This is a major part of working with and controlling your thoughts. To achieve your goals, you must learn how to release your mind from negative conditioning and patterns of behavior that have not served you in the past. Meditation, affirmations and visualization are tools that will help you. Meditation improves our self awareness which will help combat stress. Clinical studies have proven the benefits of meditation in helping reduce migraines and headaches.
One of the major causes of illness in the western society comes from the stressful life styles we lead. Any change in our lives is potential stressful. Major changes such as marriage, divorce, birth or death in a family or any financial problems, and our jobs, are just some of the changes that cause great upheaval. Our stress levels increase. When stress becomes a regular feature in our lives, our energy levels become depleted and our immune system is weakened and this can result in serious illness. Meditation is one of the best ways to help calm the nervous system to regain your health.
Some people are already aware of meditation through the practice of yoga. The practice of meditation requires that you clear your mind of any thoughts, especially negative thoughts and fears and find a connection with your “inner self” or your “inner world.” To meditate effectively, you must develop powers of concentration and allow thoughts to flow freely. Breathing, as in yoga, is a large part of meditation. Your breathing should be deep and effortless. I personally start by silently counting as I inhale and then as I exhale – usually the count is between 5 to 7 for in and 5 to 7 for out. You will find that this will set a pattern and you will only have to do this for the first few breaths.
At Health Through Healing Hands, we advocate the use of meditation, affirmations and visualization.
Meditation is best practiced in a quiet place away from noise and especially phones- turn them off! Some people like to chant mantras while meditating. Mantras are chanted sounds, syllables or a group of words like “om, om” repeated over and over. They resonate throughout the body in a calming way. To learn to meditate takes practice but it is well worth it. You can easily find meditation classes or start yoga and learn it there. There are several CDs and DVDs about meditation.
Affirmations are a group of words stated in a positive fashion and repeated many times throughout the day. They are to be stated in the present tense not in the future tense. They are a way of reprogramming your subconscious mind. Affirmations can be stated during meditation while you are in that relaxed state.
Visualization is just visualizing what you are affirming. If you want to drive your “special” car, whatever it maybe, visualization yourself in the driver’s seat – see what color it is in, smell the interior, see the color of the interior, imaging you are driving it. This is the power of visualization – you can take yourself where you want to be. Constantly thinking these thoughts will create a pathway to your subconscious mind and whatever it is that you want will be yours.
“The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this:decide what you want.” Ben Stein
