Sensing

What did you do last week to simplify your life? This week we continue our Stop the Madness series and explore sensing. This is the ability to tune into the transformative effects of energy, light, and the beauty that surrounds us by tuning out the noise and distractions. Most think of this as meditation.

The practice of meditation has been around for thousands of years, but we’re only beginning to unravel the science behind how this seemingly simple practice can bring about significant changes in both our bodies and minds. Just like physical exercise, the more often you work out, the more benefits you’ll see and the longer they will last. Meditation is the same – it is not the act of sitting idly, trying hard to do nothing. It generally involves finding a focal point, often the breath, observing the mind wandering, and returning it to that focal point.

Through meditation, we get better acquainted with the behavior of our minds, and we enhance our ability to regulate our experience of our environment, rather than letting our environment dictate how we experience life. With recent neuroscientific findings, meditation as a practice has been shown to literally rewire brain circuits that boost both mind and body health. The amazing thing about meditating is that, on top of affecting brain functioning, it can have both short-term and long-term benefits in both brain and body. A Harvard Study showed that eliciting the body’s relaxation response could even affect our genes – in just minutes. They found that meditating (even just once) could dampen the genes involved in the inflammatory response, and promote those genes associated with DNA stability (hello longevity!) Other short-term benefits include reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and improving attention.   It’s fairly clear that in establishing a consistent practice we can experience enduring health benefits.

Something to Think About 
It’s been proven that just five minutes of meditation per day can have all the health benefits listed above, so why don’t we make the time to keep ourselves healthy?

Weekly Challenge 
Take time each day to get quiet and block everything out for five minutes in the beginning of your day and five minutes at the end of your day. You can download meditation music with someone to guide you through the process.

Words of Wisdom
Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day. - Deepak Chopra

In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In daily life, be competent. In action, be aware of the time and the season. - Lao Tzu

Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless. - Mary Kay Ash

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucius

At the end of the day, I can end up just totally wacky, because I’ve made mountains out of molehills. With meditation, I can keep them as molehills. - Ringo Starr