Mindfulness
is a form of meditation and both are often in the media for their link in
stress reduction, increased focus and improved happiness – but did you know
they could help you lose weight and meet your wider new year's resolutions and goals?
Here are five of the top reasons
to make mindfulness meditation part of your year.
1.
Stress
Reduction –
Mindfulness and meditation exercises are scientifically proven
to help
your body to reduce stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline – so you can physically and mentally feel
more rested. You can try mindful breathing by just pausing for a few moments to
notice your breath, observing the speed, temperature and position in the body –
then try to count and extend your breath in and out.
2.
Sleep
better –
not only will meditation help you to feel calmer it can help
with specific problems
such as insomnia. There
are specific techniques that are particularly useful – such as the ‘body scan’
where you start to deliberately pay attention to each part of your body in turn,
moving in your mind slowly from head to toe, in order to bring a feeling of
relaxation into each part of your body.
3.
Increased
happiness –
Research from as early as the 1960s has proven a range of health
benefits through meditation as well as the fact that meditation increases
dopamine (the happy hormone) in our brain.
Dr Benson of Harvard Medical School’s early studies found that
meditation helped to reduce obsessive thinking, depression and hostility, and
help us to be happier. It also reduces
the ‘fear centre’ in our brain so we receive less negative messages from our
brains and more happier ones! Benson also found you can even change the ‘set point’ for
happiness
when affected by challenging life circumstances, by using a
daily meditation practice, in as little as six weeks. More recent studies
confirm how the part of our brain responsible for our happiness actually grows when we practise
meditation.
4.
Weight
loss –
There is a growing understanding of the link between over eating
and our emotions, alongside the role of calorie counting and exercise. Meditation
helps us to understand and monitor our emotional wellbeing and better tune in
to our bodies. It can help us to stop reaching for unhealthy comfort food
in times of stress and sadness.
It can also help give us more focus to stick with our fitness and
diet plans! You can try Mindful eating with the first bite of your next meal
and start to notice the difference. Take
a moment to really pay attention, pausing to look at your food, listening to
any sound it makes as you cook it, open it, cut into it etc. Observe the smell
and then really experience the taste and texture and take note of how your body
reacts to each mouthful.
5.
Sticking
to our Goals –
meditation can help increase focus by making
changes to our brain. It works like a
form of ‘brain training’ growing parts of our brain and helping to build neural connections
that
help memory, concentration and focus.
If you
are curious and would like to give it a try – come and discover the range of
drop in workshops and classes on offer through BalanceTime.
