Meditation & Mindfulness

Meditation AND MINDFULNESS

The hectic pace of modern life, social media, family and societal pressures, and currently, a global pandemic and uncertainty can lead to stress and even illness. Experts are united in their recommendation for people of all ages to maintain well-being of body and mind during these unprecedented times. One of the most popular and adaptable means of training the brand to stay positive and focused is through meditation. Meditation is a tool to calm and focus the mind. Defined as a form of mind–body relaxation therapy, meditation can help you calm your mind during times of stress or anxiousness, improving sleep, enhancing relationships and increasing your ability to handle new situations. During meditation, you concentrate your mind on one particular thing, such as your breathing, sounds, body movements and feelings or a mantra (chant). Even though many different meditation techniques exist, the general ideas are similar. Sadhbh Joyce, Senior Psychologist and PhD Candidate at the Black Dog Institute, a national mental well-being initiative explains: “While there are many forms of meditation, all provide for an interplay with the inner world of thoughts and feelings. “Meditation seeks to bring focused attention to the present moment with self-compassion and without judgement. Meditation is a well-established way to help manage common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.” There are numerous physiological benefits of practising meditation. “Meditation can bring the brain into a restful, restorative state,” Ms Joyce continues. “During meditation, levels of the stress chemical cortisone can drop, and individuals may experience other physiological changes such as reduced blood pressure. “Those who regularly practise meditation may experience a wide range of benefits, from stress reduction, to improved attention and pain relief. Meditation can also allow us to develop meta-awareness, so that we recognise when we are getting caught up in difficult thoughts and emotions. This can help us to respond in a less reactive way to stressful events. “Recent studies show that practising meditation can develop neural pathways and build grey matter. Unsurprisingly, we use different parts of the brain and think in different ways when meditating, compared to when we are busily multi-tasking,” says Ms Joyce. Meditation can be done anywhere in just a couple of minutes each day, gradually increasing over weeks or months. For more visit blackdoginstitute.org.au

“Meditation can bring the brain into a restful, restorative state,”