You may think of meditation for spiritually minded people only, but it is so much more than most people believe.

 The word ‘meditation’ is really only a generic statement that gives us a simple way of describing the many techniques that work on our brain waves putting them into an altered state that is, in effect, calming and health promoting instead of health damaging.

 You see, meditation triggers the release of endorphins, which are natures own opiates, so this gives us a great sense of well-being and it boosts our immune system. Although this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the beneficial effects it can provide.

 Simple techniques can be very effective, for example, a meditation I like to use if I can’t shut off the chatterbox in my head at night is as follows.

Nonsense Meditation.

 We talk in our minds in our native language and we all know that this keeps our minds following all sorts of stories, worries, things to do, things that are done and all sorts of anxieties etc, etc.

To stop this, try changing your language to unintelligible nonsense.

If an unwanted thought enters the mind, become aware of it and simply decide to not continue with it, instead return to your nonsense and before you know it, it will be morning. If you still can’t sleep, just remember that meditation is almost as good as sleep itself, so don’t be stressed about not sleeping, you are releasing opiates into your body, (enjoy).

 So what nonsense do I use? What I do is simply say in my mind ‘Blah, blah, blah’ until the thought is extinguished. When the next unwanted thought surfaces, be aware of it and start the ‘blah, blah, blah’ again.

Just try it! It works for me although it does get easier with practice.

Meditation in Action

How about meditation in action, did you know that being creative such as painting a picture is meditation, simply because your mind is focused and you are enjoying yourself.

 Gardening, singing, dancing, yoga etc. are good examples of meditation in action. As long as you are enjoying yourself whilst being absorbed into what you are doing, you are releasing those opiates and improving your health and well being.

 So take up meditation or at least get a hobby and start enjoying those natural opiates!

 Linda

One of the greatest and most helpful techniques I have found is the form of meditation called Mindfulness.  It simple means being in the moment and that is more difficult then it sounds.

At first I found it very difficult and to be honest, a bit boring but I realised that something is only boring if you allow it to be, so I soon changed my attitude.  I practiced being in the moment over and over and I realised that this technique can be applied to almost anything and can in fact increase the pleasure in your life immensely.  I have now changed boring mundane jobs into fun activities using this technique.

I realised that my Yoga practice is in fact mindfulness because I am fully engrossed in it and no other thoughts intrude as I practice it. 

I have not always found it easy to fit in a full yoga routine every day, things have a way of coming up and taking my time.  I strive constantly to make time for myself as I know that my health and happiness is important, yet as a mother and wife I often find making the choice to help my family, overrides the choice to deal with my own needs.

Therefore, I set out to find ways I could build Yoga and the meditation technique called mindfulness, into my daily life without always needing to put aside large blocks of time.  For example, I will do some yoga postures and breathing meditations whilst waiting for the kettle to boil.  If I am stuck in traffic, I will enjoy the time by stretching out some of my muscles and practicing tension relieving techniques. 

Now when I am cleaning the house I put on music to help me enjoy the mundane jobs and I practice yoga dance methods.

I have found ways through yoga and meditation of making almost anything more enjoyable and at the same time increasing my energy levels, my fitness levels and my happiness and decreasing my pain levels

I am passionate about yoga and meditation because it helped and continues to help me live a wonderful quality of life.

Linda

Well-Being through the Art of Yoga and Meditation

I am passionate about yoga and meditation because it helped and continues to help me live a wonderful quality of life.

I used to be terribly depressed because I was in constant chronic pain due to acid reflex, IBS, migraine and arthritis.  The problems with my stomach controlled what clothes I could wear as during the day, as I ate each meal, my tummy would balloon up more and more so that by the end of the day if not before, I would appear pregnant.

This also controlled where and when I went out, I lived in fear of embarrassing myself and in fear of not being near any bathroom facilities.  I looked fat, I could not wear nice clothes and I worried about losing the affections of my husband.

Also, because of the arthritis, I couldn’t walk, dance or do anything active with my family.  I started to become phobic about leaving the house and would draw the curtains and hide away all day long, day after day.

I was in so much pain and there was no hope of ever getting better, or so I thought.

When the doctor first told me I had arthritis and that due to my other health issues could not take any drugs to relieve the pain, I felt very angry and that it was so unfair.  I started to feel more and more like giving up all together.

However, my doctor sent me to attend the pain management clinic at the local hospital, there they showed me yoga exercises and mind control techniques though meditation.  If I’m honest, I have to say my attitude was, this will not work.  I was in too much pain to do the exercises and the meditation stuff I thought was rubbish.  I was angry that the doctors could not relieve my pain with drugs.

To make these changes to my life instead of simply taking drugs was not easy.  However, I came to realise that it was up to me, not anyone else.

I finally understood that the responsibility for my well-being was mine alone and I had a choice to do something about it or continue to live with the terrible consequences of not doing so.

At first I thought meditation was just a religious or spiritual activity, however, I soon learnt it could also be used for better health and so started to practice it to change my negative attitudes into more positive ones, which gradually helped me to cope better with the pain.  I then learned how to use it to reduce pain also through breathing meditations.

I learned how to really relax and cope better with the stresses in my life.  I found by gradually increasing my activities with yoga the pain reduced and my flexibility improved.

I do not have the flexibility of a young fit woman, but I am not young, however, I can now walk, dance and practice yoga to a high level.

I was very close to being in a wheel chair permanently and ruining the rest of my life just because I didn’t know how to change the way I was.  I am so happy I did not give up, because, that was the start of an ongoing journey to better health, quality of life and happiness.

As my health improved, I gained in momentum and began studying meditation and yoga.

If you have similar health problems or if you want to stay healthy and the doctor can’t do any more with drugs and pain killers, try alternatives like yoga and meditation, like my doctor advised me to do.  Even better try the alternatives so that you don’t get to that point in the first place – as the old adage goes, prevention is better than cure and meditation and yoga are so much fun too!!

I tried the alternatives and I am so glad I did.  I now live and work in Spain, I have a great relationship with my husband, I am out going, active and happy and it’s all thanks to yoga and meditation!

Linda

Article on Yoga

Welcome to Hot Power Yoga by Linda R Halbert BA of Olive Branch Retreats.

Yoga can change you, reduce stress and help you regardless of your age or fitness level.

In our retreat program we integrate, breath and movement with intensive relaxation techniques.

Aiming to build suppleness, strength and improve general fitness in mind and body.

The hot temperature is important as it detoxes the body and warms the muscles, reducing the chances of injury.

The power aliment comes with each posture being done with purpose and full attention, therefore relaxing and rejuvenating the mind.

True power comes by focusing the mind on the breath and the postures,

Instead of chasing our thoughts around, thinking of the past or the future and worrying about things we can’t change.

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We at OBR teach with some of the postures flowing continually and some postures being held longer to enable building strength and grace.

We teach you to develop true strength of body and mind, better health, happiness, energy and control over the stress in your life, though the practice of ease of breath, steadiness of mind and the importance of respecting the limitations of your own body.

Yoga benefits everyone; there is no need to push ourselves.

It is more important to be consistent with our yoga practice.

This is why we teach you how to build yoga into your normal daily life without needing to put aside regular chunks of time every single day.

You can in fact do yoga in the car, sat at your desk or waiting for the kettle to boil, the choice is yours.

We all have choices to make every day, little ones we do all the time hardly being aware of them, such as cleaning our teeth or not, however if we don’t clean them we must take the reasonability and the results of loosen them.

Other choices are more urgent, like, we could choose to not pay our mortgage, however if we did this, we must take the reasonability and results of loosening our home.

You could choose do nothing to control your stress levels the choice is yours along with the reasonability and the results of developing health problems.

So come on an OBR and discover how you can learn (Hot Power Yoga) and so much more to reduce your stress and improve your well-being and happiness.

We are expert in well-being here at OBR please don’t ignore your stress levels, let us help you.