How Mindfulness Can Help You Get The Most Out Of Vacation

• 0 • Live Well, Mindfulness

This  is my view right now, as I sit sipping coffee in the Cayman islands.

I love vacation, and I’ve noticed that my mindfulness practice is helping me enjoy this one to the fullest.

I’ve been keeping up with the Headspace app, which means that most days, I sit down for 10 minutes and meditate. The guided meditation has me practicing specific mental exercises. I focus and extend my awareness of sounds in the room. I scan my body slowly from head to toe, intently noticing how I’m feeling. I pause to reflect on my underlying emotional state.

Then I focus on the breath, practicing letting thoughts come and go without resistance and without following them. Gently bringing my attention back to the breath as soon as I notice I’ve been distracted. Being aware of the thoughts but not judging them, just noticing them and returning to my focus on the breath as soon as possible.

These skills have all translated to an increased ability to enjoy this vacation.

I’m less distracted. More aware of my surroundings. Able to focus more intently on the feeling of my feet in the sand, the warm breeze, the impeccable view.

I can more easily let go of thoughts that would distract me from enjoyment of the present moment. Out on the paddle board, I can let go of worries about not being with my children right then, or the fact that I haven’t checked my e-mail in six hours. Without resisting the thoughts, I can acknowledge them, let them go, and return to the feeling of the board under my feet and the beauty of the blue sky ahead.

These are things I have always tried to do on vacation, but they’re much easier when you’ve been practicing letting thoughts come and go without resistance or focus.

I’m much more skilled at not worrying about things I have no control over at the present moment, because for 10 minutes a day, I practice letting go.

One of the books I’m reading right now encourages people to find a system of organization that will allow them to keep track of every “open loop” on their to do list so they don’t have to store any of them in their mind. It jokes that your mind is really kind of stupid, because it reminds you that you need batteries for the flashlight when you try to use the flashlight, not when you walk by batteries in the store.

How often do we let our minds do this, remind us of things at the wrong time, when there’s nothing we can do about them? A daily mindfulness practice has helped me not to spend my time on the paddle board worrying about what to feed the kids for snack, and my time making snack for the kids day-dreaming about being back on the paddle board.

I feel like the dog in that Cat Vs. Dog diaries because I’m able to enjoy each moment more while I’m in it. I focus on the calm enjoyment of being with my children and caring for them when we’re together, then fully experience the freedom when I have the chance to be out paddling the Caribbean.

And that’s worth a lot more than 10 minutes a day 🙂

 

What’s Mindfulness? Meditation Explained by a Beginner

• 0 • Mindfulness

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About a month ago I posted that I had begun using Headspace, a mindfulness meditation app. Their foundation series is a beginner introduction to mindfulness and meditation. It isn’t my first introduction to meditation, I’ve done some reading about it in The Joy Diet by Martha Beck, and experienced a handful of guided meditation exercises in workshops I’ve attended through our Health & Wellness group in the Mothers Forum.

I love it, but I’m still very much a beginner, which is why I wanted to write this post now.

Here’s a beginner’s explanation of mindfulness and meditation straight from someone who not very long ago had no concept of either. No high level stuff, here. Just a novice perspective that may inspire you to start your own meditation journey.

A Beginner’s Understanding – Mindfulness and Meditation

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is being aware of the present moment without judgment. It’s calmly noticing things but without attaching positive of negative emotions; just taking inventory and being really aware and present in the moment. It might mean doing a mental body scan, and really noticing how your body feels from head to toe. It could be taking some time to really notice your emotional state without judging yourself for how you’re feeling, just making yourself aware of it. Using mindfulness while you’re eating can help you truly enjoy a bite of food, or decide some treats aren’t actually as pleasurable to eat as you thought.

Why I Love Practicing Mindfulness

The practice of being really aware of my body, emotions, surroundings and present moment but not judging them can be very helpful in every day life. It can help me to notice that I’m irritable and snippy, without judging myself and feeling guilty, but then after that mindful moment of non-judgment I’ll be proactive and do something to make myself feel better or remind myself not to be irritable towards my family. It can help me appreciate the beautiful moments I have with my children, really pausing to notice the way the sunlight hits the top of their heads, taking time to really watch them interact with each other, focus on the sound of my son’s laughter. Pause. Be here, now. Experience my children’s childhood in a more pronounced and high definition way.

What is meditation?

Meditation is time spent sitting and encouraging the mind to be calm and peaceful. Techniques for training the mind to be calm might be focusing on the breath, counting the breath, or repeating a mantra in the brain.

Meditation doesn’t mean the absence of other thoughts; that’s one of the most helpful things I’ve learned. It’s easy for a beginner to think they’re never going to be able to meditate successfully because they can’t turn their brains off, and thoughts intrude constantly into their practice.

That’s ok. It’s the act of non-judgement and return to calmness that’s important when thoughts intrude; notice them and then let them go. I am surprised later to discover that I remember the thoughts that I need to, without interrupting my meditation to write them down.

Each time a thought interrupts my focus on the breath or a mantra or whatever I’m doing, I just bring my attention back as soon as I realize it. I don’t worry about it, I don’t follow the train of thought, I just let it go.

Why I Love Meditation

I feel calmer immediately after I meditate. My entire body feels more relaxed; even my eyelids feel heavier at the end of the session when I open my eyes and return to reality. It’s that noticeable physical change that keeps me coming back for ten minute session after ten minute session. I’d love to do longer sessions at some point, but am a little amazed at how hard it can be just to find ten uninterrupted minutes in my day. That’s another thing I love about meditation; whether I’m able to make the time for it is a good pulse for whether I’m over-committed and need to step back a little.

How to Start

I do recommend the Headspace app, I’ve had a good experience with it. A friend of mine prefers the Calm app. You can also pick up your own copy of The Joy Diet by Martha Beck, which I highly recommend; it talks about far more than meditation and is a classic for a reason.

You can also look for a meditation workshop near you; many yoga studios either offer them or are good places to ask for recommendations.

And… there’s always google. However you start, taking some time each day to sit and be calm really can do wonders for our busy brains.

Headspace: a meditation app & RR Podcast 209

• 1 • Live Well, Mindfulness, Uncategorized

I recently listened to Rich Roll Podcast 209, with Dr. Rhonda Patrick on longevity, epigenetics and microbiome health. Loved it; great show if you’re looking for an episode to listen to. They dive into some really interesting things about gene expression, telomere length and longevity, circadian rhythm, and the importance of microbiome health to immune health. Fascinating stuff.

Some take aways from this podcast episode:

Eat your fiber; it feeds your healthy gut bacteria. If you take a probiotic but don’t feed your body fiber, it’s like planting a seed but not watering the garden. Consider a Vitamin D3 supplement if you live north of the 30 degree latitude marker, because for months out of the year you won’t receive enough UVB rays for your body to convert sunlight to Vitamin D3. It’s important for circadian rhythm and sleep health to be exposed to a lot of light during the day; SAD is a real phenomenon. Take antibiotics only when needed for health, and avoid them in your food supply.

Meditation: One of the things they discussed in the podcast episode was meditation, and the evidence that supports it as a good practice for health and longevity.

Dr. Patrick expressed an interest in meditation because there’s evidence to support how healthy it is, but she doesn’t currently practice it.  My curiosity is piqued when someone with a Ph.D. in biomedical science says that they want to take up meditation because of the scientific literature. This isn’t an enthusiastic practitioner who might be succeptible to confirmation bias because they love their meditation practice; this is someone with a lot of scientific savvy saying they don’t do it, but they’d like to. Compelling.

Dr. Patrick said that there’s evidence that people’s gene expression actually changes with meditation, which is… well, amazing. Pyschology Today, Huffington Post and Scientific American have all written articles on the topic.

Change your gene expression? That’s powerful stuff. (Not change your genetic makeup itself… just ones are turned on or off ie “expressed”, so no… it won’t allow you to mutate into one of the X-Men.)

I think I’d like my genes to express themselves better. (There’s a denim joke in here somewhere.)

Headspace: A Meditation and Mindfulness App

 

In the podcast, Rich Roll recommended the mindfulness app Headspace, which offers guided meditation practices and more right on your computer or mobile device.

The first ten sessions of 10 minutes each are free, then it requires a subscription which ranges from $7.99 per month if you commit to a year up to $12.95 if you go month-to-month.

I mentioned the app at a Wellness Retreat today, and several other people attending gave it a thumbs up, including Cory Halaby, the yoga instructor and certified wellness coach who first got me interested in mindfulness last year.

My first 10 minutes

I downloaded the app, found it easy to navigate, and did my first 10 minutes of guided meditation on Friday. I decided to do it in the 10 minutes before I needed to leave for preschool pick-up, that way I just stopped my regular morning activities ten minutes sooner than normal instead of interrupting something. It also meant I would pick up the kids in a more relaxed and peaceful state.

It went shockingly well. I enjoy guided meditation, since it’s easier for beginners. I felt more relaxed, and was much more productive than normal all afternoon. I felt more focused, aware and motivated.

I also felt skeptical and mildly suspicious that the placebo effect was kicking in, and I just finally had had enough of the clutter.

But for a 10 minute investment that absolutely left me feeling calmer on my way to reunite with my preschoolers, does it really matter if the benefits actually extended to my afternoon cleaning session?

I’m not sure it does.

 

We’ll see how things are going after the 100 minutes of free meditation (if I manage to stick with it…).

There are just so many articles online about how meditation can positively impact your brain, health, sleep, emotions… I like evidence. I like what shaping my habits based on evidence does for my overall health, mood and quality of life.

I’ve got to try this.

Ommm?

PS – if you find this information useful, you can support Rich Roll by making your next Amazon purchase through the affiliate link at the bottom of his website where it says “Shop at Amazon”. Since he provides me with hours of fascinating information for free, I thought I’d boost my karma by sharing the way you can help support his podcast. 

PPS – I don’t actually believe in karma, I just shared that link because it felt like the right thing to do.