LOOK: A Short Meditation For The Time-Deprived
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The stress and strain of constantly being connected can sometimes take your life -- and your well-being -- off course. GPS For The Soul can help you find your way back to balance.
GPS Guides are our way of showing you what has relieved others' stress in the hopes that you will be able to identify solutions that work for you. We all have de-stressing "secret weapons" that we pull out in times of tension or anxiety, whether they be photos that relax us or make us smile, songs that bring us back to our heart, quotes or poems that create a feeling of harmony, or meditative exercises that help us find a sense of silence and calm. We encourage you to look at the GPS Guide below, visit our other GPS Guides here, and share with us your own personal tips for finding peace, balance and tranquility.
When we’re meeting-hopping and priority-juggling, finding just a few minutes to meditate at work can seem impossible. Fortunately even a brief five-minute meditation exercise can help clear your mind and calm your system.
If you’re pressed for time -- and feeling under pressure -- author Daniel Goleman suggests a simple countdown exercise you can practice anywhere to help you relax. Best of all, you don’t need any prior meditation experience.
Goleman’s GPS Guide below offers easy-to-follow steps in the 10 to 1 countdown meditation. Remember, with any of relaxation or mindfulness methods, the more you do it, the more powerful it becomes.
While at Harvard, "Emotional Intelligence" author Daniel Goleman’s research focused on methods that counter the impacts of stress. He found that some people experience stress in the form of worries and anxieties, while for others it manifests in physical problems, such as muscle tension or stomach pain. His colleagues have also found that different people get greater benefit from some methods of relaxing than from others.
Listen to a sample track from Goleman’s Relax: 6 Techniques to Lower Your Stress, a 45-minute audio program to help you naturally reduce stress. The CD is available from More Than Sound. Follow Dr. Goleman on Twitter: @DanielGolemanEI
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Also On HuffPost: 7 Unusual Mediation Techniques
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Buddhism Boot Camp
In our frantic, fast-paced lives, it can be difficult to completely switch gears and let go of our competitive natures, even when we're trying to slow down and find balance. Touting itself as an "ideal training method for this generation's short attention span," <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Buddhist-Boot-Camp-ebook/dp/B00860MX8S"><em>Buddhist Boot Camp</em></a> is a new title instructing readers on the basics of Buddhism and meditation using a no-nonsense approach.
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Labyrinth Meditation
If you're looking for a mesmerizing moving meditation, try a practice of walking through a labyrinth. Many churches, gardens and other outdoor spaces feature labyrinths that are available for public use. It's said that the combination of left and right-brain activity required of navigating a labyrinth can <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/meditation-tips-garden-meditation_n_1855487.html#slide=1470189">help with problem-solving </a>and can even spur unexpected epiphanies.
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Journey Meditation
Journey meditation can transport your mind, using visualization, to a more quiet and serene state. To try this type of meditation, simply imagine yourself in a beautiful place completely separated from your everyday life; somewhere you feel safe. Try starting for five to 10 minutes, visualizing a garden, tropical island or peaceful mountaintop to slow down the mind and remind yourself of the world's beauty.
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Laughter Meditation
Laughter, and even the mere anticipation of impending laughter, can reduce damaging stress hormones -- and it can also <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407114617.htm">boost levels of healthy hormones</a>. Laughter meditation, then, can be a particularly effective way to relieve stress. The powerful act of mindful laughter anchors us in the present and brings us to a place of joy. Try starting out with a five to 20 minute <a href="http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2005/584.html">laughter meditation</a> by imagining humorous situations and letting yourself laugh fully and deeply, ending with a brief silence.
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Fire Meditation
There are several different ways to benefit from the energy of the fire element in your meditative practice. One <a href="http://www.meditationsociety.com/week34.html">common method</a> is to focus on the flame of a candle that you've placed three to six feet in front of you. After you've gazed at the flame for several minutes, close your eyes and imagine it: Send anything that threatens your balance and peace into the flame, and feel yourself becoming more light and pure. You can also try simply <a href="http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2005/370.html">visualizing a fire</a> and throwing your worries -- and bits and pieces of emotional baggage, no matter how big or small -- into the fire, asking for forgiveness as you go.
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Koan Meditation
We've all heard the old riddle, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" But you may not have realized that this and other philosophical questions can form the basis for a meditative practice called <a href="http://www.wonbuddhist.org/meditation/koan-meditation">Koan Meditation</a>. It's a Buddhist technique in the zen tradition that involves asking a question that cannot be answer through reason alone as a way to see the true nature of the Buddha. <a href="http://www.wonbuddhist.org/meditation/koan-meditation">Click here </a>for a list of potential questions to explore in your practice.
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Crystal Meditation
Crystals can be used as part of a meditative practice to help target specific emotions and reach particular spiritual goals. Calming blue stones, for instance, can help clear the mind and body, while purple or clear stones aid in achieving elevated states of consciousness (calcite, for instance, symbolizes enlightenment). If you have a particular goal for your practice, try getting there by holding or wearing crystals with the healing properties that can guide you.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
