I really love this simple breathing exercise. It is great for anytime in any place. Alternate breathing is a great way to calm the mind and relax emotions. The exercise involves alternate breathing through each nostril. Continue Reading
Brain research is beginning to produce concrete evidence for something that Buddhist practitioners of meditation have maintained for centuries: Mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow people to achieve different levels of awareness. Continue Reading
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This is a good meditation to do on a schedule. It is 3 minutes and can be used anywhere you have internet. I gave this to my husband and his co-workers and they love to use it at work. It is also a good way to take a 3 minute break away from hyper kids and stressed out friends. Continue Reading
Everyday stress can throw your entire system off kilter; your muscles tighten, your heart races, and your stomach starts acting up — again. A simple seated forward bend can activate a reserve of sustaining energy that, according to Chinese medicine, rests between the kidneys. “It calms the nervous system, gets the organs fully functioning, and clears up obstructions in the kidneys and adrenal glands,” explains Daniel Max, nutrition counselor, shiatsu practitioner, and yoga instructor with Max Sense of Self in Watertown, Massachusetts. Get your qi back in no time with this quick stretch.
What It Does
Calms the mind; relieves stress; stretches the spine, shoulders, hamstrings, and back; stimulates the kidneys and adrenal glands; improves digestion; and reduces fatigue.
How to Do It
1. Sit with your legs extended straight in front of you, feet parallel with toes pointing up. Press the back of your legs into the floor.
2. Inhale deeply and lift through the upper body. With your spine straight and shoulders back, pull the navel in slightly toward the spine, creating space in the abdomen. Exhale, release, and lean forward, bending from the hip, not the waist.
3. Fold forward only as far as you can (keep your knees bent if that’s more comfortable). With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso slightly; if you feel able to go further, release a little more fully into the bend on an exhale. Try not to crunch; maintain length through the spine.
4. Hold for a few breaths, allowing your body to open up. Direct your breath toward the kidneys, breathing deep into the lower back. Then inhale and sit up slowly, lifting your torso away from the thighs until your back is straight. Repeat 2 to 3 times.
Source: Body and Soul April 2008
While PTSD is now being fully recognized as a mental health condition, helping professionals are still struggling to find viable and evidence-based treatments for PTSD (Foa, Keane, & Friedman, 2000). Conventional treatment efforts involve mostly cognitive-behavioral therapy, which has received the greatest research attention and support for its efficacy (Please refer to Foa & Meadows, 1997, and Rothbaum, Meadows, Resick, & Foy, 2000 for detailed reviews). Findings, however, revealed that PTSD subjects with prolonged histories of interpersonal abuse responded adversely to prolonged exposure and cognitive restructuring treatment.
Dr. Mo Yee Lee in partnership with Dr. Amy Zaharlick (Anthropology) and Dr. Deborah Akers (Miami University) has been investigating the effectiveness of a six-week meditation curriculum on mental health outcomes among female trauma survivors who also have substance use problems. Dr. Lee’s research team works in collaboration with Amethyst Inc., a local organization that serves to break the cycle of addiction, poverty, and violence for women and their children. The team’s work explores the utility, cultural adaptability and appropriateness of using meditation, a primarily Eastern-based practice, as an intervention with clinical populations in the U.S. A preliminary study examined two specific questions: (1) Is a 6-week meditation curriculum effective in reducing PTSD symptoms and improving functioning of female trauma survivors who have histories of prolonged interpersonal abuse? (2) How did participants understand and perceive their meditation experience and its potential benefits? Continue Reading
