What can I do to support & love my body?
Breathe work - breathe is key & free! A negative thought or belief will have an effect on your physical body. With this awareness, focus on the following.
Place your hands on your heart and take 3 deep breathes, this will help calm your sympathetic nervous system & bring you into the present moment.
Count to 4 while you inhale through your nose
Hold your breath while counting to 7
Count to 8 as you slowly exhale through your mouth
This helps you to release any fear, anxiety, tension, or energy that’s not serving you.
Repeat at least 2 more rounds, tuning into your body.
Carry on, for a few more deep breathes, if you feel you need too, your body will thank you for it.
Be gentle on yourself. If breathe work is new to you, start off slowly.
Try doing this once a day either first thing when you rise or before you to to bed.
It's the little daily gifts to yourself, that create big shifts in your wellness.
Mahalo
For those who find it difficult to quiet the mind by stillness alone, consider these movement-based meditation options that may be your key to finding inner calm.
Yoga
Gentle yoga often referred to as restorative, has a gentler pace that many other styles of yoga. It promotes attention to breath and tuning into the needs of your body. Other forms of yoga that are gentle specifically designed for quietening the mind are Kripalu, Hatha, Viniyoga and Sivananda.
Walking
Whilst also triggering ‘happy’ hormones, walking is a great way to relax your mind by focusing on moving forward, whats happening in your body and your planned route.
Gentle stretching
Focusing on the breath is a key to moving through stretching positions in a safe way. This attention to breath triggers the slowing down of your heart rate and allows you to “go into your body” to get vital biofeedback, listening to what your body needs as you go.
Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique
Both are considered therapies that are designed to treat pain and improve physical function, using gentle repetition of movement and practicing new patterns of self-awareness. These techniques both provide the tools of “self-observation through movement.”
Dance meditation
Kundalini meditation takes you through four stages of movement starting with shaking out the stress, heading into stillness. 5Rhythms send you on a journey through five different qualities of movement led by a meditation guide.
Traditional Martial arts and movement systems
Qigong, a posture, movement and breathing meditation practice and peaceful martial arts techniques like Aikido and Tai Chi involve the practice of kata, a sequence of movements performed carefully in mindful slow patterns.
Thanks www.mindfood.com for the article.
Contact Leonie Main
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