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A Mindful Poem


1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole on the path.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault
It takes forever to find a way out.


2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole on the path.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.


3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole on the path.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.


4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole on the path
I walk around it.


5) I walk down another Street


Autobiography in Five Chapters By Portia Nelson, from Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Visit the main Mindful Meditation page here.



James O’Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.
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Zen Relaxation



The most powerful relaxation method (according to me).

What you need.

  • A warm room
  • A quiet room
  • Your Zen Cushion: 2 tennis balls in a sock.
  • Somewhere reasonably soft to lie down. A yoga mat will do! Your bed or couch will NOT do.
  • Soft relaxing Music, preferable without words or memories

The Zen Breath
The diaphragm is a powerful muscle that assists breathing. It is a large, dome shaped muscle located between the lungs and the abdomen. Your abdominal muscles help move the diaphragm and giving you more power to both fill and empty your lungs. When you use your diaphragm to assist breathing, you allow more oxygen to fill the entire lung and you completely empty the lungs expelling toxic CO2.

To start, place one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage. This will allow you to feel your abdomen move in and out as you breathe.

Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out against your hand. The hand on your chest should remain as still as possible.

Tighten your stomach muscles, letting them fall inward as you exhale through slightly open lips. The hand on your upper chest must remain as still as possible.

More meditation here (Click Here)

 



James O’Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.
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Mindful Meditation


The Benefits of Mindful Meditation

There are many benefits to mindful meditation. Some people believe that it can be the difference between life and death. I would say it is the difference between happiness and despair. The following are a collection of benefits as recorded in scientific research papers that I have read. I do not believe that this list is finite and I’m sure many of you reading this article would add more benefits to this list.

Unconditional loving-kindness and compassion

This has to be one of the best benefits of Mindfulness. Studies have shown that practitioners of this method generate a state of “unconditional loving-kindness and compassion”.  The ability to find compassion when everything around us seems to be rushing towards destruction.

Focused Attention


Neuroscientist Richard Davidson did research on a monk showing his brain producing Gamma waves link to attention, meaning that practicing Mindfulness enables you to listen more carefully, concentrate, and focus a lot better.

Focused Learning

Smiling Body Mindfulness allows the mind to become uncluttered and clear enabling you to learn faster with a higher retention of knowledge. Smiling Body Mindfulness allows our natural innate wisdom to consider this knowledge, access its relevance and efficiently store it for longer term memory.

Better Memory

When you have control over your thoughts it helps create fewer thoughts. Which gives your brain more room to really take in what is going on around you and store information in such a place where it’s easier for you to access because your ATTENTION is zeroed in on what you want to remember thus giving you better memory. In general it puts you in the moment and when you are in the moment you enjoy things a lot more which can help you remember things easier.

Consciousness

A better understanding of who you are always helps. When you practice Smiling Body Mindfulness, you experience an awareness of the real you, your body and your connections to life. Observing your breath, your consciousness develops and expands, giving you a better sense of you and your place in life. In this calmness, you feel connected in a peaceful way to all around you.

Feel less emotional pain

Smiling Body Mindfulness allows you to organise and manage your thoughts more effectively in a balanced way. Emotions are manageable and we can direct the influence they have on our lives with simple brain exercises that can be practiced anywhere at any time.

Manage pain or eliminate pain

Pain is a message from our body warning us to be careful, to take care of a trauma or other organic damage. When organic damage causing the pain has healed and when investigation reveals no organic trauma, sometimes residual pain is felt. Regular practice of Smiling Body Mindfulness allows us to manage that pain and effectively heal the area to a point that no pain if felt.  Monks can withstand intolerable pain from self inflicted injuries after practicing qigong.

Balanced

Each of us knows people who are confident and courageous, who are balanced in times of stress and pressure. This characteristic is generated by regularly practicing Smiling Body Mindfulness. Feeling good about yourself, having the courage to tackle life’s trials is a distinct benefit of Smiling Body Mindfulness.

Brain ages slower

The cortical thickness with meditation. Which the cerebral cortex, it is the outermost sheet of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in some vertebrates. It covers the cerebrum and cerebellum and is divided into left and right hemispheres. The cerebral cortex plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. One study has found some positive association between the cortical thickness and intelligence.

Sleep Better

Smiling Body Mindfulness meditation puts you into such a relaxed state it’s hard not to fall asleep after a few sessions. Smiling Body Mindfulness meditation increases the production of melatonin which creates a super awesome sleep. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature.

Benefits Anxiety

Mindful Meditation keeps you in that relaxed state of mind and in the moment creating fewer thoughts to distract you and make you nervous. Mindful Meditation also increases electrical activity in the left side of your brain which is the part that controls positive emotion and anxiety.

Reduces Stress

Putting our bodies in a deep relaxation in which our breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, and metabolism are decreased. Training our bodies on a daily basis to achieve this state of relaxation can lead to enhanced mood, lower blood pressure and reduction of lifestyle stress. When you focus in meditation you release stressful thoughts and remove yourself from the daily pressures and demands on your body, mind, and emotions. This creates a more positive state, increasing oxygen, blood flow and general feelings of relaxation, love, trust and well-being.

Enhances immune system

Research has shown that meditation increases antibodies and enhances brain-function which will both strengthen your immune system. Meditation also increases electrical activity in the left side of your brain which also acts as a command centre for you immune system. Increased activity in this area of the brain helps make the immune system act faster and produce more defence cells. The immune system responds to negative and positive thoughts, meditation creates conditions in which the immune system can strengthen and increase.

Music Engagement

A study was done that showed doing meditating before listening to music improved focus engagement. Just imagine what you could do better if you meditated beforehand.


Related Articles


How to Meditate Mindfully


FREE Mindfulness Meditation by James

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James O’Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.
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Monkey Mind

Monkeys and Racing Minds


This week I went to the wildlife park on my own without children, grandchildren or significant other. I usually go to visit the monkeys first as I’m a “Monkey”, a Fire Monkey in the Chinese astrology chart, according to my birth date. I sat in front of them and watch their antics. I don’t like to eat food or drink water in front of animals as it encourages them to beg, the monkeys especially! I watched the busyness of these seemingly fun loving creatures. They are just one bundle of activity. I watch the monkeys screech and seemingly fly around, swinging from branches, poles and the cage mesh. Sometimes my mind feels like that, a mess of undisciplined thoughts with no stop sign. If I sit there long enough I notice that eventually they sit down in a corner or on a branch. They may even find themselves a grooming partner. I could fall asleep at times like this.

I wander over to the giraffes and watch these graceful animals glide as they walk. One of them sat down and grazed on some hay. I had never seen a giraffe sit down before, they become so awkward getting into the seated position and her baby sat next to its mother. I sat down to observe this awkward beauty. My mind felt relaxed and I stayed ages just enjoying their relaxed mood.

Just hanging out!

As I left the tranquility of the zoo, I looked at my watch and as if a switch was turned on, I began “my real life” again. “I better move as the traffic is about to start building up and if I make it to the ring road in 10 minutes I could save myself an hour in traffic. If all goes to plan I could be home for 6ish, prepare and eat something and finish off that lecture for next Friday by 8pm, I think there’s a good movie on at 9pm! Ah I’ll get a Chinese take away instead and that way I’ll be able to sit down and relax early, now where did I park my car”?

Sound familiar? Every living creature on this planet of ours is connected in some way. We are all connected to the different moods in our immediate environment. If we connect with happy, calm and tranquil people, places and things, we will find it easier to attain their qualities ourselves. This goes in some way towards our better health, movement, freedom and wellbeing.

Today I find regular mindful meditation helps to build resilience to “stress” and calm the “Monkey Mind”. Its a natural cost effective habit, a good habit, a zen habit. See more about my mindful suggestion here.



James O’Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.
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Mindful Meditate made simple


Setting the mood: This meditation can be enjoyed anywhere, in most situations, in the car, in the kitchen, in a restaurant, in bed, on the beach, however for best results I am usually asked to suggest the ideal situation.

Clothing: You may wear your day work clothes. However it is preferable to separate work from leisure or relaxation by changing into loose and comfortable clothes.

Room: The room needs to be airy, warm and quite (it doesn’t need to be totally silent).


Chair
: Sit in a comfortable chair, back straight, with your feet flat on the floor.

Breathing: Take a few deep breaths to prepare your lungs and blood stream. Breath evenly throughout, preferably diaphragm breaths, “baby breathing”, deep into the abdomen.

Time: Devote 5 minutes and don’t worry about the next thing that’s supposed to happen!.


Some Guided Mindful Meditations



James O’Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.
Please share! Help the word get out. Pin the graphic too.