MEDITATION and RELAXATION
There is nothing more rejuvenating—and relaxing—than spending some time meditating. It can bring a feeling of energetic peace and contentment that can keep you going the entire day. It needn't take a lot of time. One of the most popular techniques—Transcendental Meditation—suggests two twenty-minute sessions a day. Even if you can initially only fit in ten minutes a day with whichever technique you use, you'll find it rewarding. And with time easier to fit in longer stretches. All religions use forms of meditation, whether they call it that or not, and no matter where you live you can find low-cost or even free instruction in a variety of meditation techniques. People meditate sitting down, lying down, standing up, or even walking. It can be as simple as focusing on your breath, or as complicated as combining visualization, breathing, chanting and movements all at the same time. We suggest you start with the simple. While there are lots of things we can do for "relaxation", whether it might be watch TV, play golf, or knit, the best relaxation most of us can do is to simply stop and do nothing. True relaxation removes the tension from every part of the body. We offer two such relaxation techniques here. Meditation Hatha Yoga meditation techniques includes downloadable guided meditation audio Holistic Online Extensive information on meditation and its physical, psychological and spiritual benefits. Also includes instructions for a number of meditations from a variety of disciplines. Learning Meditation More than 15 guided meditations that you can listen to on your computer. Meditation Information from Wikipedia Meditation Center Directions of a variety of meditation techniques Meditation Station Website of the Meditation Society of America. Many different techniques. Qigong Meditation Includes the Small Universe and Rainbow meditations Transcendental Meditation Official website of the worldwide TM movement Relaxation Here's one of the most popular relaxation exercises. A full-body relaxation while lying down. It's particularly useful if you're having a hard time trying to get to sleep at night. Progressive Relaxation This exercise is most effective when you record the instructions in advance, preferably in your own voice. This way you don't have to concentrate on remembering the instructions. We'll give you the instructions here. You record them, with a short pause after each sentence to allow yourself time to actually do the sensing and relaxing. Lie on your back, wiggle around until you're as comfortable as you can get, close your eyes, and begin to listen to the tape.
Deep Breathing One of the main reasons many of us are tense is our breathing. Most people breathe very shallowly, using only the top part of their lungs. Deep Breathing allows us to use our entire lungs, providing more oxygen to our bodies, and energizing and rejuvenating every organ and cell in our bodies. It is probably the most effective and beneficial method of relaxation we've seen.
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