You Are Here: Home Family news and events Puppy Play Dates in Dublin

Have you recently added a new member to the family? The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) is running free Puppy Play Dates on Saturdays so you can let your new little one socialise. Early puppy socialisation is important as puppies that grow up in isolation both from dogs and a wide variety of humans have a greater tendency to develop behaviour problems later in life such as fear-based aggression.

Puppies ages eight weeks to six months and their owners are welcome to attend the Saturday sessions to learn social skills and puppy play. All the 45-minute sessions are guided by a DSPCA Dog Trainer and provide a wide variety of training opportunities.

Our goal is to provide an environment where puppies and their families feel safe and can learn.

If youre constantly looking for your keys it might worth investing in some trackers. These are small devices that you can pop onto your keys or into your wallet or bag. There are many brands to choose from and most come with a phone app that allows you to make the tracker ring or pinpoint its location. There are a few different companies offering products at a range of prices, of which Tile is probably the most well-known. However, they can be expensive at 20 30. Chipolo, Orbit, and Mynt ES are some cheaper alternatives.

Recent research has found a connection between meditation and improved health and wellbeing.

The study was conducted by Queens University Belfast and Victoria University, Melbourne in Australia. They wanted to look at the practice because despite the growing popularity of meditation to address a number of health issues, there was limited evidence to support it.

Dr Chantal Ski, Author and Reader in Cardiovascular Health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queens University Belfast, said: Through the comprehensive literature review, we found that there is a clear link between meditation and stress reduction. We focused on studies that analysed how meditation affected the endocrine system and a number of interconnected systems that regulate stress such as the HypothalamicPituitaryAdrenal (HPA), the HypothalamicPituitaryThyroid (HPT) axis and the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone (RAA) system.

Stress impacts almost everyone and persistent stress can eventually contribute to disease and mental illness. The endocrine system helps manage stress but the functioning of the endocrine system and wellbeing have been scarcely investigated. The study found a connection between meditation, the endocrine system and health and wellbeing.

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Dittmar notes how people may experience a wide range of emotions after a breathwork practice. Some people feel elated, some feel rather peaceful or neutral, while others can feel sadness or grief.

That's because breathwork can clear energy from your body that you didn't even realize you had. It's sort of like when you feel stressed, but you don't know what you exactly feel stressed about; breathwork can help clear that energy, even when you don't know how you're feeling, yourself.

Breathwork can also clear out energy that you might've picked up from others that you didn't even know you've been harboring. "It starts to clear out energy that is not yours, or energy that you've picked up, so you can better connect with your own energy," Dittmar explains.

That's why a lot of times people may vibrate or shake during their breathwork practice without knowing exactly why. "People just feel very activated, and a lot of them will say, 'What is this? What is that? What's happening?' My answer is that it's just your life force," Dittmar notes.

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Is Breathwork The New Meditation? 5 Ways This Instructor Says It's More Useful - mindbodygreen.com

The phones screen turns a serene blue, and Calm, the leading mindfulness application, opens. At the very center, without capitalization or punctuation, small and faint, are the words take a deep breath.

That gives way to a menu. What brings you to Calm?

The app offers options to reduce anxiety, develop gratitude, build self esteem, even increase happiness.

The next screen offers a seven-day free trial. Once the trial has ended, the annual rate is $69.99, a small price for happiness.

Somewhere around 2010, according to experts and Google search data, the practice of mindfulness began an upward swing. In less than a decade, it has become the fastest-growing health trend in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mindfulness rules the online app store. The San Francisco-based Calm is valued at $1 billion, and its competitor Headspace at $350 million. (The industry as a whole has been estimated to be worth as much as $4 billion.) Meditation retreats are en vogue. Corporations offer access to mindfulness in the same way they do for gyms. Even the military uses mindfulness breathing techniques to boost soldiers performance.

But as with any Next Big Thing, there are reasons to be cautious. Some say this rush into mindfulness has outpaced the science and stripped it of its cultural context. All of this threatens to turn a tool for well-being, for situating oneself in the current moment, into a tool for standard American commercialism.

Around the same time mindfulness began its upward trajectory, Ronald Purser, a management professor at San Francisco State University, started to feel the familiar weight of doubt. Hed been doing a fair amount of corporate management training and consulting redesigning the workplace to work better, at least in theory, for everybody. I became somewhat disillusioned and disenchanted, he says. Even when we were making progress, trying to redesign work so employees would have more autonomy and decision-making, the management sort of pulled the plug on some of those experiments.

It was around this time, too, that Chade-Meng Tan, a software engineer at Google, gained notoriety for integrating mindfulness into Googles corporate culture through a series of in-house mindfulness seminars. In 2012, Tan turned those courses into a blockbuster book, Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace), and Purser found himself attending Tans very first public offering.

I became very disappointed by what I saw, just in terms of what the program was and how superficial it was, Purser says. I just saw this as part of the interest in behavioral science techniques as a way of yoking the interest or subjectivity of employees to corporate goals.

A year later, Purser published an essay with the Huffington Post. It was titled Beyond McMindfulness. Mindfulness meditation, he wrote, was making its way into schools, corporations, prisons, and government agencies including the U.S. military. Purser, a student of mindfulness for 40 years, wasnt knocking the practice but was wary of its growing reputation as a universal panacea for resolving almost every area of daily concern. Last year, Purser expanded on the essay and published a book titled McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality.

Early on in his book, he writes this: I do not question the value of adapting mindfulness for therapeutic use, nor do I deny that it can help people. What bothers me is how its promoters want things both ways: one minute, mindfulness is science, since thats what sells; the next, it stands for everything in Buddhism, since thats what makes it sound deep.

The issues Purser called out eight years ago have only grown with time. Rhetoric, he says, still outpaces results. The practice becomes increasingly decontextualized, meme-ified and gamified. Mindfulness becomes a cure for more and more our happiness, our anxiety, our pain, even world peace.

Its worth pausing a moment to define or at least try to define mindfulness.

At its very core, its deepest and truest roots, mindfulness is a Buddhist meditation technique. There are hundreds, probably thousands of different meditative techniques. This is only one of them, says Mushim Ikeda, a Buddhist meditation teacher. Traditionally, in the Buddhist scriptures, it is said that what we call mindfulness meditation was one of 40 different techniques that the historical Buddha, the one we call the Buddha, talked about. So it wasnt even his one and only meditation technique according to those scriptures.

She knows those scriptures well. Ikeda, who primarily teaches at the East Bay Meditation Center, describes herself as a socially engaged teacher a social justice activist, author, and diversity and inclusion facilitator.

She describes mindfulness meditation as a secular term in Buddhism, one thats also called insight meditation. This is a sort of awareness, she says, that is different from the awareness that we might call everyday awareness the sort we need to drive a car, or maintain a conversation, or use an ATM. She and others describe mindful awareness as spacious and nonjudgmental. Ikeda says, Its been said mindfulness only sees. It does not judge.

The most common technique involves closing the eyes and focusing on the breath and only the breath, moving other thoughts, and the thoughts that come with those thoughts, away and out.

Mindfulness as a secular, western therapeutic intervention did not begin in Silicon Valley. Rather, youd have to go back to 1979 and a man named Jon Kabat-Zinn and the founding of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn has studied the effects of what he dubbed mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR for short), on everything from brain function to skin disease.

Still, its hard to ignore Silicon Valleys latest role in spreading and expanding mindfulness in the pursuit of a different tech culture value, peak performance. There is Search Inside Yourself, the book that coincided with the movements growth spurt. There are Twitter co-founder Jack Dorseys much-publicized meditation retreats. (Black Mirror, the dystopian science fiction show, seemed to parody both him and the now-ubiquitous apps.) Recently, there was the dopamine fast, a pseudo-scientific dopamine reset by way of doing nothing. (One originator said he drew directly from Buddhist Vipassana meditation when he crafted the fast.)

The voices are soothing and smooth soft, but not quite a whisper. The cadence and diction perfect, gently pulling you along. Birds chatter in the background. Waves move gently to meet a beach. Or maybe a brook babbles as it pushes over and under and between river rocks.

Breathing in ... I am calm.

Breathing out ... I am at peace.

A chime rings, a signal that this 90-second meditation to calm anger has ended. Calm offers its congratulations.

The danger in this rapid evolution is that it threatens to turn a very old practice into a fad that overpromises and underdelivers.

Helen Weng has practiced Buddhist meditation for more than two decades. I was reading a lot of books about psychology because I was unhappy because high school is horrible, she says. And her father, who, along with her mother, had immigrated to the United States from Taiwan, could offer her books about Buddhist philosophy. The two came together. The Dalai Lamas teachings offered her an opportunity to cultivate her own well-being. I dont like the word happiness anymore, but you can use mental exercises to become more aware of your feeling states and your thoughts.

Now Weng works as a clinical psychologist with the psychiatry department at UCSF and a neuroscientist with the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and the Neuroscape Center, both at UCSF as well. Her scientific work uses magnetic resonance imaging to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood that flows to the brain as people meditate. Essentially, she can track whether the meditator is actually focused on their breath or if their attention has wandered. And in her clinical work, she offers meditation as one of many possible therapeutic interventions.

Still, she calls the recent spread of mindfulness very freaky.

Im very proud that practices from eastern cultures and religions generate so much interest, she says. At the same time, mindfulness and its results are super hard to study. So much so that I just thought I was a bad scientist for a long time. Whats more, she says, meditation isnt always the right sort of behavioral therapy.

Im very disturbed by these messages that meditation basically cures everything or its good for everyone or theres universally very good positive effects. The effects are really moderate and subtle. Its not any better than any other kind of psychotherapy, she says. Part of it is cultural appropriation where its this magical, mystical thing that then people can say does all these things, and I think were still in the height of that and its going to take some time for things to settle down.

Medical students, she says, inevitably ask her how much time they have to commit to mindfulness to make it work. There are studies that show clear benefits to mindfulness. Weng points to one that indicated 30 minutes a day of compassion meditation for two weeks increased altruistic giving to strangers and brain responses to pictures of people suffering.

But the key here is consistency. What happens if you work out for 30 minutes just once? she asks. It benefits you a little bit. Thats good. But if you just do it once, its not going to have a long-term effect.

After the chime and the congratulations, the waves keep moving in and out, and a quote appears onscreen. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. (A quote sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein, but probably more correctly attributed to Narcotics Anonymous.) And in that moment, Calm reminds you that you really should turn on push notifications, in order to fully experience Calm. Decline and itll ask one more time about its mindfulness reminders.

Are you sure? Its hard to set aside time for yourself in our busy world without a little help.

Farrah Fawcett and Lee Majors are jogging. Theyre tan, of course. Their shorts are short. Her blond hair is fanned out, so are his brown curls. She has a broad, blindingly white smile and a red handkerchief tied around her neck. His jacket is zipped down almost to his navel; his chest is hairy. And right beside them, a headline: Farrah & Lee & Everybodys Doing It: Stars Join The Jogging Craze.

This is the cover of the July 4, 1977, issue of People magazine. Alex Will, the chief strategy officer for Calm, the industry-leading mindfulness meditation app, likes to reference this cover when he talks about mindfulness. (Theres even a copy of the issue at the office.) To understand the future of mindfulness, just look to the past.

Mindfulness is becoming mainstream, Will says. People are starting to understand that taking care of the mind is just as important as taking care of the body. Meditation and mindfulness is one way to do that.

In some respects, Calm isnt doing anything that hasnt already been done. Before smartphones, one could buy a meditation CD, slip it into a home stereo and start counting breaths. The app just makes it more portable and more accessible than ever before. I think one of the reasons Ive been so successful is that it is a very low bar for someone to try and get into, Will says. There are short, two-minute long meditations, narrations to help with sleep, even a beginners guide to mindfulness. Similarly, if you want to go deeper, we have a 30-minute master class where you can learn how to break bad habits.

All of the content, Will says, is vetted by mindfulness instructors, and, now that the app is available in more than 100 countries, the programming is also run by people to make sure translations work. This is very nuanced, he says. Language really matters. The Calm app has also been part of various clinical studies in an attempt to back up the applications rhetoric.

Mindfulness, by the way, has already had its magazine-cover moment. Not quite 37 years after the jogging craze, Time magazine featured the Mindfulness Revolution on its Feb. 3, 2014, issue. A blond, fair-skinned model stands straight, hands at her sides, eyes closed, face slightly upward. And the headline: The science of finding focus in a stressed-out multitasking culture.

Mindfulness began to trend in large part because corporations embraced the practice as a way to help employees relieve stress. This is one of the cruxes of Pursers concerns that mindfulness is just a way to wring more productivity from employees, a sleight of hand that shifts the onus from the company to the worker.

In 2012, the year Chade-Meng Tan published Search Inside Yourself, the idea of offering mindfulness courses to employees still felt novel. The New York Times featured Tan and the course hed developed for Google employees a course that involved meditation, Tibetan brass bowls, stream-of-consciousness journaling and lots of emotional openness. Even then the course was framed as a way to help employees deal with their intense workplace no mention of toning down the intensity.

Eight years later, mindfulness courses are the rule, not the exception. Apple, Nike, HBO and Target have all offered some form of mindfulness training to employees. Aetna, the insurance provider, decided to offer mindfulness and other stress-relief activities (including dog petting) after an internal study found that the most stressed-out employees spent $1,500 more a year on health care. And if a company cant bring a trained expert on board, well, they can always give employees memberships to Calm or Headspace.

The Buddha taught that almost everything comes and goes, says Mushim Ikeda, the East Bay Meditation Center instructor. Its called impermanence or change. And health trends famously come and go. Its a product of our capitalist system.

One year, its a certain kind of berry thats going to cure everything. Another year, its mindfulness meditation thats going to cure everything. Five years from now, heaven only knows, itll be something else. Burnt toast who knows?

Ikeda offers a path forward, a path separate from capitalism, a path that encourages students to cultivate a practice in which they care for themselves so that they may, in turn, care for their communities. Its an approach based in social justice and altruism. And yet, she isnt dogmatic.

Mindfulness, Ikeda says, does not judge.

A person might use mindfulness to lower their blood pressure or achieve peak performance. A corporation might use mindfulness to paper over an inherently unjust and healthy system. All this, she says, is like using a Swiss Army knife for just one thing. Its not what the tool was intended to do, and its not all it can do.

Mindfulness is always mindful awareness of something, Ikeda says. Who knows what a given individual is going to do with it? Or what it will do for them?

An individual might, for instance, become mindfully aware of a broken system.

Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @RyanKost

Ryan Kost writes for The San Francisco Chronicles Culture Desk. Hes always on the look out for unexpected and untold story and loves covering the people and communities that dont always get a lot of press the stuff we miss, the stuff we look past. Sometimes we miss whole worlds and communities, even though we live right alongside them. A big part of what he tries to do is make all that a little more visible for our readers.

He loves getting tips and story ideas from readers, so dont hesitate to reach out. Previously, he lived in Portland, Ore. where he wrote for The Oregonian and The Associated Press, covering national, state and city politics. He helped launch PolitiFact Oregon, a fact-checking website aimed at keeping politicians truthful. Hes also worked at The Boston Globe, The Arizona Republic and The Tampa Tribune. Hes won a number of state and national awards.

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The (over) promise of the mindfulness revolution - San Francisco Chronicle

12 February 2020 JARRETT STEVENS

Chicago, US ViaRNS

Years ago, Southern Baptist theologian Albert Mohler wrote anarticlewarning Christians that Eastern meditation, which encourages participants to embrace silence and clear their minds, was not a means to spiritual growth". More than being just ineffective, he concluded, it was dangerous and an empty promise".

Coming from an evangelical upbringing, I can understand his concern. Ive heard plenty of religious leaders make similar claims, casting meditation as some sort of boogeyman wooing Christians away from the faith with pagan practices. In the world in which I was raised, meditation was not on the list of approved spiritual practices. We prayed and read and sang and journaled. But meditation was not on the menu.

PICTURE: Ian Stauffer/Unsplash.

But a few years back, I began to explore the practices of silence and meditation - not due to some sort of spiritual curiosity, but out of spiritual exhaustion. Our church was only a few years old, but the process of launching it had taken quite a toll on my wife and me. We were simultaneously full-time parents of young kids and full-time pastors of a young church, and the combination had left us undone.

In an attempt to spiritually revive myself, I tried all the practices in the toolbox inherited from my childhood. None of them worked. In my search for something new, I stumbled on something ancient. And meditation has become an indispensable part of my spiritual life ever since.

Silence and meditation have been a part of most religious traditions - most notably, among Hindus and Buddhists - since their inceptions. For this reason, some Western Christians assume that these practices will somehow make them less Christian or open the door to harmful spiritual forces. What many dont realise is that these practices have always been a part of our tradition, too.

The Bible uses the word meditation 23 times, the majority found in the book of Psalms. Ironically, one of my favorite verses has always been Psalm 46:10, in which God invites us to Be still and know that I am God. This passage has become the foundation of my meditative practice.

In the New Testament, we find Jesus practicing solitude and meditation as well. The Gospels regularly refer to him retreating to quiet places. Away from the noise. Away from the demands. Away to be alone and steep in silence with God.

These cues were picked up by many of our Christian forebears throughout the history of our faith as they integrated meditation into their own spiritual practice. Meditation and interior silence were central practices for the early Christians known as desert fathers and desert mothers who fled to the wilderness to form spiritual communities in the second century AD.

Meditation was prioritised by Christian monastic communities, which proliferated in the fourth and fifth centuries. It formed a centrepiece for the spirituality of medieval Christian mystics such as Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich. It was the 16th century reformer St John of the Cross who once declared that Silence is Gods first language. But then the Enlightenment happened, and Westerners were drawn to more scientific, systematic and structured ways of being Christian.

Jarrett Stevens and his book, 'Praying Through: Overcoming the Obstacles That Keep Us From God'. PICTURES: Aaron Bean Photo Film/Supplied

Western Christians have missed out on much since our abandonment of meditation, both spiritually and physically. It has deprived us of a helpful tool for connecting with the God in whom we place our faith, and it has robbed us of the practices many built-in health benefits. From lowered levels of stress to an increased immune system to helping curb and cope with depression and anxiety, meditation is as good for our bodies as it is for our spirits. The evidence of its effectiveness is abundant.

This is why, for the last few years now, I try to begin each day with a simple practice. I close my eyes and set an intention for my attention. I ground my feet into the floor, rest my hands open in my lap, and slow my breath. Rather than chase every thought out of my brain, I simply notice them and let them settle into their proper place on the horizon of my mind.

Now comes the counterintuitive part. I set aside everything that could distract me - even things that might be helpful at other times. I dont open my Bible, I dont play music, I dont listen to a spiritual podcast, and I dont speak any words. These are also wonderful ways to connect with God as well, but they can so easily distract me from just being still and knowing God. And then, for five to 10 minutes, I just sit in silence before the creator and sustainer of all things.

Some mornings, God speaks. Other days, God is silent. Ive learned to cherish both experiences and trust that they are just what I need at that moment.

Ive done this for a few years now, and I have yet to find what is so potentially dangerous about this practice. Instead, Ive found that it has been a powerful means for spiritual growth. It allows me to come to God just as I am. To show up without an agenda and simply be with God in the midst of all of my exhaustions, frustrations, longings and fears.

Meditation helps me to practice trusting that God is in control of every breath, and it reminds me that he doesnt need me to perform in order to experience his presence.

There will always be those who issue warnings against seemingly strange or uncommon spiritual practices. And many of them are well-intended. I can appreciate that. But if you want to overcome some of the obstacles that are keeping you from God, looking eastward might just be what helps you look upward.

Jarrett Stevens is pastor of Soul City Church in Chicago and author of Praying Through: Overcoming the Obstacles That Keep Us from God.

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SIGHT-SEEING: HOW A WESTERN MEGACHURCH PASTOR FELL IN LOVE WITH EASTERN MEDITATION - Sight Magazine

Meditation practices that help you stay calm and composed

Anger is just a 5 letter word, however, it has the ability to destroy your closest bonds, get in the way of your life and cause you emotional pain. One person's fit of rage can cause conflicts between nations and even cause social unrest. On a personal level, it can affect one's health andmental peace. Several research studies have revealed in the past that anger is like poison and it has long-term physicaleffects on a person's health.Which is why it becomes important for every person to work on their temperament.

While many might believe that anger is natural and people cannot control it, Mahayana Buddhism says the opposite and it suggests that a person can tame their anger through simple and easy self-controlling and self-restraining practices and meditation plays a huge role in it. As Buddha once said, "With practice, the quiet, patient mind can overcome the destructive flash of anger." Aperson can train his/her mind to deal with anger in the best way possible through meditation.

And, this guide will help you master the art of meditation that focuses on combating negative emotions likehate andanger.

This meditation practice bringspositive attitudinal changeandit systematically helps a person developthe qualitiesof compassion, love and kindness. It actsas a form of self-psychotherapy and it helps in healing the troubled mind. And, ithas immediate effects on one's old habituated negative patterns of mind.

In this meditation practice, a person has to develop the qualities of empathy, compassion and equanimity. And this is done throughvisualisation andreflection.

Now, move to someoneyou do not like or have difficulty dealing with. Repeatthe phrases for them with the same genuine feelings and love.

Next, extend your love and care for all sentient beings living across universes.

Lastly, visualise a happy world and say thisphraseout loud -May all sentient beings be happy, safe,healthy andlive joyously.

Note: Remembering all of these stepsis humanly not possible which is why people meditate in the presence of a guru who guides them through the meditation process. However, it's not always possible to meditate in the presence of a master which is why several guided meditation videos are uploaded online for our convenience.

A fact of life is that people are bothered by unmanageable emotional states as we live in pressured societies. However, only a few make efforts todevelop skills thatdeal with anger issues. I cannot stress enough on the fact that every person must becomea master of his or hermindand not let their minds overpower their decisions. And this can only be done through self-training.

Speaking of my personal experience, I began meditating at the age of 16 after reading in a book that certain meditation practices can help inanger management. When you are in your teens, your hormones tend to go haywire, making you short-tempered. When I experienced the same, I looked for every remedy to get rid of these negative emotions.And after reading several books and attending various meditation sessions at monasteries, I can finally say that it really helps. From being a rebellious unruly teenager to a compassionate woman, meditation helped me achieve my biggest milestone in life. And,I hope it helps you too.

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Tame your temper by mastering the art of meditation - Times Now

Mindful practices like meditation have been shown to reduce stress and improve our ability to concentrate and live in the moment (even Barbie is into it). But how do you find the time to unplug in an always-on world where multitasking is the norm? Enter the mindful manicure, intended to make you look and feel good with solid zoning-out time and guided meditation while you get you pampered.

"I think meditation can bring us back to the ground base from overthinking or overwhelming; it reconnects us with ourselves and with the present moment," says Amy Lin, founder of Sundays in New York City, which offers a custom guided meditation + manicure. A meditation manicure, she says, is an effortless way to meditate because you're expected to sit for 20 minutes anyway.

Here are a few mindful manis to get your hands on...

Photo via Sundays

Rock a set of headphones and choose from six short, easy-to-follow guided meditation programs from "Grounding" to "Gratitude" while being treated to a natural soak, cuticle work, buffing, shaping and an essential oil treatment, followed by a couple brushes of nontoxic, 10-free, vegan and cruelty-free polish. The salon's mindful organic tea bar, self-love letter-writing station, and warm and welcoming Danish hygge-inspired design enhance the experience. "Sometimes, you just need a little time with yourself to receive clarity, a moment of rest or escape, and then you can keep going," says Lin.

Photo via SpaRitual

The Sound of Color manicure pairs 36 vegan SpaRitual polish shades with curated guided meditation sessions from Unplug Meditation, offered at several spas around the country, including Vdara Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas and Yellowstone Club in Bozeman, MT. Themed programs delivered by renowned meditation gurus range from "Self-Compassion" to "Peaceful Day" and "My Ideal Life." Choose your shade and meditation program on the customized app, slip on the headphones and prepare to enter into a state of total zen.

Photo via Bellacures

If it's total escapism you're after, Bellacures in Beverly Hills, CA, offers a virtual reality mani/pedi that transports you to a beautiful beach on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, a rushing waterfall in Iceland or a lush forest in rural New York via a VR headset and a treatment of custom-scented lotions and scrubs. Save on your travel budget!

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Treat Your Body and Soul With a Mindful Manicure - Brit + Co

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Bengaluru: A collaborative study between Victoria University in Melbourne and Queens University in Belfast found that meditation leads to better management of stress and improves mental health outcomes. Researchers performed studies on a part of the human endocrine system that isnt well studied in the context of meditation.

The endocrine system is the network of glands spread out in the human body, which produce hormones to regulate metabolism, growth, sexual functions, mood, sleep, and development. They are responsible for every cell and organ function.

The study found a connection between meditation, the endocrine system, and general well-being by analysing and reviewing a large number of existing studies on meditation and hormones. The results were published this week in the journal Cell Press.

Through the comprehensive literature review, we found that there is a clear link between meditation and stress reduction, said Chantal Ski, an author on the paper at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queens University, in a statement. We focused on studies that analysed how meditation affected the endocrine system and a number of interconnected systems that regulate stress.

Whilst it is intriguing that various meditation practices appear to induce changes in endocrine function, and consequently be associated with improvements in mental health, the underlying associations and mechanisms that might operate are unclear, though likely involve psychological, physiological, and neurological processes, said Michaela Pascoe of Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, and lead author of the paper.

Also read: How Modi govt is helping scientists decode health benefits of yoga and meditation

Meditation is becoming an increasingly popular form of personal mental health management, supported not only by anecdotal evidence about managing emotions, but also through evidence from a growing body of studies. Many of these studies have analysed the effect on the hypothalamicpituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, a network of three glands located near our brains and kidneys. The hypothalamus is a regulator that tells the pituitary gland when to produce growth hormones, and the adrenal gland is responsible for the flight-or-fight response.

The new study also analysed the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) system of glands, which regulates blood pressure and fluid balance. The team found that there is a high likelihood that meditation physically affects the RAA system.

Most pertinently, researchers discovered that the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis linked to depression and anxiety could also be influenced. This means that the thyroid hormone production is affected by meditation, which in turn can help manage depression, anxiety, and stress.

These learnings indicate that one can help develop a tailored meditation practice that can greatly benefit individuals or groups of people suffering from similar mental and emotional health issues.

Also read: Bosses can help reduce employee stress and burnout

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New study supports theory that meditation can help manage stress, depression, anxiety - ThePrint

Christen Press is very good at soccer. Soccer hasnt always been good to her. Shes been transparent about the stress it used to cause her, how she would beat herself up and yell at her teammates over the game as a college player at Stanford. Shes gone so far as to say flat out I did not enjoy playing soccer when she was in college. The awful days, shes called them. Its hard to imagine Press that way now, soft-spoken as she is when she comes through the mixed zone.

Its not a secret that Press has used Vedic meditation to help manage her stress, a process shes described as a twice-daily practice of sitting down for 20 minutes and focusing on a mantra, which in turn helps her control how she reacts to her stressors. Shes spoken several times about how the practice has helped her find a measure of peace. But she doesnt do it to be a better soccer player, at least not in a linear cause-and-effect way.

I dont think I really think about those things like going hand in hand, she said after the United States Olympic qualifying semifinal against Mexico, a game in which she put an emphatic exclamation mark on her role with the team. Her chip from inside the box was an audacious bit of skill, thrown off with deceptive casualness in the heat of the moment. Press said that it was a combination of instinct and considered thought for her, putting together everything that made her decide a chip was her best shot selection. Sometimes the game slows down a bit, especially in the box, she said, astonishing when you consider the game clock doesnt have time to tick off two seconds before shes chipping her own rebounded shot.

I think Vedic meditation teaches you its the long game, and its not necessarily about a result, she said. So I think if you go into the practice thinking, oh I want to be better at transitioning mentality, so I want to be scoring more goals, its not going to work. You kind of practice Vedic meditation to learn about yourself and learn about the world and connect with the universe and your humanity and the benefits just flow naturally from there.

Press is the only one who can say for sure if shes found that universal connection, and what that might feel like, particularly for someone whos recently gone through a tremendous loss, as Press mother passed away in 2019 only months after a cancer diagnosis. But a more local connection, one with the other 10 players on the field, thats become quite evident, spotlighted by Press golden ball award for most valuable player at Olympic qualifying.

That wasnt easy to come by either, though. Press said that being subbed into a game, particularly when the stakes are high, used to be disconcerting. Youre supposed to be fresh but you feel like you cant suck in a breath, she said. I think that focus and consistency are very challenging to bring in this environment, especially when youre playing multiple positions and multiple roles. Its so challenging coming off the bench because its like kind of getting shot out of a rocket and the game is like, everyones so emotional and theyre in it and youre not really feeling that until youre on the field.

Clearly, Press has done a lot of work to be able to make such a mental adjustment on the fly considering her ability to immediately impact games. When she subbed on against Mexico in the semifinal, it took approximately five minutes for her to score. After the game, Press agreed that subbing on was like trying to merge on a freeway where the cars were all going 100 miles per hour. On hearing that comparison at practice the day after the semifinal, Megan Rapinoe seemed nonplussed. Thats interesting she says that because I feel like shes a Ferrari getting on the freeway, said Rapinoe. And indeed, against Mexico, Press went from zero to 60 like she was racing Vin Diesel for pink slips.

There is a certain Alex-Morgan shaped gap in the US offense that Vlatko Andonovski has been attempting to fill, with varying levels of success. Press is now a key part of that equation, varying between starter and sub over the course of qualifying. But her performance didnt vary at all, regardless of the minutes she actually got. She mostly stayed wide, pulling defenders away from the goal, sometimes searching for the open teammate in front of net, often taking on challenges herself. Press has an extraordinary ability to dig out space for herself to shoot, particularly at an angle in very tight quarters. Its a jab-jab-haymaker combo with knockout timing that has served her well you may know its coming, but plenty of defenders have been helpless to stop it.

Press hasnt necessarily ramped up the intensity over the course of Olympic qualifying, but thats only because shes been playing at this level for some time now. It often seems as though shes playing like not just her starter spot, but her entire national team career is at stake. So you could be forgiven for thinking her stress levels have increased from college but Press says she has a handle on it, saying several times that she hopes even better performances are yet to come from her.

That does seem inherently contradictory to her other statements about not searching for a result and learning to let go of the expectations she holds for herself. Press has spent a lot of time in one of the most competitive sporting environments on earth, a place where by necessity there has to be a lot of comparison to a standard, a fact which doesnt escape her. I think in Western philosophy and especially in sport, you get a sense that you have to want to be the best in order to be the best, she said after the final game against Canada. She had just received her golden ball trophy for most valuable player in the tournament, a trophy which she passed to her beaming father in the stands.

I actually think that a lot of things about this sport feed your ego and the ego is evil, said Press, acknowledging a question about how wanting and desire can become destructive. So I actually think all the time that my job is to strive for excellence, to strive to be a great teammate, to be kind, and to be humble no matter what happens for me. And sometimes that is challenging.

In 2015, Press wrote an article for The Players Tribune just before the World Cup. She ruminated on greatness, and existing in a constant state of pursuing greatness. How can you be content if you are always in pursuit of something, always restless, always looking forward to what comes next? Press answer was simple and short: you cant. So you have to accept that existing in this state is all there is. Ive actually had to let go of that, she said, And just think that I want to be my best and that I never will be. And so then you have to find contentment in striving to do so.

Christen Press may have found peace accepting that she will never truly be great, by whatever metric she uses for greatness. But by the standards of what the US womens team needs her to be, she already is great. Or as Megan Rapinoe might put it, Press is a Ferrari among the Ford Fiestas, lapping everyone on the race course, and fans are definitely at peace with that.

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Christen Press doesnt have it all figured out - All For XI

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Some of the smartest people in history lived by those words long before they adorned Instagram posts. But in todays busy world, we need to consider the most effective ways of incorporating daily habits into our already-packed schedules especially when it comes to longer-term goals like learning new things. Its all about small, daily changes that can make all the difference.

So if you want to become smarter without taking a full course or reading dozens of books, embrace these six daily habits, below. Theyll help increase your focus, fast track your learning and boost your brainpower in as much time as reading an email or scrolling through your feed.

Taking a few minutes to visually illustrate your thoughts on a piece of paper or whiteboard a great daily habit to implement will flex your intellect and make you better at taking in complicated concepts and new knowledge. Mind mapping is a powerful tool that helps simplify complex issues for easier understanding, boosts retention, ignites creativity and enables meaningful learning, says Adrian Shepherd, best-selling author and productivity expert, and consultant.

Youve heard all about the health benefits of meditation. But did you know it could also make you sharper? Our world today is noisy, which is why it pays more than ever to have quiet time to reflect. Meditation helps reduce stress, improves focus and memory, lengthens attention span and puts us in the right frame of mind to succeed, he says.

You may think that there is no point in exercising for five minutes, but getting your blood flowing first thing in the morning with bodyweight exercises like push-ups, planks or burpees has cognitive benefits. Not only are [these exercises] effective to build muscle, but they also release endorphins into the bloodstream, which helps our brain operate at optimum levels, says Shepherd.

Shepherd says there is magic in writing. Every successful person I know loves to work on paper. Later, those ideas should get digitally transferred to allow for ease of distribution, back-up, and alteration.

Carry a notebook with you to jot down ideas as they come up and youll find yourself feeling more inspired and creative over time. Make quick lists as you think of tasks and action items: Putting looming to-dos on paper declutters your mind, giving it more space for processing new learnings. Youll see that this daily habit can have a great effect.

Apps like Blinkistprovide condensed book summaries focused on key takeaways and insights that you can get through in less than 15 minutes. There are books that are filled to the brim with powerful ideas. However, some contain just a few nuggets of wisdom. Thats why I have invested in getting book summaries, says Shepherd.

You can also use book summaries to inform your evergrowing reading list and select which reads are going to be worth your time and attention.

Using a timer takes a second, but it can save you hours of work in the long run time that you could spend on attending a compelling conference, having a thought-provoking conversation or listening to an insightful podcast. Shepherd recommends setting a countdown timer for 60 minutes and aiming to focus on a single item of work during that hour.

In todays world, we are distracted on average every three minutes. However, it takes 11 minutes for us to regain concentration. That means we are never able to get into a state of concentration. Thats where a timer comes in handy.

Incorporating these daily habits into your busy life might be what you need to level-up, become smarter and make your day-to-day much more efficient. Try it out for yourself.

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5 minute daily habits that will make you smarter - Ladders

Wellness January 2, 2020 5:13 PM ByErica Sweeney Parade @ericapsweeney More by Erica

As we race from task to task and juggle lifes responsibilities, many of us strive to calm our minds and feel centered. Practicing meditation and mindfulness can help get us therein fact, the benefits of meditation are plentiful.

Meditation helps people hit the pause button, helping them become more present in a given moment, says Spring Washam, meditation educator and author of A Fierce Heart.

Its like the TV is blaring, and then we turn it off for a moment, and we just take a breath, she says. Meditation is a way that we gain that a sort of calmness and a centeredness and we connect with ourselves in that moment.

Whether its five minutes or 20 minutes, finding time to meditate throughout the day can help you feel happier and more at peace. And, your mind and body will thank you. Meditation offers a wealth of benefits to improve your physical health and well being.

Related: 10 Ways Meditation Can Fix Your Life

1. It lowers cortisol levels. Research shows that mindfulness meditation lowers levels of cortisol, the hormone that causes stress. Reducing cortisol can decrease general stress, anxiety and depression.

2. You can better deal with stress. Meditation brings a sense of calm to the mind and body that can reduce stress, Washam says.

When the mind relaxes and lets go, the body follows, she says. We want our adrenaline and our nervous system to take a break at times, to unplug, to recycle, to rejuvenate.

3. It eases anxiety. Meditation is literally the perfect, portable anti-anxiety treatment, says health coach Traci Shoblom. Taking just a few minutes to close your eyes and do breathing exercises can turn off the mechanisms in your brain that cause anxiety.

4. It reduces depression symptoms. Depression is a series mental health condition often triggered by stress and anxiety. Research suggests meditation can change areas of the brain, including the me center and fear center, that are linked to depression. People who meditate also show increased gray matter in the brains hippocampus, responsible for memory.

5. Youll get a mood boost. Meditation helps you deal with stress, anxiety and difficult situations, which makes you happier and feel better. Were just able to deal with difficult things without letting it affect your mood, Washam says.

6. You can retrain your brain. The brain tends to develop as its used. Meditation may retrain the brain to use the prefrontal cortex, known as the me center, to regulate the amygdala, or fear center, says researcher and author Bracha Goetz.

This means that when faced with a stressor, when we are not meditating, we will have gotten in the habit of using our prefrontal cortex to direct our minds back to think more calmly and clearly focus, rather than letting our impulsive reactions direct us, Goetz says.

7. Its good for your heart. Research shows meditation can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, says Chirag Shah, physician and founder of online healthcare platform Push Health. Meditation positively impacts blood pressure, heart muscle effectiveness and general cardiovascular mortality.

8. It lowers blood pressure. High blood pressure affects about 30% of U.S. adults and is considered a worldwide epidemic that heightens the risk of stroke and heart attack. Meditation may improve blood pressure naturally, without medication, research shows.

9. It enhances serotonin levels. Serotonin is a chemical produced in nerve cells that works as a natural mood stabilizer. When you meditate, youll increase serotonin levels, which Washam says acts like a natural anti-depressant.

10. Youll break bad habits. Whether its smoking or shopping too much, meditation brings awareness to your actions in that moment and help you break the cycle of a bad habit, Washam says.

Most habits form unconsciously, she says, and, Over time, (meditation) brings awareness to what were doing, so were not acting out unconsciously. Mindfulness interrupts the habit.

11. Youll strengthen relationships. Good communication, empathy and respect are the hallmarks of a strong relationship, and meditation helps improve all of those qualities. Creating a deeper connection with yourself makes relationships easier and more fulfilling, Washam says.

The moment I become present, Im available to my partner, to my friends, to myself, she says.

12. It boosts concentration. When so many things are racing through our minds at any given time, it can be tough to concentrate on tasks at work or even hobbies like reading a book. Meditation centers your mind so you can focus on what you need to get done.

13. It helps build inner strength. Weve all been stuck in traffic or in a long, boring meeting and couldnt wait to escape. Practicing meditation and mindfulness helps build inner strength and endurance to calmly get through these situations, Washam says.

It creates an ability to be in the moment no matter how it is, she says. Were just able to be with difficult things without unraveling or letting it affect you.

14. Youll learn to be present. Research shows meditation can decrease brain activity in the default mode network (DMN), the part of the brain that wonders, worries and overthinks, helping us stay in the present, says Adina Mahalli, relationship expert and mental health professional at Maple Holistics.

Meditation promotes being in the present moment and focusing our thoughts, Mahalli says, explaining that meditation works the brain like a muscle. The more you meditate the more easily youre able to snap out of DMN mode and into the present.

15. Youll become comfortable in stillness. These days, most of us are always on the go and rarely take the time to calm down. Meditation can make you feel comfortable with stillness, says Josee Perron, life coach and yoga and meditation teacher.

Weve become accustomed to needing to be on the go all the time, Perron says. But, so much running around doesnt leave any time for stillness, which is the gateway to connecting with your deeper inner self.

16. It helps with brain fog. If you struggle with concentration, forget things easily and have a hard time focusing, you might have brain fog. Its often caused by stress, and a meditation practice can calm your mind and let you focus on your breath so you feel more present.

Meditation cuts through the fog because were waking up in that moment in a way, literally, Washam says. Were stopping the habitual distraction, which has effects in the brain long term.

17. Youll better handle anger. Getting angry is a natural feeling when dealing with difficult people or situations. If you act impulsively, you could make things worse, however. When you meditate, you train your brain to focus on the present, and this can help you learn to control and process your emotions in the moment.

Maybe youre upset, but you slow down and just feel your emotions, Washam says. Just that simple act of turning toward your breath creates a kind of relief in the mind.

18. You can work through grudges. Holding onto anger and reliving past wrongs in your mind takes a toll on the mind and body. To calm these feelings, Washam suggests using STOP, a mindfulnessbased meditation technique, which stands for stopping in the moment, taking a breath, observing your internal feelings and proceeding with your day.

19. Youll live in the moment. Learning to focus and live in the moment is important benefit of meditation, but its easier said than done. Often, our thoughts turn to past events or things we need or want to do in the future, and we seem to forget about the here and now.

20. It helps you cope with pain. Meditation activates areas of the brain that are associated with processing pain, so mindful breathing can help people manage chronic pain, says Megan Junchaya, health coach and founder of Vibe N Thrive. Research shows that even a short amount of meditation can boost pain tolerance and reduce pain-related anxietyand, it could possibly alleviate the need for opioid pain medication.

21. Meditation helps you relax. Learning to simply relax and keep calm under pressure are huge mental and physical health benefits of meditation. Practicing mindfulness can reduce stress and lower blood pressure so youll feel more relaxed.

22. Youll sleep better. Most Americans dont get enough sleep, and its tough to get through the day when youre exhausted. Its also bad for your health. When you meditate, you may find yourself drifting off to sleep more easily and getting better quality sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Related: 5 Mental Health Influencers Explain Why Meditation for Sleep Really Works

23. It helps with insomnia. If you have a sleep disorder, like insomnia, meditation can be especially helpful. It reduces anxiety and retrains the brain to slow down and respond differently to stressors.

24. But, you may not need as much sleep. Meditation is not a sleep replacement, and we all need our eight hours. But, when long-term meditation practitioners spent several hours meditating, they experienced a significant drop in sleep time compared to those who dont meditate, according to a 2010 study published in Behavioral and Brain Functions.

25. Meditation teaches you to self-soothe. You will learn to work through anxiety, anger and other problems so that you dont turn to unhealthy behaviors, like drugs or alcohol, to self-soothe.

26. Youll become your own cheerleader. Meditation acts as a support system to help you through a rough time. Youll realize the value of celebrating your strengths and successes and not worrying so much about any faults or mistakes.

27. It reduces inflammation. Meditations ability to help reduce stress is well known. But, chronic stress creates inflammation in the body, which is linked with heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity, says Paul Claybrook, a certified nutritionist.

28. It adds balance to your life. Finding balancewhether its juggling work and home life, dealing with stress and taking some down timeis vital for our mental health and well-being. Practicing mindfulness and learning to center your thoughts will get you there.

29. Youll be more productive. Bringing more awareness to your day-to-day focuses you on the task at hand, rather than jumping around from one project to anotherand, this increases productivity, says Cory Muscara, founder of Long Island Mindfulness Center.

When were going through our day on autopilot, we miss those quick transition moments from working on a project to scrolling through our friends cat pictures on Facebook, he says. The quicker we catch these transitions, the quicker we can come back to the task at hand, and the more we can get done.

30. It boosts the immune system. Among the many health benefits of meditation is an immune system boost, says Mick Cassell, clinical hypnotherapist and founder of wellness app ThinkWell-LiveWell. Research shows that mindfulness lowers blood pressure and enhances the immune system, making you feel better and maybe even live longer.

31. It improves mental functioning. Practice meditation regularly and youll see a chain reaction that leads to better mental functioning, Cassell says. That can include becoming more relaxed, sleeping better and improving concentration, reasoning, performance and productivity.

32. Youll feel more creative. Meditation helps you dial up your creativity, which you can extend to your daily life, Cassell says. Creativity offers benefits like problem-solving, adaptability and self-confidence.

33. It makes you kind. We all need a little more kindness in our lives, and meditation can do the trick. A type of meditation, called Metta, focuses on a feelings-related practice that promotes kindness, says Stella Samuel, wellness coach at Brandnic.com.

34. It improves memory. Meditation enhances cognitive function, which can be a mood-booster and help prevent memory loss, says Brittany Ferri, occupational therapist and founder of Simplicity of Health.

35. Meditation prevents burnout. As we work longer hours and continue to add to our load of responsibilities, its easy to burn out. Practicing mindfulness-based stress reduction could actually shrink the part of the brain that causes worry and fear, and strengthens the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for personality development, research suggests.

36. Youll have a spiritual awakening. Meditation takes us to a place deep inside ourselves, which can bring feelings of love and peace. For some, that could lead to a spiritual awakening.

37. Meditation builds resilience. Focusing on all emotionshappiness, failure and regretlets you observe these feelings and experience a seat of awareness, says Sherrell Moore-Tucker, author and wellness educator.

While sitting with those feelings and experiences, inner strength is cultivated and resilience emerges, she says.

38. Your sex life will heat up. Mindfulness lets you tap into a more authentic, compassionate and honest relationship to sex, says Shauna Shapiro, clinical psychologist and author of Good Morning, I Love You. Studies show practicing mindfulness increases sexual arousal and overall sexual satisfaction, because it enhances your connection with your body.

39. It promotes mindful eating. Our relationship with food can be a complex one, and dieting or overeating can be harmful to our physical and mental health. Mindfulness helps counter your consciousness and reactivity around food, adding to the enjoyment of eating while recognizing hunger cues, Shapiro says.

As we eat mindfully, we are able to listen to the messages of our body, recognizing what foods our body wants, as well as appreciating when we feel hungry and when we become full, she says.

40. Youll become more in tune with your body. Many of us go through the day with a constant dialogue running through our minds. Meditation facilitates a direct experience, or wordless experience of pure sensation, says Brooke Nicole Smith, mindful eating expert and integrative wellness and life coach. This lets you learn to check in with the body.

41. It helps you deal with uncomfortable situations. Getting out of your comfort zone builds strength and leads to personal growth. Meditation teaches you to experience discomfort without freaking out about it, opening the door to new possibilities, where youll feel more comfortable asking for a raise, having a tough conversation or tackling anything else youve been avoiding, Smith says.

42. It could alter gene expression. Research shows that mindfulness-based meditation can lead to molecular changes in the body, which may reduce levels of pro-inflammatory genes. That means you could recover more quickly from stressful situations.

43. Meditation could help fight addiction. Practicing mindfulness lets you better control emotions, thoughts and behaviors, giving you greater control over subconscious habits and addictions, Junchaya says. Research suggests mindfulness-based interventions could treat addictions, including alcohol, smoking, opioids and other drugs.

44. Meditation fosters accountability. Self-exploration leads to self-awareness. Meditation teaches you to own up to actions and behaviors, and stop living in denial or lying to yourself about issues in your life, says Fran Walfish, family and relationship psychotherapist and author of The Self-Aware Parent.

45. Youll make better decisions. Being constantly on the go means we often make impulsive decisions. Since meditation helps you slow down, you can make better decisions and fewer mistakes in your home and work life, says Sadi Khan, fitness research analyst at RunRepeat.

46. It boosts self-esteem. Meditation helps quell negative thoughts, calms the mind and reduces anxiety, helping you feel good about yourself and the decisions you make.

47. Meditation eases loneliness. A study published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity showed older adults, who took part in an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program, saw a decrease in pro-inflammatory gene expressionand, this reduced feelings of loneliness.

48. It improves memory. Brief meditation training has been shown to improve visuo-spatial processing, working memory and executive functioning, according to a study published in Consciousness and Cognition. After just four days of meditation training, people showed a stronger ability to pay attention longer.

49. It can alleviate PMS. Headaches, cramps, hot flashes and water retentionmeditation has been shown to relieve symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and change how you perceive period pain, according to a study published in Mindfulness.

50. Meditation may improve arthritis symptoms. Several studies have shown that meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction can help manage chronic pain, which is welcome news for people living with arthritis. Embracing meditation can help lessen the intensity of pain, enhance functionality and improve mood and quality of life.

51. It changes how the body responds to stress. Stressful situations happen, but meditation helps you manage your reactions to stress. Not only is this good for your health, it can also diffuses stressful moments so they dont escalate.

52. Meditation encourages movement. Meditation fosters a mind-body connection that will encourage you to get up and move. Combined with yoga, tai chi or a casual walk, meditation focuses on being present in your own body and expanding awareness during physical activity, says Lisa Ballehr, an osteopathic physician.

53. It helps you focus. Having trouble focusing on a specific task? Meditation can change that. It could be the simple act of sitting down to a good meal or pushing through a workout session, but the intent is to focus on simply that task at hand and not letting the mind wander, Ballehr says.

54. Youll become more self-confident. Once you learn that you are not your thoughts, you can finally let go of your fears, says Lucile Hernandez Rodriguez, a yoga teacher and holistic health coach. Focusing on your meditation practice helps you find stability, peace of mind and self-acceptance.

55. It promotes emotional stability. Meditation lets you focus on your mind and identify thought patterns, so that you can address them, Rodriguez says. Youll discover healthy ways to deal with your emotions and repressed feelings.

56. Youll perform better. So much focus is on productivity and getting as much done as you can in a day. Meditation can improve performance in all areas of your life. Meditation is commonly used by high-performers in every discipline, as it helps you find your state of flow and truly excel in a task, Rodriguez says.

57. Youll get in touch with your inner voice. When we calm the overactive mind through meditation, we open ourselves up to new feelings and experiences. We are able to tune into and listen to that voice within, our intuition, versus the confusing chitter chatter of our minds stories, says Tara Skubella, an earthing and meditation expert and founder of Earth Tantra.

58. Youll learn to focus your breathing. Breathing is a natural function of the body, of course, but how often do you truly focus on each breath? Meditation provides a space for us to slow and deepen our breath for more oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, Skubella says.

59. Youll make a mind-body connection. How often do we actually give ourselves permission to feel even the most subtle sensations within the body? Skubella asks. If we listen, our body will let us know what needs to be healed.

Practicing meditation provides a chance to stop and build a relationship with the body.

60. Meditation keeps your brain younger. When you focus on your breath during meditation, youre also giving the brain a boost, says Tara Huber of Take Five Meditation. Research published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement shows that regular mindfulness meditation can even slow the aging process and reverse brain aging.

61. It helps you cope with trauma. The death of a loved one or recovering from past abuse can mean dealing with trauma and grief on a daily basis. Meditation can provide emotional safety and focus, so that you can process these feelings, says meditation teacher Colette Coleman.

62. It keeps distractions away. The need for constant multitasking can have our minds scattered. A mindfulness practice pushes away distractions so that you can tackle your to-do list in a calculated way.

63. Youll simplify your life. Living peacefully in the moment not only helps you feel more present, but it relieves the pressure of having to do so much. After we adjust to the challenges of quieting ourselves and letting go of restlessness, we can feel the relief of not having to constantly do, says Connie Habash, psychotherapist, yoga and meditation teacher, and author of Awakening from Anxiety. This realization lets you simplify your life and find joy.

64. Youll feel more alert. Fighting drowsiness and brain fog may be a daily occurrence. Mindfulness training can improve your ability to stay continually alert over a longer period of time, says Keiland Cooper, neuroscientist at the University of California. Research shows that meditation increases activation of the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion and attention, and decreases activity in the amygdala, which controls fear.

65. Youll become more patient. Patience is truly a virtue, especially dealing with difficult people. Meditation allows you to become more adept at dealing with mental distractions, maintaining calm in moments of chaos, improving patience levels, increasing your tolerance of others (and yourself), and responding thoughtfully instead of reacting emotionally throughout your day, says Amber Trueblood, a marriage and family therapist and author.

66. Youll be more tolerant of others. It may be tough to see eye-to-eye with difficult co-workers or relatives with differing political views. A regular meditation practice will keep you calm in these instances so you can embrace tolerance. Its an important part of building relationships.

67. Meditation enhances your metabolism. Practicing meditation will likely inspire you to move more or take up yoga or another fitness routine. Research has also shown a link between mindfulness and an enhanced metabolism.

68. It improves digestion. The mind-body balance and reduced stress that youll experience from meditation is great for your digestive system. It could relieve symptoms of indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and other health issues.

69. Youll have more energy. Maintaining a mind-body connection and reducing stress will give you an energy boost. Meditation helps you feel less weighed down by your emotions and ready to move or take on new projects.

70. Youll have better impulse control. Through practicing mindfulness, youll learn to center your mind and focus on your breath, which helps you control your emotions and impulses.

71. Meditation releases endorphins. The practice of meditation releases endorphins and lowers cortisol levels, making you feel happier and more energetic.

72. Meditation helps curb food cravings. The self-control and stress management that you learn through practicing mindfulness could help curb food cravings and break unhealthy eating habits. It lets you tap into whats driving you to specific foods, Amber Stevens, integrative nutrition health coach and author of Food, Feelings and Freedom.

Meditation lets you master your own mind, so you can pause and ask yourself, Why is this ice cream important, and allow your mind to connect dots, she says, adding that youll be open to explore, not critique, your eating habits.

73. Meditation reduces instances of binge eating. Mindfulness meditation can decrease binge eating and emotional eating, according to a study published in Eating Behaviors.

74. Meditation could help you lose weight. Research has linked meditation to more mindful eating, a boost in metabolism and increased energy levels, which suggests that it could help with weight loss.

75. Youll better understand hunger cues. If you tend to feel peckish in the afternoons, mindfulness could help you get in touch with the real reason why. It may not be actual hunger, says Pamela Hernandez, personal trainer and health coach.

Mindfulness helps get sense how hungry they are and other emotions they are feeling that might lead them to overeat, she says. It creates a more mindful state, which gives you a better chance of pushing away from the table before you reach the stuffed feeling of overeating.

76. It helps you forget about past wrongs. Rather than letting the past define (you), fully surrender to the now and embrace your journey in its entirety without shame or guilt, says AnushaWijeyakumar, wellness coach and meditation and mindfulness educator.

Meditation helps you leave the past in the past and drown out the noise thats preventing you from experiencing inner peace, she says. Youll sever any attachment to past wrongs and move forward.

77. Youll quiet negative thoughts. Learn to let go of the past and crush negative thoughts, which may be holding you back. Replace those negative thoughts with something positive.

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Benefits of Meditation100 Ways Meditation is Good for Your Health - Parade