I Breathe In, I Breathe Out
Building a Meditation Practice
Meditation has become a hot topic over the last few years and we have discussed it multiple times during previous episodes. Meditation is both a practice rooted in ancient history and a topic of modern science, and is like exercise for your brain. I am joined on today's episode of The Whole Dancer by Rebecca Polan who is a body-centered healing coach, my go to for leading a meditation, and she is about to launch her own project embodiyou, an online practice community of like-minded people who meditate, move and practice yoga to feel better, together.
What is meditation
It’s a practice to build awareness - both an everyday awareness of how the body mind and emotion work together,
Meditation can be like exercise for the brain, and you can build this muscle of awareness or mindfulness
Just like we enjoy moving and exercising we have to learn to do this for our brain as well
Work to find stillness in the mind
And learn to move at a slower pace
Breath
Consciousness
Movement
Building the muscle of awareness
Deeper awareness where the body and mind are connect
Observing the thoughts, feelings and body
Helps build awareness of the present moment.
Awareness is present all the time but not something we think about
We are taught how to move and behave in the outer world, but we are never taught how to be still and examine what is within ourselves
Meditation can help increase our internal awareness and struggles
Meditation can help you to understand how you are organized
Allows you to examine your relationship to your thoughts and feelings
You are the petri dish and the scientist
You have to evaluate and study your feelings as they are happening to you
Meditation is not just exercises on your cushion, it helps to rewire your brain and hopefully it creates a better rounded emotional human
What are the benefits of meditation
Scientific backed benefits of meditation
Reduce stress-
Control Anxiety
Promotes Emotional Health
Enhances Self Awareness
Lengthens Attention Span
Can Generate Kindness
Improves Sleep
Helps Control Pain
Stress can be like a computer program that is running in the background, you may not realize it is there but it is not allowing everything to run optimally.
Stress can lead to an increase in cortisol levels
Think of cortisol as nature’s built-in alarm system. It’s your body’s main stress hormone. It works with certain parts of your brain to control your mood, motivation, and fear.
Meditation can help reduce the release of cortisol
The body has a neurochemical response when you tell it that it is ok
Biofeedback mechanism- when you slow down the breath you can stimulate the mind and vagus nerve and bring the body into a parasympathetic relaxed state.
Vagal tone is correlated with capacity to regulate stress responses and can be influenced by breathing, its increase through meditation and yoga likely contribute to resilience and the mitigation of mood and anxiety symptoms.
You have more control than you think over the dials of the nervous system
Meditation is a beautiful way to learn to control those dials
5 minutes of meditation every day is better than an hour once a week
Dancers are creatures of repetition, you have been brought up by practicing the same skill over and over
Just like learning a new skill meditation takes consistent practice
Who would benefit from developing a meditation practice
Anybody with thoughts and a mind will benefit from a meditation practice
If you are always busy and you never stop moving you might have great benefit from beginning a meditation practice
“Be sure to meditate every day for 20 minutes, but if you’re too busy make sure to meditate for an hour.”
You have to make the space to make the meditation work
It can be very uncomfortable at first
There is a process that you have to work through during your initial meditations
You have to weed through the unmet stuff within you, once you work through those unmet needs meditation should not feel as difficult
You may have to try multiple different types of meditations before you find one that you are able to sit with
Building a practice and feeling like it is working takes time. It’s a bit like going to the gym and expecting to change your body shape in a week or so
Special considerations should be taken into account in individuals who have have a past history of trauma-ome caveats are that we need to take into a
can be scary to close the eyes so eyes don’t have to be closed and meditation should be tried in the context of/supported by a therapeutic relationship
What is Meditation Not
Not “not thinking”
Not Just being calm
You will become more relaxed and calm by learning to be in the present moment
Whatever noise you may have in the nervous system is usually unmet need that you can meet by being with it and studying it
Buddhism
Cultivate extra compassion towards ourselves
Make space for yourself, and find love for yourself
Two wings of enlightenment
Wisdom self study
Compassion resourcing
Different kinds of meditations
There are many different kinds of meditation what are the most common meditation practices:
Rebecca has trained in Classic mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) - a program by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness originated from a buddhist word and there are three main kinds of meditations that you can do:
Walking
Intentional and slow walking
Bringing attention to the bones of the foot, and the articulations
You be with each step
“Peace is every step”
Laying down
Best for relaxation and calming down
Laying meditation can be nourishing and relaxing for the moment
This kind of meditation does not usually move you into self study
Seated Meditation:
Concentration practice:
follow breath
concentrate on one part of the body/body scan,
Can scan the body in a spiral and touch on the whole body or focus on one area
Go slowly so you have the awareness online
use mantra
I breathe in, I breathe out
mudra (hand position)
Open awareness meditation - bringing “witness” part of self online and observe what comes up
The mind will wander, and the goal is to experience the thoughts but then bring yourself back to the present moment
You are the sky, everything else is the weather
Watching thoughts and feelings, but come back to the open awareness
Exercises is in coming back to the mantra or intention
Contemplation - sit after reading what a teacher of mine calls wisdom literature
Could be a poem, doesn’t have to be anything specific
Recommended to reach out to a teacher and allow them to help
Self-study - observe thought/emotion patterns - you are the scientist and the petri dish
Good for rewiring the mind and the body and the emotional self
Guided meditations (nice to do sometimes but recommend build towards one of the concentration /awareness practices so that is majority)
GROUP meditation - so important to sustain and refresh or build upon a practice
Don’t need to do all of this alone
Group meditations can help you to build your self study
The group will benefit from the energy you bring from your own self practice
A group may be a good starting point because it can hold you accountable in making time for meditation
No one way to meditate, you have to experiment and find what works best for you
What is a good starter meditation?
Sit with the breath for a minute and slowly build by one minute each day
Want to build up to about 12 minutes
It takes approximately 10 minutes for the mind to settle, and then you have 2 minutes in the sweet spot
Work up to 15-24 minute meditation
Work to “follow” the breath - otherwise breath starts to change
Let the breath happen and observe it
This can be challenging - Try using the mantra “I breathe in I breathe out”
When mind wanders, and it absolutely will, you bring it back to the breathe - it is this returning that is the skill you’re building ← this is mindfulness
Bring in a nonjudgmental awareness - don’t judge the judgining!
Bring in some humor, and enjoy the moment and the practice
don’t get upset with yourself if it doesn’t feel right initially
You can be thinking and meditating at the same time, it’s part of the process
What do I need to get started and how to create a space
Nothing specific is necessary
Sometimes investing in equipment or creating a dedicated space can show commitment to beginning the practice
Just need you and a place where you are not disturbed
May want a few pillows and a blanket
Lay a blanket down so that the ankles have some cushion when sitting cross legged
A pillow to two so that you can sit in a healthy posture
Posture-
Want the pelvis in a slight anterior tilt
Want to maintain the neutral curves of the back
Slight arch in the lumbar spine
Want to avoid being in a tucked under or slouched position
Want to feel that the collar bones are wide and the shoulder blades are hanging on your back.
When you are sitting in optimal alignment the postural muscles (endurance muscles) are working, instead of the larger global movers that create compression and discomfort
You should not be sitting with pain
Can improve overall circulation, and nervous system flow by sitting in good posture
If sitting on the floor is not comfortable you can sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor
Resources
I think you really need to find what works for you, take time to explore options, maybe find a group meditation
Co-Regulation Nation (sunday Group)
Sundays at 12:00 EST
Regulating emotions and nervous system by showing up together
By showing up together you have the benefit from the whole group
Bring the balance peaceful state from the group back to your own self practice
embodiyou- CoRegulation Nation practice community where embodiyou members meditate together each week
Online service and community
Multiple guided meditation lead by multiple practitioners
Free group
The community drives this space
Headspace
Calm
Take-Away
Meditation is something everyone can do to improve their mental and emotional health.
More About Rebecca Polan:
Rebecca is an entrepreneur, author, consultant, teacher of yoga, meditation and mindfulness and dedicated geek to all things healing-related.
She is the creator of the upcoming offering embodiyou, a virtual community where you can heal, connect, learn and grow. Embodiyou offers community connection, yoga and other movement modalities, meditation, and the chance to heal and grow alongside other like-minded and like-hearted individuals.
You can follow her on Instagram, learn more about her through her website, or e-mail her directly at we@embodiyou.com.