When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and long-lasting benefits into our lives: We lower our stress levels, we get to know our pain, we connect better, we improve our focus, and we’re kinder to ourselves. ~Mindful.org
Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation helps us to experience the present moment:

focusing awareness on the current state of the body and mind. Our minds have a tendency to want to time travel. Strong emotions associated with our lives, grabs our awareness into focus on traumatic events of the past or anxiety about the future.

Past: remembering trauma or remembering intense feelings of the past

Future: planning often brings anxiety about possible outcomes of the future.

 

There is nothing wrong with thoughts, but often we find that they spiral us into feeling anxiety about the future or regrets and fears of our past.  When we experience a feeling of anxiety or stress our body believes that we are in danger and goes into survival mode.  The practice of Mindfulness Meditation is when we make it a priority to focus our thoughts in the here and now and practice interrupting thoughts that are outside of the present moment.

Mindfulness Meditation can be practiced in many different ways. Grounding is a great way to start and maintain a Mindfulness Meditation practice.

Pranayama Meditation
Grounding the Body

Grounding is the process of coming into the body. Our body does not have the ability to time travel. Your thoughts can remember and plan, but your physical self cannot be in the past or the future. Your body can only be in the present moment. When you focus on the body – you automatically come into the present. There are also some natural rhythms within the body that are soothing. Watching the breath move in and out. When you focus on your current breath and the present moment, this allows the mind, body and spirit to release stress and anxiety that arise from thoughts outside of the here and now.

Weighted blankets help with grounding.

Weighted blankets help calm the nervous system by tapping into the intelligence of your body.  Weight is translated by the body every similar as a hugging sensation which causes the body to relax.  Calming the body cascades into calming the mind, emotions and mood, A calm state is ideal for meditation.

Placing weight on the body can feel like putting on your armor – giving you a sense of feeling protected.  The element earth is solid and strong.  Balancing the earth element helps meditation by offering the sense of safety and security.

The RAVI is also a tool to focus the mind – giving you another access point to focus your awareness in the here and now.  Using focal points helps meditation by giving you an easy anchor in the present moment.

Placing the RAVI on the belly or the chest allows you to add a focus to the breath. Pairing the RAVI with the breath rhythm anchors the mind to the present, calming the body which in turn settles the nervous system by invoking the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

Meditation
Meditation