moments to collect your thoughts and tap into your resilience quotient!
I am not a teacher, expert or coach. But I am a person who found a way through. My experience with meditation came from needing to create space in an increasingly uncertain world, where fear and worry dominated my days.
The resources I am sharing have been ever faithful companions--rocks to cling to in the storms of life. I struggled to commit to meditation for years until I found a program called Headspace. One of the greatest things I've learned is that showing up for meditation on the good days, is precisely what helps you show up for meditation on the bad days. Is it easy to show up and meditate every day? No. Is it worth it? Yes.
My two favorite meditation apps are Insight Timer and Headspace. I'll go through them briefly here; feel free to reach out with a message if you have questions about my experience with both.
Headspace - is wonderful app for a beginner who is looking for more guided meditation practices that help structure your experience. There are courses that cover specific topics like Stress management, anxiety, sadness, self-esteem, anger, navigating change, loneliness, happiness, and even pain management. I love this app for the streak feature, and how it lets you "buddy" with your friends who are looking to improve their mindfulness. You can send encouragement right through the app. There are also sleep support programs that include: wind-downs, sleepcasts, nightime SOS's and sleep music. I got to sleep every night listening to a Sleepcast. My faves are: Midnight Launderette, Rainday Antiques and Sandy Cove. Headspace has some FREE content currently due to the Pandemic so it is worth checking it out; otherwise it is a membership I will continue to support as it has supported me so much over the years.
Insight Timer- is FREE. Just let that sink in. So much free content in terms of meditations, music, talks. The community piece in this app is lovely and you can sign up and follow people you jive with to see what they are meditating to. You can also message your friends directly in the app. This app has the most amazing free meditation timer that comes with zen-d out tones or music and you can add "mindfulness bells" to your timer. I love this feature for Reiki self-practice to remind myself to move hand positions! Insight Timer has a premium option that I am exploring this year. It give you access to Courses, hundreds of courses that I love exploring. If you've been looking for reasons to cut your Netflix and Chill hours to explore something deeper, this may just be for you. I am loving my investment in the premium portion of this app and I like that it helps support the teachers who put their content into the app.
The best part about meditation is finding what works for you and then doing more of that. I have created a few practices that I find support stress reduction and relaxation.