A monthly guide to Feeding and Nurturing your Mind, Body and Soul
To quote a dear friend, “Meditation is far better than mediation during the Christmas holidays.”
Haven’t we all at some point needed to take a deep breath over the Christmas and New Year holidays? With all the extra socialising, cooking, prepping and shopping, it is no wonder we can sometimes lose our patience. Meditation is a beautiful combination of concentration, focus and stillness, and the best part is there are so many ways to practice.
Firstly, you don’t need any special equipment, you don’t need to tie your legs in knots, you even need to be still, let alone seated; it can be for a few moments or a longer time and you certainly don’t need to put pressure on yourself. Meditation comes in many various ways and I hope that over my 20 years of leading meditations, I have a few easy ideas for you to try at home.
Benefits of meditation are vast – relaxation, stress relief, a deeper connection to your body and mind, clarity, peacefulness, energy, focus, concentration, improved sleep, health and soul connection. For me, I feel like I come home when I meditate (and my husband thinks I am a lot calmer too!).
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEDITATION
Candle Gazing – sit with your spine straight, shoulders relaxed and light a candle and place it about eye height. Set a timer for 15 seconds and allow your eyes to relax into the flame, as soon as you realise your attention has gone from the flame, take a break. Slowly try longer and longer times.
Breathing – deep mindful breathing has many benefits, including relaxing your central nervous system (we will cover breathing in another article) and it is also a simple and effect way to meditate. Sit or lie comfortably and become aware of your breath, listen to it, feel it and lose yourself in the sensations of your natural breathing rhythm. When the mind wanders, take a deep breath and practice again.
Guided – Listening to a pre-recorded guided meditation or attending a group session takes you on an internal journey. Visualisation prompts and encourages your mind to leave the place you are currently in and enter deep into a relaxed state of consciousness.
Yoga Nidra – One of my personal favourites, a guided practise where your teacher will gently bring you into a beautiful state of not quite awake and not quite asleep by taking you on a journey around various points in your body.
Music – relaxing music can take you into a deep calm relaxed place or chanting can have the same effect
Visualisation – this can be done anywhere, anytime. Imagine a strong beam of white light coming down from the sky and up from the earth and holding the intention you are grounded, calm and relaxed. This practice can take seconds but also enjoy the imagery for as long as you need it.
New Moon – 4th December in Sagittarius
Reflect on the year gone by and make a list of all your achievements and be clear, bold and excited about what you are inviting in for the new year.
Full Moon – 19th December in Gemini
Are you stuck in the past? Is it time to close that chapter and move forward, let bygones be bygones. Watch out for fickle energy this month, Gemini is known for having two sides and being flighty, be mindful of keeping the balance of your life and think if you need to let go of anything so you can focus on something else.
Affirmation – Every day brings new opportunities to think bigger; uplift my spirits and further my growth
