While we are all quite busy, in this day and age it is even more necessary to find time to sit down, unwind and reconnect with your inner self. The world appears to be in nearly total chaos around us, what with the economy, weather and various other disasters looming on every news channel. Learning simple mediation techniques and making them a habit will go a long way to help you maintain a healthy mind and body in this stressful day and age.

Make it a Healthy habit
With anything worth doing, unless your doing it on a regular basis you might as well not be doing it at all. Did you know that it only takes 2 weeks of good cardio (at least 1 hour total a week) to get your heart in shape? That is to say, your heart will be as toned as it can get in 2 weeks, but the downside of that is that it looses the muscle tone in the same amount of time. Making it a habit is the only way to reap the long term benefits.

Meditation is no different. It takes about 21 days to establish any habit with consistent repartition. Set aside a little time each day to mediate and do it for at least a month to set it as a healthy habit!

Stop making excuses
I often find that when I am stressed out, worried or not feeling well its just a bit easier to say "maybe later". The truth is that this is really when you need mediation the most. Studies suggest that mediation reduces stress, elevates mood, increases attention span and a myriad of other benefits. If you use mediation to help handle stress, stress no longer becomes an excuse not to take action and feel better.

How do you meditate?
In the most common use of mediation is to quiet the mind and establish a deeply relaxed state. On of the best ways to quiet the mind is to give it a task. Transcendental mediation is one well known form of mediation that uses a mantra, that is a sound or phrase repeated over and over. To do something similar to this, pick a peaceful word or phrase and focus on it, repeating it gently in your mind. You can also choose sacred sounds like OM, AH, or HU. You can look up the meaning of these sacred sounds on-line and there are tons more for you to try.

Focusing on your breath is another great way to occupy the mind and establish a peaceful meditative state. Sit quietly and begin to be aware of your body, focus on the sensations coming from it such as the feel of your clothing or the chair your sitting in. Turn your attention in on your breath. Feel how your breath expands and contracts in your chest and stomach, and how the air feels going in and out of your nose. Practicing this will help calm and quiet the mind more and more each time you meditate.

How to stop the Monkey Mind
Thoughts are not the enemy here. Yes we are trying to keep the mind occupied and quiet, but occasionally thoughts are going to pop up, they always do. To help deal with these thoughts here are a few tips. Observe the thought, just allow it to show up and do its thing. The thoughts will flutter in like butterflys and they will just as easily drift away when left to their own devices. Gently turn your attention back to your breathing after a moment and continue mediating.

In extreme cases where you have a deep worry or fear that is nagging the back of your mind, you can try the little black box technique. When you feel yourself getting distracted by nagging thoughts, imagine a small black box not unlike a jewelry box, complete with a little clasp and lock. You will imagine your worry in a symbolic form, such as a bill or letter, or maybe even your boss's disembodied head with that annoying glare and simply put it in the box. Mentally repeat the thought "I am putting these thoughts here for safe keeping, I will return to them soon when I am ready." and imagine the box locked tight. Your not locking it away forever, only temporarily till your ready to deal with them again. I have found this technique to work wonders for maintaining a peaceful head-space during mediation.

Keep it up, practice makes perfect with any valuable skill. Meditate for at least 15 minuets each day every day. You may not realize the benefits early on but with consistent practice you will begin to notice a more peaceful mood filling your day.


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Do you want your ex back? Want to get ex back but don’t know very well what to accomplish? If so then welcome! You have just discovered a place where you can discover the best way to get ex back. Many people are unsuccessful in getting their ex lover back mainly because don’t know what to do, what to say and also how to behave correctly. However, you are not one of them since you have simply accomplished the appropriate thing, trying to know about how to get ex lover back. You're on the right track in winning your ex back.

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Becoming depressed after the split up is extremely normal. Everybody comes across as being negative about it. There's nothing mistaken about feeling unhappy. In winning your ex back you have to restore yourself from all kinds negative feelings and thoughts. You can not win your ex while you're feeling sad because if you feel sad when trying to get your ex back then you will create fault in winning ex back. We know, if we make fault in this process then our possibility in getting your ex back would likely become smaller. Keep this in your mind, all types of negative emotions will give you nothing, it only will ruin your struggle in getting your ex lover back.

Enhancing yourself in getting your ex back is very necessary. Healing yourself is part of self-improvement, it’s component of personality improvement. Remember to improve your overall look. Following breakup we tend to concentrate about the relationship which has finished nevertheless, you your life is a lot more than about getting your ex boyfriend or girlfriend back. Then i wish you to a live your life. Enjoy your life. Have fun! You can go shopping, get a make over, go travelling and learn something new.

Becoming a sociable after the break up is a very difficult move to make. What almost all people conduct is lying on their bed and also shouting regarding the relationship that has finished. I want you to leave the house get some fun along with your friend. Have fun! Forget your ex for a short time, be sociable! You can inform your buddy about your relationship, make an attempt to listen to what they're thinking about the romantic relationship.

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For the past twelve years in my Counselling and Psychotherapy practice I have introduced clients to the practice of Mindfulness. I am delighted that it is now recognised as a legitimate therapy in its own right, particularly as a stress-management tool. Mindfulness simply means living in the present moment.

Here are the five easiest ways to begin your Mindfulness practice, thus ensuring you can experience true relaxation instantly.

1) Focus on your breathing:
Your breath is with you 24/7. Therefore you can pay attention to your breathing at any time, day or night. You don't have to do anything special, except to experience your breath in a mindful way. This means observing your breath as it enters and leaves your body. Anytime you feel stressed simply bring your attention back to your breathing and watch how quickly you relax.

2) Change your thinking:
While this may sound difficult it most definitely is not. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) shows us that our thoughts are learned, and anything that is learned can be unlearned. Negative thinking is simply a habit that we reinforce every day by thinking the same thoughts as we did yesterday. This is where Mindfulness is an excellent tool because as we take our attention off our thoughts by being mindful in the present moment, those troublesome thoughts dissolve through a lack of attention.

3) Use the tools from Positive Psychology:
Positive Psychology is a new movement in psychology which investigates happiness, in particular how to be happier by experiencing a state of Flow. This state is simply one in which you are totally absorbed in doing something you really enjoy. Thoughts switch off and you are at one with whatever you are doing. Positive Psychology suggests picking one thing you love to do and notice as you are doing it how much your mood lifts. Positive Psychology is evidence based and is currently used to successfully treat stress, anxiety and even depression.

4) Gratitude and Positive Thinking:
At any moment during the day observe your thoughts and your words. Is what you are thinking or talking about making you feel good or bad? For stress-management if it's making you feel bad simply stop and put your attention elsewhere. Deliberately find something in your life you can be grateful for and put your attention onto that instead. Again, watch how your mood changes instantly.

5) Meditation practice:
Set aside five or ten minutes in the day to simply close your eyes and listen to some relaxation music. It doesn't even have to be a relaxation cd it could just be easy listening music on the radio. Simply observe your thoughts as they float through your mind, and notice how if you don't hold onto them they drift on by. With regular practice this becomes easier and easier.

So don't delay, just pick one of these 5 mindfulness tools and begin your practice today.


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