Tidying your to-do list for mental clarity

Marie Kondo is well known for her life changing methods of tidying and reducing the amount of clutter we have. Whilst decluttering tangible items can have a significant impact on our well-being and modd, so to can decluttering intangible items, such as a to-do list. The article below walks you through the process of managing your to-do list, following the Marie Kondo method. From this, we can hopefully live with more metal clarity and less weight on our minds. Check it out!

Your to-do list should spark joy, not dread.

Your to-do list is an extension of your mind. It’s the spare room where you keep tomorrow’s work tucked away so you can focus on what’s in front of you today.

But just like a spare room, if you don’t regularly tidy up your list, things get cluttered. Instead of being a reliable source of to-dos, it becomes a task in itself to sort through the mess and figure out what to work on next. A tidy task list does more than just improve productivity — it benefits your mental clarity, decision-making, and even your mood.

Taking a cue from Marie Kondo’s excellent The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, you can declutter your task list in the same way she tidies physical belongings: by establishing a few simple, organisational habits.

1. Before you start, visualise your destination

How can you know which tasks are worth doing if you don’t know where you want to go? How will you find the motivation to keep your to-do list clutter-free if you don’t know why you’re decluttering in the first place?

Before touching any clutter, Marie first asks her clients to envision the life they want to achieve by tidying up.

Think in concrete terms so that you can vividly picture what it would be like to live in a clutter-free space.

Or in our case, a clutter-free to-do list. Before you even start looking at your tasks, write down what having a neatly organised and prioritised to-do list would mean for your life. Maybe you want to run a successful business, get in shape, be more present with your family, have closer relationships with friends, or lead a more adventurous life.

Find a medium that lets you truly envision the details. You can describe it in words, mind map it, draw it out, create a Pinterest board, collect Youtube videos, or brainstorm in whatever form suits you.

But don’t stop there. “to prevent rebound you need to move ahead properly, step by step, as you launch into this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Marie says. “Your next step is to identify why you want to live like that.”

Why do you want to get in shape? The answer might be “to have more energy and feel more confident.”  Why do you want to have more energy and feel more confident? Maybe the answer is “to be more fully yourself and stop worrying about what other people think of you.” Ask yourself “why” 3-5 times for every item in your vision. Marie explains the importance of this step to prevent a relapse into messiness:

As you continue to explore the reasons behind your ideal lifestyle, you will come to a simple realisation. The whole point in both discarding and keeping things is to be happy. It may seem obvious, but it is important to experience this realisation for yourself and let it sink into your heart. Before you start tidying, look at the lifestyle you aspire to and ask yourself, “Why do I want to tidy?”

Keep your “why” top-of-mind as you tidy and after by creating a task in your To-do list that represents your final vision. If you have an accompanying document or image, link to it from your task or attach it to your task comments. This is your True North that will help you determine whether a task is worth doing. If you’ve written out an all-encompassing vision, break it down into several goals for each area of your life, and create a task for each.

Use your final goal to keep your tasks aimed in the right direction.

You may want to give your task a recurring due date to review the vision you set out for yourself at the start of each day.

Once you’re clear on why you’re tidying, you’re ready to start tackling the hard decisions of what to keep on your to-do list and what to let go of.

2. Finish discarding first

Think of your task list like a physical space: when it’s crammed with random stuff, it becomes too hard to find the things that you actually need.

Right now, your to-do list may be stuffed with half-baked ideas, empty projects, and tasks you forgot to check off:

Discard first, organise second.

Following Marie’s system, it’s time to do a task inventory.

It’s not just Marie. David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, believes that organising our life is actually a search for mental space: GTD is “more of a space management system.”

Do a complete task inventory

When Marie Kondo arrives at a house to tidy it up, she begins by kneeling on the floor in the centre of the living room to show respect for all of its belongings. From there, she helps her client begin the journey, considering each and every item in turn.

Take the same approach (kneeling optional) and do a full inventory of all the tasks and projects in your To do list. Depending how cluttered your to-do list is, you may want to dedicate a full day or even a weekend to this endeavour. As Marie says, “Tidy a little bit each day and you’ll be tidying forever.”

Remember, this exercise isn’t just about decluttering your to-do list — it’s about cutting away the nonessential so that the only tasks you have left are the ones that bring you closer to the life you want to live. Marie’s famous standard is “does it spark joy?” If the answer is yes, keep it. If not, get rid of it.

For your to-do list, we recommend a slightly different criterion:

As you do your inventory, ask yourself: Does this task bring me closer to the life I want to live?

If the answer is yes, keep it. It not, delete it from your task list.

You’re going to run into tasks that you want to delete, but let’s face it, grunt work is necessary for any significant achievement. Try reframing the tasks that don’t excite you. While “run every day” may feel like a chore, “try to run a 10-minute mile today” may be a more specific and motivating challenge.

Re-frame tasks in ways that make you remember why you want to do them in the first place.

Even Marie concedes that there are items you have to keep even if they don’t spark joy — like important documents.  For work like taking out the trash or doing your taxes, create a separate project called “responsibilities” and pare it down to the things that, while they don’t bring you joy, you just have to do anyway.

This is a good exercise to check in on and see how much of your to-do list are things you get to do vs things you have to do.

Let things go

You may have a tough time letting go of long-standing tasks on your list. Maybe you always envisioned yourself finishing that home renovation project yourself. Or maybe you don’t want to let go of your novel that hasn’t made it past the first chapter (or page). It can feel like giving up on the version of yourself you wanted to be when you added that task or project in the first place.

Marie explains that even unfinished tasks served a purpose. You’ve clarified what you actually care about and why:

Not every person you meet in life will become a close friend or lover. Some you will find hard to get along with or impossible to like. But these people, too, teach you the precious lesson of who you do like, so that you will appreciate those.

Letting go of old tasks and projects teaches you how to create space for what’s important to you now. As you go through your old tasks, acknowledge that there was a purpose when you added it, but it’s no longer relevant to the life you’re striving for today.

Don’t be afraid to delete tasks that are no longer relevant to the life you want to live.

If you just can’t bring yourself to hit delete on a task and banish it from your life forever, you have the option to save it in a temporary project in to-do list. (Marie would strongly disapprove: “Storage is nothing but a cosmetic solution. You must begin by discarding!” But you should do what works best for you.)

If you’re intent on saving tasks, create a project named “Maybe later” and hide it from view by archiving it. You can always come back and unarchive it later.

3. Give every task a place

Ok, you’ve got the right tasks — now it’s time to sort and organise. Similar to Marie’s rule that every physical item should have its place, every task on your to-do list should have its project. Group your tasks together in ways that are intuitive to you.

For instance, if your goal is to get in shape, you could begin with the “fitness” category and create a project with that name. Find every task related to your goal and move those tasks to the project.

Think of each project as a “room” in the life you want to build.

Repeat this for every category until your to-do list is organised into projects. For tasks that don’t fit into any of the categories you’ve identified as important, ask yourself if it still belongs on your to-do list.

Keep your projects visible

At this point, it’s tempting to start creating a bunch of sub-projects that you can hide from view (like seasonal storage), but Marie advises her clients to keep everything visible all year round. Just as seeing every physical object you own keeps you from accumulating too much stuff, seeing every project you’ve committed to can be a helpful reminder to stay focused on what’s important and not let new tasks and projects clutter up your list.

Sequence your tasks

A great way to stay in the flow of a project is to finish one task and immediately move on to the next. Take the time to sequence your tasks in a logical order before you get to work.

Rearrange tasks by dragging the handlebar to the left of each task (Web, Mac, Windows) or tapping, holding, and dragging (iOS, Android) to the right place on the list. You can do the same thing daily while planning your Today view so that all your tasks due today are in the right order.

Drag and drop your tasks into an order that makes sense for you.

Add priorities

There are some tasks that are more essential to your goal than others. Set task priorities to keep track of which is which. Here’s an example of how to evaluate a task’s priority level:

P1 — Must finish.

P2 — Nice to have.

P3 — Finish if there is time available.

P4 — Unnecessary. These may have snuck in through your task inventory. Delete them now.

Use priority levels to automatically order tasks from most to least important.

Give each task a due date

Finally, set a date to complete each task. A handy tip is to make an estimate for how long a task will take to complete, and then double it. It’s be better to overestimate and finish early than to underestimate and finish late. Give each task a due date and schedule repeating tasks with a recurring due date.

Make sure your to-do list “sparks joy”

Aesthetics affect our mindset. When Marie does her inventory, she shows up dressed to the nines. She has carefully picked out every part of her appearance to suit the needs of the day. She takes the same approach to the space she’s reviewing:

“Imagine what it would be like to have a bookshelf filled only with books that you really love. Isn’t that image spellbinding? For someone who loves books, what greater happiness could there be?”

Give you to-do list a style that will to put you in a positive mindset whenever you check in. To borrow Marie’s signature phrase, make your digital task space “spark joy.” Here are a few tips:

• Write clear, specific, and motivating project and task titles. For example, instead of naming your task “go for a jog”, try “take a morning jog through the forest” or “explore a new running route today”

• Add text formatting and emojis to give them life: “take a morning jog through the forest”

• Use a colour theme that matches your style or mood

• Arrange your projects in an intuitive way

• Continually let go of the projects and tasks that don’t excite you

Your to-do list is ready for action.

4. Change your mindset, then your habits

You’ve revamped your task list to be cleaner, simpler, and more aligned with your goals. But don’t expect the work to be finished overnight.

At this point, Marie has noticed that many people, lose faith — “I’m just a messy person!” But that’s not the case. Being tidy is an acquired mindset, she says.

With your to-do list, this translates to asking that essential question for every new task coming into your list: Does it lead to your vision? If not, discard it on the spot. If the answer is yes, add it to the proper spot on your lists.

Of course, unhelpful tasks are bound to sneak in from time to time. Weed them out with a weekly review so you start each week with a clearly prioritised to-do list. Discard tasks that don’t bring you closer to your goals. Organise the spare tasks that have ended up in your inbox into the right projects. Have certain tasks or projects fallen out of line with your goal? Discard those, too.

Finally, check in on your big picture goals every few months. It’s natural for priorities to shift as you grow and learn more about what tasks and projects truly motivate you.

If your goals change, update your “life vision” task to document and do a mini-inventory to re-tidy your list. Over time, the goals that stand the test of time will be valuable to you, and now you’ll have the tools to achieve them in an organised way.

We spend a lot of time in digital spaces. Luckily, we can take a page from Marie Kondo’s ideas about physical space to keep our digital environment — and by extension, our minds and lives — tidy. It’s not just a productivity boost; in a world of constant interruptions and information overload, healthy organisational habits will help you stay balanced and carve out time for the things that bring you joy, all the while making progress towards what matters to you most.

Article author: Neil Vidyarthi
Article source: https://blog.doist.com/life-changing-magic-tidying-todoist/

---

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR HOW TO VIDEOS, TIP AND TRICKS, YOGA INSPO AND MUCH MORE!

Supporting a healthy brain and mind

Our brains and minds are such powerful things. What we feed our brain – nourishment, exercise, leisure activities, rest & sleep etc – can impact the way we think, feel and function. There are modifiable activities that can enhance our brain health, and others that can jeopardise it. Read more in the article below!

Mind over matter—these days, this proverb feels extra relevant. From mental wellness, to focus, to stress management, the health of our mind is central to our quality of life. So how do we keep our mind in its very best shape? We make brain health a part of our daily routines.

Why does brain health matter?

A healthy brain is the baseline of any thriving lifestyle. In terms of wellness, it comes before the quartz crystal face rollers, infrared saunas, and plant-based meat alternatives. A healthy brain helps us harness our own potential, solve life's inevitable problems, sort out emotions, and manage stress. And this brilliant organ (which research suggests may be more powerful than all the digital computers in the world combined) does these things all on its own. But that doesn't mean we can't lend a hand.

We can do that by adjusting our routines and activities to cultivate the brain functions we appreciate most, like focus and stress management. Getting more intentional about brain health is pretty straightforward, but potent—here's what it looks like.

Begin a regular meditation practice

Intuitively, we all know that meditation is probably a good idea (and it is), but we rarely prioritise it. The truth is that if we understood just how beneficial meditation is for our brain, it would be easy to make it a nonnegotiable part of our daily routine.

We've all heard that meditation helps with stress—but there's so much more to it. A regular meditation practice has been proven to literally change the brain. In one study, Harvard neuroscientists found that after just eight weeks of regular meditation, participants' brain cortex thickened in key areas responsible for factors like cognition, memory, and compassion. Meditation works wonders on the brain—50-year-old meditators have the same amount of grey matter in the brain as 25-year-olds... And this just scratches the surface of how many benefits there are.

Our brains are constantly running the show, but we can assist them by providing the ingredients that help nourish it. Vitafusion* Brain Food is a gummy supplement that nourishes the brain with important nutrients. It includes a daily dose of ashwagandha, a popular Ayurvedic herb that has been used for thousands of years to help with stress. To help support focus, the Brain Food formula also includes phosphatidylserine, a phospholipid/fatty acid that is a critical component of cells, including cells in the brain. Just two Brain Food gummies also provide vitamins B6 and B12, essential nutrients to help nourish our brain.

Get serious about hydration

As if you needed another reminder to drink more water... hydration is actually key to supporting our brain function. Considering water is responsible for 75% of our brain mass, it's understandable that dehydration affects our brain health. Studies have shown that for middle-aged adults, dehydration requires the brain to work harder to complete a task, resulting in fatigue and changes in mood. Dehydration has been linked to impaired attention, executive function, and motor coordination. For the sake of your brain, stay on top of your hydration goals! Make it easier by infusing your water with fruits, set reminders on your phone to drink up, and make every work break a water break. 

Play games that help with cognitive training

Games and puzzles? We have to be real with you; some of these practices and routines are actually a no-brainer. Studies show that cognitive training can yield improvements in attention, memory, and processing speed—meaning that you now have a worthy reason to play "brain-training games" like crosswords and apps like Luminosity (basically a workout for your brain). But under the "use it or lose it" philosophy, research also indicates that persistence is key to maintaining benefits. A fundamental part of brain health is simply using our brain: Play challenging games, learn something new, get creative!

Brain health is an everyday intention

When it comes to brain health, there isn't a single solution or quick fix. Brain health is an everyday intention. Just like we work out and nourish our bodies—our brain needs exercise and nourishment, too. Instead of taking your brain for granted, think about how fascinating "thinking" really is (that's a brain exercise right there). Embrace the lifestyle of brain health, and show your mind that it matters!

**These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Read the original article here
Article author: Devon Barrow

---

 FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR HOW TO VIDEOS, TIP AND TRICKS, YOGA INSPO AND MUCH MORE!

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

12 Types of Meditation: Everything You Need to Know

Knowing where to start with meditation can be challenging. Often when people think of meditating, they imagine sitting in silence whilst trying to quieten the mind. In actual fact, there are many different techniques to meditation, each worth a try for those starting out, or those with a well established practice. Take a read of the article below to learn more about the styles.

Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind and developing awareness to help achieve clarity and calm. It is widely recognised for its incredible benefits, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep and concentration, and increasing overall happiness.

There are many styles of meditation that offer different ways to redirect your focus and attention. There's not one universally accepted "best" type; it's about finding what works for you. Here are 12 key types of meditation to start exploring:

1. Guided meditation

In guided meditation a teacher leads you through the practice, either in person or via an app or course. This type of meditation is perfect for beginners, as the teacher's expert guidance can help you get the most out of a new experience.

How to practice:

The main thing here is to find a teacher you like and connect with. You can also tailor your search based on a desired result and try guided meditations focused on sleep, stress relief, or acceptance.

2. Mantra meditation

In mantra meditation you focus your attention on a mantra: a word, phrase, or syllable. This is a good approach for those days when the thoughts and feelings seem completely overwhelming, as it gives your brain something else to focus on. It's also thought to increase the vibrations associated with the mantra, helping you enter a more positive and deep state of being.

How to practice:

Choose a mantra that resonates with you. It may be a self-affirmation (such as "I am worthy"), or it may be a simple chant (such as "om"). Repeat that mantra over and over again for a few minutes. Each time you get distracted, don't worry about it. Just draw your focus back once more to the mantra.

3. Spiritual meditation

Spiritual meditation is the mindful practice of believing in and connecting to something that is greater, vaster, and deeper than the individual self. In this meditation you are trusting that there is something bigger out there and that everything happens for a reason.

How to practice:

Sit in silence with the awareness on the breath and repeat affirmations focused on surrender and trust, such as: "I am conscious and aware," "I let everything simply be as it is in this moment," or "I live in my Creator and my Creator lives in me."

4. Present-moment meditation

Present moment (or mindfulness) meditation trains us to move from thinking to sensing. Rather than dwelling on the past or dreading the future, this meditation encourages you to become aware of your immediate surroundings or experience, crucially without any judgment. It urges us not to get attached to our thoughts but rather just allow them to be.

How to practice:

Mindfulness meditation is something you can do almost anywhere. Bring your awareness to the physical sensations of the breath and the body: the rising and falling of the abdomen and chest or the feeling of the breath as it travels in and out the nostrils or mouth. You could also bring focus to any sounds or smells around you. Once you feel settled, bring your awareness to the thoughts and emotions, letting them come and then letting them go. Imagine each thought is like a cloud moving across a clear blue sky, always changing.

5. Transcendental meditation

Transcendental meditation involves sitting with your eyes closed for 20 minutes twice a day repeating a specific and personal mantra (or set of words) given to you by a Transcendental Meditation teacher. The ultimate goal is to transcend or rise above the person's current state of being.

How to practice:

Find a qualified Transcendental Meditation teacher to initiate you into the meditation technique with a mantra. This mantra is decided by a complex set of factors, including the year the practitioner was born, and the year the teacher was trained. Sit twice a day for 20 minutes repeating this mantra.

6. Vipassana meditation

This meditation technique, also called "Insight Meditation," involves sitting in silence, focusing on the breath and noting any and all physical or mental sensations that arise. The idea is to find "insight" into the true nature of reality (which vipassana teaches is suffering), by examining all aspects of your existence. Multi-day vipassana retreats are a popular way to dive deeper into this practice.

How to practice:

Sit quietly and concentrate on the breath as it moves through the body. Let all emotions, sensations, thoughts, and sounds arise without getting attached to them. Label any distraction, for example, "a bird chirping" and return your focus to the breath.

7. Metta meditation

Also known as a "loving-kindness" meditation, in this practice you bring your awareness to the people in your life (both near and far, known and unknown, liked or disliked) and direct positive energy and thoughts toward them. It's a wonderful technique for decreasing anger and increasing understanding, positivity, and compassion.

How to practice:

Find a comfortable position, and with the eyes closed, bring your awareness to the chest, to the heart center. As you breathe in, imagine you are breathing in warmth, compassion, and unconditional love for yourself, and as you breathe out, imagine you are directing that warmth, compassion, and unconditional love to the people around you. Start with close friends or relatives, and move out to directing it to neutral acquaintances and then those you don't particularly like right now.

8. Chakra meditation

This meditation is used to keep the body's seven chakras, or energy centers, open, aligned, and fluid. It is based on the idea that blocked or unbalanced chakras can cause negative physical or mental ailments and that by meditating on them we can bring the self back into harmony.

How to practice:

Become familiar with the chakras and their corresponding properties and qualities. Spend time resting your awareness on the chakras that you feel you need to bring into balance. Concentrate on the bodily location of each chakra and picture energy flowing through that area that is the colour of that chakra. Here are some more details on meditations tailored to the themes of each chakra.

9. Yoga meditation

Just as there are many different types of meditation, there are many styles of yoga. Some types, such as Kundalini, focus on using meditative techniques to strengthen and relax the nervous system. You can bring a meditative awareness to any yoga style or class simply by focusing on the breath and the present. 

How to practice:

While taking any yoga posture, keep your awareness on the breath and the physical sensations in the present moment. Each time you find the mind wandering to thoughts, gently draw it back once more. Corpse pose (savasana) taken at the end of all yoga classes, is one of the best pathways for meditation.

10. Candle-gazing meditation

Trataka, or candle gazing, is a type of meditation in which you keep your eyes open and focused on a point or object—frequently, the flame of a lit candle. Objects such as crystals could also be used. This practice helps bring energy to the third-eye chakra and can increase concentration.

How to practice:

Sit comfortably with your gaze focused on a single object, such as a candle, tree, or crystal. With relaxed eyes, try your level best not to blink. Maintain focus until your eyes begin to feel uncomfortable and then close the eyes. Keep the image of the object in your mind's eye, then open your eyes and start again.

11. Visualisation meditation

In a visualization meditation, you picture something or someone in your mind, to the exclusion of everything else. It can feel challenging but is no different really than focusing on the breath or body. Frequent visualisation can help you manifest the things you want in life, by staying focused and pouring energy into them.

How to practice:

Closing the eyes and sitting comfortably, bring to mind someone or something you either want or have negative feelings around that you want to let go of. Keep your focus here and keep returning each time the mind wanders. Observe, too, any physical sensations that may arise (such as bodily heat in response to anger). Do not get attached; continue only to observe.

12. Become the observer meditation

Similar to vipassana, in this meditation you bring your awareness completely but impartially to the self and observe your thoughts, feelings, patterns, and behaviours. Through this focus, you will begin to learn more about yourself and from that awareness be able to effect any change you may need or want to see in your life. 

How to practice:

You can do this meditation anytime, anywhere, simply by bringing the awareness inward. Observe your mind as if from the outside, becoming completely conscious of your thoughts and behaviours but remaining completely impartial and nonjudgmental. Be a witness to your experience.

Whichever meditation style you choose, doing it regularly will lead to the best results. Try a technique every day for 10 days and see how you feel at the end. And remember: You can't meditate wrong, so don't worry if the mind is busy. This is very normal. Meditation is not about forcing the mind into stillness but rather redirecting the focus and attention in order to give yourself a little break.

Read original article here

Article author: Lily Silverton

---

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR HOW TO VIDEOS, TIP AND TRICKS, YOGA INSPO AND MUCH MORE!

Meditation to Enhance Sleep Quality

Getting a good night sleep can be easier said than done. We generally have so much stimulation in our days and so much on our mind that when it comes time to wind down, we are still far too wired! However, sleep and rest play an integral role in our quality of life and achieving our goals, no matter how large or small. It helps our body to repair, controls our appetite, enhances our cognition & energy levels and supports good mental wellbeing. There are many little tips we can try to improve our sleep quality, including meditation, which can actually have a really significant impact. Read the article below to find out more!

If you’ve ever crawled under the covers worrying about a problem or a long to-do list, you know those racing thoughts may rob you of a good night’s sleep. Sleep disturbances, like having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep, affect millions of people.

The daytime sleepiness that follows can leave you feeling lousy and sap your productivity, and it may even harm your health. Now, a small study suggests that mindfulness meditation — a mind-calming practice that focuses on breathing and awareness of the present moment — can help.

A study published a few years ago in JAMA Internal Medicine  included 49 middle-aged and older adults who had trouble sleeping. Half completed a mindfulness awareness program that taught them meditation and other exercises designed to help them focus on "moment-by-moment experiences, thoughts, and emotions." The other half completed a sleep education class that taught them ways to improve their sleep habits.

Both groups met six times, once a week for two hours. Compared with the people in the sleep education group, those in the mindfulness group had less insomnia, fatigue, and depression at the end of the six sessions.

The findings come as no surprise to Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. "Mindfulness meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques that evoke the relaxation response," says Dr. Benson.

The relaxation response, a term he coined in the 1970s, is a deep physiological shift in the body that’s the opposite of the stress response. The relaxation response can help ease many stress-related ailments, including depression, pain, and high blood pressure. For many people, sleep disorders are closely tied to stress, says Dr. Benson.

Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future. It helps you break the train of your everyday thoughts to evoke the relaxation response, using whatever technique feels right to you.

Dr. Benson recommends practicing mindfulness during the day, ideally for 20 minutes, the same amount suggested in the new study. "The idea is to create a reflex to more easily bring forth a sense of relaxation," he says. That way, it’s easier to evoke the relaxation response at night when you can’t sleep. In fact, the relaxation response is so, well, relaxing that your daytime practice should be done sitting up or moving (as in yoga or tai chi) so as to avoid nodding off.

Step 1: Choose a calming focus

Good examples are your breath, a sound ("Om"), a short prayer, a positive word (such as "relax" or "peace"), or a phrase ("breathing in calm, breathing out tension"; "I am relaxed"). If you choose a sound, repeat it aloud or silently as you inhale or exhale.

Step 2: Let go and relax

Don’t worry about how you’re doing. When you notice your mind has wandered, simply take a deep breath or say to yourself "thinking, thinking" and gently return your attention to your chosen focus.

Read original article here
Article author: Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter

---

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR HOW TO VIDEOS, TIP AND TRICKS, YOGA INSPO AND MUCH MORE!

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Meditation for Heart Health

Most of us are aware of the benefits meditation has on stress management and our mental health, but did you know that meditation can actually have protective effects for our cardiovascular health? Take a read of the article below that discusses the heart health benefits of meditation from a Cardiologist's perspective.

Sticking to a routine for anything can be a challenge, but when it comes to heart health, cardiologist Alejandro Junger, M.D., says there's one practice he tries to prioritise every day.

"Sometimes I fail," Junger says, but "I try to meditate every day, no matter what." (Yep, even the most seasoned among us are flexible with their wellness routines.)

How meditation supports heart health

Meditation is often associated with mental health, and less so with heart health, but according to Junger, "[it] is such a complete practice—especially for heart health." 

Several studies have looked at the effects of meditation on blood pressure, finding evidence that mindfulness-based stress reduction may lead to significant reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. 

Along with supporting healthy blood pressure levels, Junger says, "it calms down the spikes of cortisol and hormones that respond to stress." And since psychological stress has been linked to cardiovascular disease, practicing meditation frequently may lower the risk of developing heart disease. 

Though the evidence isn't strong enough to make meditation a treatment on its own, the American Heart Association has suggested using it alongside other heart-healthy practices to lower cardiovascular risk. "There is no combination of therapies that achieve all these results with zero bad side effects, and no monetary cost," Junger says. So, if you haven't made it part of your daily routine, you might as well start now. 

How to begin a meditation practice

Meditation is often thought of as sitting silently with your thoughts, but that's just one version of it. There are actually several ways to practice meditation, and one of the best ways to find out which one works for you is by reading about the 12 major meditation styles. Once you've read through all your options, you can download an app or sign up for a meditation class so a trained instructor can walk you through guided meditations.

If you feel comfortable pursuing meditation without the assistance of a teacher but struggle to sit still for long periods of time, movement meditations may be better suited to you. Whichever style you choose to adopt, these five tips can make it easier to get in the groove of meditation without overthinking it.

Read original article here
Author: Abby Moore

---

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR HOW TO VIDEOS, TIP AND TRICKS, YOGA INSPO AND MUCH MORE!

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more