How Meditation Increases Productivity

Meditation and breathing techniques bring us into the present moment, helping us to manage stress

Meditation Helps Us To Manage Our Stress Levels

Mindful meditation gives us clarity, helping us to focus on the information that makes us the most productive - and leaving behind the inessential data that may be cluttering our thoughts. With so much information coming at us all day through an assortment of different media, it's worth finding a meditation technique to calm the mind and sift through what  is and isn't necessary to get on with your day and your life. By bringing us into the present moment, meditation makes us more productive.

One of the best things about meditation and breathing exercises is that you can do them on your own in a place you choose, and it doesn't require any special equipment other than comfortable clothing. Just like a clear, tidied up space after cleaning, the mind becomes more able to focus on important items with clarity after you meditate. Sifting through information is like cleaning out a garage or bin of old clothes - some of the stuff you need, and some of it you don't.

Achieving a Calm Awareness

The meditation technique I practice is something I do at the beginning of my yoga practice. Simply sit in the lotus position with your chest open and held upright and focus on slow, deep breathing while concentrating on your breath and emptying all other thoughts from your mind. While breathing in and out slowly (trying to take the same amount of time to breathe out as to breathe in), try to be aware of how different parts of your body feels as you are slowly breathing. When breathing out, the chest is kept upright and open, so that the sensation is that as you are breathing in and out your chest is expanding out to the sides and back in again.

When meditating I notice changes in my body. One thing I always notice is that after about 8 or 10 breaths, my hips start to loosen and my knees naturally fall downward toward the floor slightly while being in the lotus position. While noting these small changes mentally, I try to let go of any stressful things on my mind - just let them fly away.

The way I do my deep breathing exercises before doing yoga is similar to Mindful Meditation. But to get a real step-by-step guide to the proper way, follow these guidelines.

Mindful Meditation Increases Our Cognitive Abilities

Mindful Meditation makes you think better. Five other benefits are:

• stress relief
• increase in energy
• self-awareness
• calmness
• management of pain

How To Maintain Wellness Over 40

As a boomer, I am healthier now than I was at any point between age 17 (when I left home to attend university) and my mid-40's. When I recently summed up the reasons why, I realized that they all revolved around diet, exercise, stress management, yoga/meditation/therapeutic massage, mental stimulation, emotional connectedness/satisfaction, and finances. In fact, I would even put them in that order. And here's why:

1. What we eat seems to dictate how well we feel and how well we handle things - never mind all of the other associations connected to diet.
2. Exercise also has equal weight to food when it comes to being well - and this seems to increase with age.
3. Stress, or over-stress, is a wellness-killer. It eats up all of the mileage we get from eating well and exercising, so it has to be managed and kept in check.
4. Yoga, meditation, massage, dance, tai chi, and other forms of spiritual physicality are all tools to connect the mind and body and they all increase wellness.
5. Mental stimulation is not talked about much, but it's pretty well "use it or lose it" (use it and be well, or lose it and don't). Mental stimulation is more important for wellness than we think.
6. Emotional connectedness and satisfaction with oneself and others doesn't keep us well without the other 6 factors, but it plays a key role in keeping us well-balanced.
7. Finances are talked about a lot in this part of the world as an elixer to all troubles, but you can be a wealthy, top performing, emotionally connected individual who is positively challenged by your job and interests, but if you don't take time to unwind, exercise, keep your stress in check and eat right, these unattended elements will catch up with you. That's not to say finances aren't important, they are. But over age 40 the other key points start to matter just as much when it comes to wellness.

Stay tuned to Wellness Over 40 - we'll be discussing each of the 7 elements from the personal point of view of someone who found meaning and value in all of them. We will be telling stories of fantastic people and resources for achieving and keeping your own wellness, your own way.