Pausing To Listen
Even short 5 minute meditations can be beneficial. With great challenges around us and being overwhelmed by uncertainty and fear of the future, the rational parts of our brains go offline.
By taking a moment to become aware of our angst and what has prompted it, we give our prefrontal cortex – the brain’s rational part a chance to come back online”. A great way to do this is to just simply become aware of the breath. Of course yoga is a powerful and effective beginning. We can compare anxiety to what it feels like to be calm. To our brains, it’s a no-brainer.
This technique – pausing, perceiving and naming — is also commonly taught as part of meditation practice. Looking at what’s happening moment to moment and labelling it silently – ‘thinking’, ‘worrying’, ‘whatever’– that naming has been shown to activate the prefrontal cortex which is active and responsible for superior control ensuring we can function in a complex society.
When we Meditate or do Yoga Nidra the visual centre at the back of the head and centre for tactile sense (sense of touch & direction) at the top of the head are active creating more contact with emotions and increased ability to visualise.
While we may not need a formal practice of meditation, we recommend an initial period of regular practice to “integrate” it into our lives so that we remember to use it when we need.
Once integrated, the results can extend beyond calming COVID-19 anxiety and all other stresses.
People often come to meditation for stress relief and to get blissed out, but I think it’s about so much more than that.
Just stop, breath, listen and name…….