Balanced

What’s Your Excuse? According to science, meditation has far reaching benefits. According to those that practice, it can change your life. In order to receive the most benefits, I recommend making it a part of your daily routine like brushing your teeth or making your coffee. It doesn’t take long, even ten minutes a day has been shown to be beneficial. And the biggest benefit I have found is that it helps me to be mindful throughout my day. This leads to greater happiness. So … meditation = happiness! Who doesn’t want to be happier? Many people find the word “meditation” intimidating. The thought of sitting for hours in complete silence isn’t for them. Others think it’s too “woo woo” for them, conjuring up images of hippies with hairy armpits and smelling like patchouli. There are more excuses than you can shake a stick at. Here’s a look at a few and my response to those excuses: Meditation is too hippy-dippy, airy-fairy, new-agey for me.  Or what I like to call the Medita...

OK, But What Is It? It’s been a busy three weeks for me, having been out of town for two of them. While both trips were business-related, I always manage to get in a few moments of just flat-out fun. That was especially true this past week, when I attended a week long class in labyrinth facilitation, design and building. New to labyrinths? Not sure what one is? More on that later. So back to my week. The training took place at the Earthrise campus in Petaluma, home of the Institute of Noetic Sciences .  I arrived Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the training was to begin. I had arranged to meet with Philip Helmich of the Shift Network , an organization that is focused on bridging inner peace with international peace. I had met Philip at a Rotary conference and found out his office was on the grounds of Earthrise (how’s that for synchronicity). Philip and I spent about an hour and half together, while I picked his brain on how I could do my part to help promote a more...

On the Go Flow This can be done with or without a mat, it can take ten minutes or 20 depending on how long you want to stay in each pose. Enjoy Your Day! Remember - Inhale to lengthen Exhale to deepen! Begin with standing position lift arms high above your head and stretch with a big inhale then forward bend, exhale Place right foot forward and bend knee Repeat on the left side, hold for one minutes, exhale back to standing Inhale, exhale to downward dog, peddle feet to stretch the calves Walk your feet to your hands, lift your left leg and your left arm Repeat on your right side Release both legs, squat down and place your elbows on the inside of your knees and push outward to stretch the inner thighs Sit down, lay on your back, lift both legs in the air, reaching for your inner feet with both hands for your happy baby. Rock gently back and forth massaging your lower back. Lower legs down and come to seated position, one leg over th...

Yes, please! I love this meditation room, but I only wish it were mine. It's everything I would look for - soft colors, a lot of wood and natural textures, a little bit of the outdoors and some greenery. Although I would add a comfy chair to mine. The thing about meditation is, you can do it any where at any time, no equipment needed. But ... it's nice to create someplace special so that you enjoy being there. I used to use my guest room for my morning meditation. It's quiet and cool, and had some of my favorite things in it. And I felt like it gave my guests a little peace when someone stayed the night. It was nothing fancy and yours doesn't have to be either. In fact here's a little glimpse of it: But then my little old dog decided to start barking every time I went in that room to meditate, so I moved my chair and my meditation practice into the living room. He stays quiet, and I get to meditate with my dogs, and that's nice too. The point is, medita...

Seven Minute Open Chakra Flow The seven chakras are the centers in our bodies in which energy flows through. Blocked energy in our seven chakras can often lead to illness, so it's important to understand what each chakra represents and what we can do to keep this energy flowing freely. The image above is a good representation of the name, location, color and function of each chakra. To keep the energy flowing, hold each of these poses for One Minute: Opening the first Chakra, the Root Chakra located at the base of your spine.  Lie on your mat, place your feet in the air, connect the soles of your feet, lower your heals down, let the knees fall out to the sides. Second Chakra, the Sacral Chakra , located just below the belly button.  Place the soles of your feet flat on the mat, hip distance apart, raise your hips up, shoulders on the mat, chin tucked. Third Chakra, the Solar Plexus , located just above the belly button. Supine Twist, lay flat on the mat, bring both ...

Quieting the Mind Good grief, like I’m not busy enough and now you tell me I have to meditate too? Well, no, you don’t HAVE to meditate, but here’s the thing – meditation will make your life easier. Meditation cultivates mindfulness and it’s this mindfulness that we can use throughout our day to manage our thoughts, our responses to situations and our everyday tasks. Not a day goes by when I don’t read about some new clinical study touting the advantages of meditation. While some of this research is biased, it's clear that mindfulness meditation benefits most everyone (with a few exceptions). If meditating is a foreign concept to you, here’s a little help to get you started. What is Meditation? Meditation is the practice of quieting of the mind.  It is in meditation that we cultivate mindfulness. What is Mindfulness? The closest word to describe mindfulness is awareness, but it is so much more than that.  Mindfulness is the state of “thoughtless awareness” as op...