According to the latest report published by Data Bridge Market Research, the Meditation Market is anticipated to grow at a steady pace over the forecast period 2020 2027. The report sheds light on the various trends and restraining factors that are expected to shape the growth of the Meditation in the upcoming years. The report ponders over the various parameters that are expected to impact revenue generation, sales, and demand for the Meditation in the various regional markets.

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Meditation market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to account to USD 9.0 billion by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 10.40% in the above-mentioned forecast period. The growing awareness amongst the individual and world population about the hidden power of meditation and its unconventional outcomes for the health benefits to lead a healthy life is driving the market growth exponentially in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027.

The major players covered in the meditation market report are Simply Better Apps, Smiling Mind, Inner Explorer, Inc., Committee for Children., Stop, Breathe & Think PBC, Breethe. Life , Simple Habit, Inc., Calm. HEADSPACE INC, MINDSET Brain Gym Toronto Inc, Inscape among other domestic and global players. Market share data is available for Global, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America separately. DBMR analyst understands competitive strengths and provides competitive analysis for each competitor separately.

Market Drivers:

The up-and-coming tradition of thoughtful awareness is serving in inclination of organizations endeavoring mindfulness meditation. The swelling predominance of subconscious health dysfunctions, such as mood complications and anxiety troubles, over multiple age assemblies are rising in an extensive shift to the meditation market

This meditation market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localised market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on Data Bridge Market Research meditation market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction 2. Market Segmentation 3. Market Overview 4. Executive Summary 5. Premium Insights 6. By Component 7. Product Type 8. Delivery 9. Industry Type 10. Geography

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Global Meditation Market:Segmentation

By Product (Meditation Programs, Yoga Centers, Apps, Websites, Books, Online Courses, Workshops),

Mental Disorder (Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders),

Type (Focused Attention, Open Monitoring, Self-Transcending Meditation),

Meditation Type (Sophrology, Kundalini Yoga, Mindful Fitness Surges),

Information Source (Books, Newspapers, Internet, DVDs, Articles)

Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherland, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia- Pacific, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East & Africa)

Opportunities in the market

To describe and forecast the market, in terms of value, for various segments, by region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW) The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Meditation Market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies To strategically profile key players and comprehensively analyze their market position in terms of ranking and core competencies, and detail the competitive landscape for market leaders Extensive analysis of the key segments of the industry helps in understanding the trends in types of Meditation across Glob. To get a comprehensive overview of the Meditation market.

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Global Meditation Market 2020:Industry News, Business Growth, Top Key Players Update, Business Statistics and Research Methodology by Forecast to 2027...

In these uncertain and stressful times, people are looking for tools to deal with overwhelming emotions, anxiety and fear. To help people tide over these times, and help them find answers, The Art of Living is organizing a free 21 Day online Meditation Challenge, where participants will be introduced to a unique guided meditation by global spiritual master, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar every evening at 7.30 PM. The meditation sessions will be short, sublime, powerful and relieve stress instantly, making one feel calmer and more settled. Also Read - Rabindranath Tagore's 79th Death Anniversary: 8 Interesting Facts About Indias First Nobel Laureate

Across race, gender, financial status, the pandemic has affected peoples mental health. A recent survey showed that 65% Indians have suffered and experienced moderate to severe stress post lockdown. People reported experiencing feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration, irritability, and loneliness, particularly among students and working professionals. Also Read - Singer Asha Bhosle Debuts on YouTube with 'Main Hoon' Song on Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's 64th Birthday

Why take up the 21 day Meditation Challenge? Also Read - Kartarpur Corridor Inauguration: Pakistan Invites Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Talks About 'Violence-free World'

It is said that any good habit takes atleast 21 days to form. Similarly, the meditation challenge which begins on 1 September, will hone the nervous system to fully benefit from the depth and clarity brought about by meditation practice, while leaving one feeling totally relaxed, light and at ease after each session.

With more than 3,000 published scientific studies, the benefits of meditation today are common knowledge. Benefits of regular meditation practice include clear thinking, increased energy, stress-relief, better physical health, stronger immune system, improved relationships and greater peace of mind. In 2017 at the World Psychiatry Associations Annual Conference, a study on the effects of meditation, on cardiovascular health, nervous system and clinical depression received the award for best research.

_Level of expertise?_

Whether one is a beginner or a seasoned meditation practioner, this challenge is for everyone to benefit from. Between March and May this year, Gurudev led meditations twice a day since 22nd March with over 100 million views where participants reported feeling well-rested, clear in their head and emotionally balanced.

_Where can you log in?_

The challenge will be hosted on Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar official YouTube channel.

YouTube.com/srisri at 7:30 pm

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Looking to Learn Meditation in The Pandemic Times? Here's a 21 Day Meditation Challenge to Help You Find Your - India.com

Mirror-clear waters of Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana.

Although we could have done the hike to Avalanche Lake in a quick 3.5-hour round trip, that sort of defeated the purpose.

After all, this was Glacier National Park, one of the most remote and majestic places in the United States, in northern Montana along the Canadian border. It was my first visit and the first time hiking here for Clint, my friend and traveling companion for the day, and we were not likely to return anytime soon. Plus, after months of COVID-19 lockdown, being out in nature felt like a luxury to savor slowly, even on this gray June morning.

So we followed the Going-to-the-Sun Road and took our sweet time hiking, stopping to marvel at gushing ice-blue waterfalls; appreciate the dense forest of western hemlock,red cedar and mammoth, gnarled, overturned roots; and quietly commune from a distance with a family of mule deer.

Waterfall along Avalanche Creek, Glacier National Park, Montana.

After about 2.5 hours, we arrived at Avalanche Lake, and it was everything we had hoped for. During our hike, the clouds had lifted and a warming sky reflected in the lakes mirror-clear waters, encircled by steep peaks. On the farthest face: snowcaps of the Continental Divide, feeding three elegant ribbons of waterfalls that in turn fed the lake.

On the lakeshore, we came across painters from a local art club, simultaneously engrossed and at ease as they created their lakescapes. Nearby, families oohed, ahhed and splashed.

The writer's friend contemplates the beauty of Avalanche Lake, while an artist tries to capture it.

Even in this remote place, during the time of coronavirus we sought to distance ourselves from others. That, and the lakes magnetic beauty, propelled us to forge along a muddy side path.

Eventually we spotted a cluster of boulders just offshore, and we carefully crossed on stepping stones each to reach a boulder of our own.

Then, completely unplanned, and without knowing exactly why, I turned to Clint and said Id like a moment. Can we take about 15 minutes here? He said sure and settled in on his rock.

My rock was rose pink with a bump to sit on and space to rest my legs below. The angle felt not unlike cushions in a Kyoto Zen temple.

At first I faced the waterfalls, but they seemed almost too grand, too obvious for the moment. Scanning the lake, my eyes settled on a mountain on the other side, with striations but no other pattern I could name. Compared to the waterfalls it was unremarkable, yet somehow its humility spoke to me.

Instead of the majestic waterfall, the writer chose this craggy, striated mountain face for his ... [+] meditation, on Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana.

Although I had not meditated in years, that became my mission in this moment. I took in the mountains craggy, rocky face and wondered how its trees could possibly balance on little more than ledges on cliffs, let alone survive Montanas impossibly harsh winters. I pondered how the very water droplets surrounding me would end up 1,000 miles away in the Pacific. I observed that the lake was so pure that I could view fallen tree trunks in it as clearly as those wed just seen in the forest.

My peripheral vision narrowed, and I began to focus on a single point on the mountainside. I couldnt identify the point to you now, or even seconds after the fact, but as I sat and stared, I could feel my mind slowly, ineffably, go blank, and the rock, the air, the trees, the water, the sun, the mountains, the clouds, time and my brain and body and soul and the universe felt like they all became one.

I dont know how long that sensation lasted - it might have been a mere split second. But as I left the rose-pink rock and Clint and I made our way back to the trail, I couldnt help feeling that even if this was all I accomplished on my month-long trip around America, that split second, when time stopped and I slipped the bounds of everyday reality, was worth it.

The author's rose-pink meditation rock leads the way home from Avalanche Lake.

This is the first in an occasional series of meditations on places Ive visited across the United States. I hope youll come back.

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Meditations On America: Stopping Time In Glacier National Park, Montana - Forbes

Donation to support full enrollment for 20 participants in the program that offers online mindfulness and meditative entertainment and skills training for children from the comfort of their homes, to help during the school closures caused by COVID-19

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 1, 2020 / Worthy Beyond Purpose, a nonprofit that brings mindfulness & meditation practices to children around the world, today announced that Andrew W. Haag will provide twenty full scholarships for students to attend Worthy Beyond Purpose's Superheroes in Training on Mindfulness and Meditation, an after school program taking place on Zoom from September 8th - October 2nd, intended to provide mindfulness and meditative skills and entertainment for children in the comfort of their own home. Andrew Haag is a member of the Board of Directors of Worthy Beyond Purpose.

In a June 2020 study by the CDC, approximately 4.5 million children aged 3-17 years have a diagnosed behavior problem, approximately 4.4 million children aged 3-17 years have diagnosed anxiety, and approximately 1.9 million children aged 3-17 years have diagnosed depression (1). These numbers are increasing as young people are limited in their social and developmental outlets due to COVID-19. This is where Worthy Beyond Purpose steps in to make a difference.

Worthy Beyond Purpose has provided in-person mindfulness skills training to children in Los Angeles, Jamaica, Tanzania. Earlier this year, Worthy Beyond Purpose developed daily online classes and operated on a per donation basis due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic to help children and their caretakers develop better coping skills. Prior to the onset of the global pandemic, Worthy Beyond Purpose's twelve-month curriculum was being implemented in local schools while also teaching classes to social workers, firefighters, parents, and teachers. On the heels of fall school closures, Worthy Beyond Purpose is launching the Superheroes in Training Mindfulness and Meditation after school program to further help children during these challenging times.

"It is paramount that we teach our kids self-soothing and self-regulatory skills. The benefits of creating mindfulness and meditative practices are tremendously positive and our young people are in need of as many tools as possible to navigate today's complicated world," commented Connie Clotworthy, Worthy Beyond Purpose President & Founder. "Superheroes in Training will provide two developmentally appropriate classes daily which will be focused on mindfulness, the arts, expression, and positive identity expansion. Our goal is to enable the children of the world to receive a global educational experience. We are committed to shifting the educational paradigm for our young people by filling in the emotional gaps that mainstream education overlooks.

"I am pleased to support Worthy Beyond Purpose in their mission by providing 20 scholarships for children across the globe to partake in the after school program," commented Andrew Haag, Managing Partner of IRTH Communications. "We are committed to enabling children to receive a well-rounded education with an emphasis on emotional intelligence. It is my hope that Superheroes in Training will bring the world's children closer together with mindfulness and meditation."

To enroll in Superheroes in Training, please visit https://www.worthybeyondpurpose.com/ or contact us for more information.

(1) https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

About Worthy Beyond Purpose

Worthy Beyond Purpose brings mindfulness and meditation practices to children around the globe with a mission to transform the world by providing globally accessible meditation and mindfulness tools and practices.

In our current cultural and technological climate, our society is suffering from depression and anxiety disorders at increasingly younger ages. Through the practice of mindfulness and meditation, children and youth can develop self-regulatory skills to improve academically and socially. This facilitates the development of healthy relationships with self, friends, families, teachers, and peers. The more these skills are integrated across communities in adults as well as children, the greater the potential for real change.

We guide kids, teens, and adults in how to unplug and learn to listen to their bodies and their creative minds. We offer a variety of mindfulness programs based on positive mental health and soft skill acquisition. Our goal is to guide people to be able to recognize their worth independent of life's circumstances leading to a more positive and purpose-driven life.

Contact Information

Connie Clotworthy, President & Founder Worthy Beyond Purpose info@worthbeyondpurpose.com https://www.worthybeyondpurpose.com/contact

SOURCE:Worthy Beyond Purpose

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/604158/Worthy-Beyond-Purpose-Receives-Donation-from-Andrew-Haag-to-Provide-Scholarships-for-Mindfulness-and-Meditation-After-School-Program

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Worthy Beyond Purpose Receives Donation from Andrew Haag to Provide Scholarships for Mindfulness and Meditation After School Program - Press Release -...

Lifes never not crazy. We are constantly working at a breakneck speed & jumping from one social obligation to another. With electronic devices around us, we are also constantly multi-tasking. We can simply announce that theres no rest for the wicked & shrug it off, or we can try to take a pause every now and then.

Pausing & reflecting on our lives should be a non-negotiable part of our routines. This sounds very ambitious, but consciously practicing mindfulness can enable us to make mindfulness a way of life. Meditations the simplest & most effective way of practicing mindfulness.

Meditation carries a plethora of other benefits for our physical as well as mental health, including lowering blood pressure, boosting the immune system, better self-control, building resilience for stress management, etc.

The great thing about meditation, as a practice, is that you dont have to be spiritual or religious for it to work. You just have to find what mode of meditation works best for you & then make it a part of your routine.

Theres no dearth of mindfulness & meditation apps these days. Some promise to help you combat anxiety, some aim to enhance the quality of your sleep. Heres a list of apps that can help you maintain your regular meditation goals.

Presentlys a very distinct app that chooses gratitude as the tool for mindfulness exercise. It works on the principle of minimalism as is clear from its user interface and creates a record of things you feel grateful for. In this manner, Presently helps you focus on the things that really matter, thereby cutting down on the digital noise around you.

One of the most popular apps with guided meditation exercises, Headspace contains modules on Restfulness, Managing Anxiety, and the like. Its exercises revolve around breathing & grounding techniques. Headspace also extends the idea of calmness to a good nights sleep.

Did you like the idea of bedtime stories as a kid? If so, the Calm app might be for you. It consists of guided meditations, soothing music, body scans, and bedtime stories to help you bring calmness to every aspect of your daily routine.

The Calm app has been in the news for its celebrity quotient. The app library of sounds also happens to feature soothing contributions in the form of Matthew McConaugheys southern drawl, Stephen Frys English accent, etc.

Calms constantly adding to its list of offerings like last years addition of Pelotons mindfulness sessions & Journeys live group classes. Its on its way to becoming the ultimate digital wellness hub.

If you like the celebrity quotient, then Insight Timer brings you audio narrations by the likes of Lalah Delia, Russell Brand, psychotherapist Anthony DeMello, among others. Insight Timer is a meditation app that customizes the experience to suit your moods. You can choose from a variety of templates. Some of these templates like the Rainforest Creek make use of all your senses.

Some others like Tropical Vacation pack an escape & a meditation session all in one. Insight Timers best used by someone who is ready to experiment a bit before finding their own tune.

Another app that aims at a customized experience, Simple Habit works like a quick-fix solution for your tranquility needs. If youre an extremely busy person then you might consider audio meditations as short as 5 minutes. Simple Habit can be a great tool to start with when you live on unpredictable schedules due to professional or personal commitments.

Julio Rivera created Liberate specifically for the Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities. The apps approach to meditation is very receptive to & conscious of the issues & traumas that marginalized communities face. For example, it has a separate module on microaggressions.

If you think the wellness space was crowded with & guided by white experiences, Liberate might have filled that gap.

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Find your zen: Use these meditation guide apps to chill out - Film Daily

For so many, meditation apps have become invaluable as people look for ways to find some calm in the storm that is 2020. The app Headspace has been offering free services to some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, including a little something special for New Yorkers.

The meditation app was founded in 2010 by former advertising executive Rich Pierson and Andy Puddicombe, who studied as a Buddhist monk for more than 10 years.

Headspace originally started out as an events company hosting meditation retreats before going mobile.

"Because it's in your pocket and available at any time, it just makes the act of meditation easier to learn and to practice and become part of your lifestyle," said Sarah Romotsky, the director of healthcare partnerships at Headspace.

Meditation gained mainstream popularity in recent years. The National Institute of Health said some research suggests practicing meditation may reduce blood pressure as well as symptoms of anxiety, depression or insomnia.

Headspace is working to help a wide range of people hit hardest by the pandemic.

"We're offering Headspace for free for all healthcare professionals until the end of the year, explained Romotsky. We also launched that we were giving away free one-year subscriptions to all unemployed people in the United States." Headspace recently expanded the free year subscription offer to unemployed people in the U.K. Headspace also has a special section with free content for New Yorkers, in partnership with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, called A NY state of mind.

"Dealing with stress and confusion and anxiety and depression, there's just so many different emotions and it's a hard time right now for everyone, especially New Yorkers, so we were excited to partner with Gov. Cuomo on that initiative, said Romotsky.

Headspace also teamed up with Sesame Street for a series of videos focused on combating stress and anxiety in children during the pandemic.

"We have a six-video series that teaches kids mindfulness techniques and helps them deal with the common feelings that they might be having, explained Romotsky. The best thing about Headspace is that there's every type of content, so whatever and whenever you need it you can find support through Headspace."

The deadline for unemployed Americans to sign up for a free year of Headspace is June 30 sign up by clicking here.

The "NY state of mind" content is free on the website and can be found by clicking here

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Changemakers: Meditation app offers tools and programs to people affected by the pandemic - WPIX 11 New York

Let's face it, these are stressful times. The economy isn't doing very well, the novel coronavirus is wreaking havoc on our health care system, and work is still workif you still have a job, anyway.

If you're feeling the pressure from today's anxiety driven news, or you simply want to relax, you can ease your anxiety in 10 minutes or less with a form of meditation known as Tibetan Sky Gazing. In fact, now may be the best time in your life to experience the wonder of this form of meditation, due to the clear skies from reduced air pollution.

To perform this type of meditation, simply go outside, tilt your head up, and look at the sky. Soften your gaze so that you can take in the wideness and vastness of the sky. Look at the stars if it is night, the vastness of the blue sky if it is day, or the details of a moody sky if it happens to be rainy.

As you are looking at the sky, silently say to yourself the, Aaaah sound. According to meditation expert Dean Sluyter, it is the most open sound you can make and will help you get the most out of the experience.

After a few moments, you can let your attention wander if you like. Sit for a few minutes in quiet contemplation, and simply be. By the time you have finished your meditation, you will feel less anxious, and ready to get back to the world we have come to know.

This is a great meditation because it gets you outside, and is simple to do. It is a simple, concrete form of meditation that can help you relax, and it can be done in your office parking lot or your backyard. The next time you feel stressed, give it a try.

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Ease anxiety with the Tibetan sky gazing meditation - Jill Lopez

Affective disorders like anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder are unpredictable. Even when well-managed, when one has been stable for years, a difficult mood can still strike and knock a person into a tailspin or a racing mind, even if only for a short time.

Uncertainty can aggravate, even precipitate, these moods, and no year has been more uncertain than 2020. In 2015, no one got the question right, Where do you see yourself in five years? Any sense of order has been obliterated. Our lives are always full of situational stress. But this year even nature, through the scourge of a virus, is aligned against us and our mental health.

Its normal, in the face of such uncertainty, to seek to bring some order into your life. I do this through gardening.

I grow things. Things I choose, in places I choose to put them, and whether they live or die is largely up to the care I give them. In this way order is reestablished.

I teach meditation but am troubled by the lack of diversity in the community of meditators. Retreats and classes are full of affluent, progressive-minded white people, and flush with success, few teachers fret that most people seem untouched by the benefits of focused attention held with effort for a defined period of time.

But then, maybe many more people experience these benefits than we think.

I equate movement and meaningful work with classic, seated and focused on the breath, meditation. I think that for too long weve been teaching people that theres one way to meditate. One way that doesnt work for everybody. One way that is discouraging for many.

Meaningful work, on the other hand, is accessible to most everyone, and can be just as meditative an experience. This work does not have to be ones job. It can be a hobby.

I garden, and find the same benefits in cultivating dirt and seedlings and watering basil that Ill turn into pesto that I find in any period of Zen meditation or centering prayer. For me, working with the land is powerful prayer.

Even if my land isnt much. We live in the city, so everything I grow is in pots in front of the house, on the patio out back and up on the roof deck. But I have trees and lavender, an azalea and vegetables. My wife and I like to sit in this garden and try to make sense of where this year is taking us. The space is not an escape, for working in it, enjoying it, I am completely present and aware of exactly where I am, and where I dont have to be.

Just like in what people call meditation.

In fact, I think work that takes us into the land, into nature, work like gardening or farming, raising animals, hunting or fishing, even the work of swimming in the ocean or birdwatching, yields the same benefits as mindfulness meditation.

I havent always been this in tune with my surroundings. When she was about four, my daughter, a city kid if there ever was one, sat in the car as we drove through a road with a canopy of trees. Is this the suburbs? she asked. I said yes and asked her what she thought. She said, Too green. Thats when I started gardening.

As things slowly stumble open after this long shutdown, we can visit the public gardens again. My wife took our daughter to a farm to pick strawberries and cherries and snap peas. We ate them together. My daughter knows what herbs to harvest off of the roof when I cook. No one can tell me that when we experience this bounty we are not meditating.

Any productive work, especially work you do with your hands, can bring order to a disordered mind in a challenging year. Meaningful work is meditation. My garden is a testament to the power of focused attention and the healing gift of applied effort.

George Hofmanns new book, Resilience: Handling Anxiety in a Time of Crisis, is available wherever books are sold.

APA Reference Hofmann, G. (2020). Alternative Forms of Meditation. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 29, 2020, from https://blogs.psychcentral.com/older-bipolar/2020/06/alternative-forms-of-meditation/

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Alternative Forms of Meditation - PsychCentral.com

You cant fail at meditationeven if your mind wanders to what youre making for dinner or whether you paid the water bill this month.You will never fail, says Enrique Valdivia, a senior student at the San Antonio Zen Center. Its just a matter of showing up and making the effort. The rest will come.

Valdivia began practicing meditation regularly about 10 years ago when he was going through some personal struggles and says while it does take dedication, its something thats available to anyone. I found it really beneficial as a form of self-discipline, he says. It gave me a sense of purpose and structure in my life.

Melissa Aguirre, of Boerne Yoga and MelMarieYoga, agrees and says meditation and mindfulness of any kind is a helpful tool for stress relief and personal discovery, something she found people have been increasingly seeking as they face changes brought on by the events of 2020. People often complain that their mind wont stop, says Aguirre, who is certified in therapeutic yoga and works with clients, including PTSD patients, on mindfulness. Thats OK. The practice is about coming back and building those positive cognitive pathways.

You dont have todo a big complicated practice to have a moment of presence, Aguirre says. To start, she advises finding small moments throughout the day to practice mindfulness. Close your eyes and breathe the next time youre standing at the sink, take a midday break to sit down and massage your neck, or even just inhale deep breaths while near your favorite candle or essential oil. Randomly practice throughout the day, she says.

If beginning on your own seems daunting, Valdivia suggests considering group meditation. Initially, he attended teacher-guided meditations at the San Antonio Zen Center daily.Even when the center was closed due to COVID-19, he still joined a group from the center on Zoom three times a week. For me, its easier to pick up and stick with if youre with others, he says. When not in a group, consider apps like Insight Meditation or Headspace.

While she knows it sounds simple, Aguirre says wherever youre practicing, start by focusing on your breath. If you feel overwhelmed during the day, take a moment and intentionally lengthen your exhale, noticing how your demeanor may change as you continue paying attention to your breathing. Look at your breath as a tool to access centeredness and feeling at peace, she says. If your mind wanders, thats ok. Bring it back and start again.

There are multiple types of meditationfrom mindfulness like Aguirre discusses to chakra meditation that focuses on different energy centers in the body to yoga meditation, which integrates postures into your breathing practice. Regardless of which you pursue, Aguirre says to approachthe practice with an attitude of grace and compassion. Let things be as they are, she says. Were giving ourselves permission to be human and not to be perfect.

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4 Tips For Meditation and Mindfulness - San Antonio Magazine

As the fight for racial justice takes place against the backdrop of the global pandemic, the need for regenerative self-care services that center Black women has never been more apparent. Since 2018, Atlanta-based breathwork practitioner Jasmine Marie has been helping Black women heal from the trauma that disproportionately impacts their everyday with Black Girls Breathing, an inclusive wellness platform that provides meditational breathwork classes.

"I wanted to create a space very specific to Black women and their emotional, mental, and spiritual needs," explains Marie. "Black women are dying from chronic stress because it's linked to diseases such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure. We're the most affected by these ailments, and not being able to lower our cortisol and reframe our nervous system is killing Black women."

For Marie, a graduate of New York University's Stern Business School, accessibility is just as important as the breathwork itself, especially in these emotionally taxing times. "Weve known the need is there, weve been doing the work, but now more people are recognizing just how important it is," says Marie. Prior to COVID-19, Black Girls Breathing hosted affordable in-person and virtual active breathwork sessions. They toured cities across the countryLos Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlantabuilding a community ranging in age from 18 to over 65. But beginning in May, as the dire consequences of the global pandemic continued to set in, Black Girls Breathing introduced a bi-monthly, virtual breathwork circle series on a sliding scale, with participants able to join for $0-$25. Then, in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, Marie sought to provide even more support by launching a crowdfunding mission to raise funds that will give 100 Black women per session free entry to virtual breathwork circles for one year.

Here, Marie tells Vogue how she came into breathwork, the origins of Black Girls Breathing, and how she's continued adapting in an increasingly challenging time.

When did breathwork first become a part of your life, and what struck you most about its benefits? When I was living in New York City, I was going through a stressful period of personal issues on top of a crazy work schedule. I ended up finding breathwork through the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem. The pastor there led in an untraditional way and introduced me to a community center where breathing teacher Kathleen Booker was offering classes for free. I went every week and developed my own practice. For me, it's been a tool post-trauma, not just the general stuff you deal with when you begin to do the work, but personal trauma. After exiting a traumatic situation, when you come back home to yourself, you begin to heal your relationship to your body, intuition, and inner voice. Breathwork just really helped me get out of my mind. Having free access to breathwork not far from where I lived was revolutionary in the sense that it's not a tool you often have in the Black community. And that's why there's an educational aspect to the work we dowere opening up and moving past the stigmas of mental health.

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Black Girls Breathing Founder Jasmine Marie Is Making Meditation Accessible to Heal Her Community - Vogue