Restful mind formula

Restful mind formula

• Are you so stressed in life that you feel as if you’re losing control?
• Do you struggle to sleep almost every night? 
• Is anxiety ruining your ability to appreciate what you’ve got? 
• If so then this is the right blog for you.

There are many ways to relax and de-stress, with “mindfulness” becoming a new buzzword in this context, despite the fact that it has been taught as part of Buddhism, Qigong, Yoga and Tai Chi for over a thousand years 

Maybe people needed a simple word like ‘mindfulness’ to help them take notice of how frenetic modern life has become for so many of us. Even children these days seem to be multitasking while eating, doing homework etc. We know this is not a healthy way to live, so what can be done?

What follows are my 8 steps to a stress free day (and night) to help you slow down and dissolve many of these stresses so you feel more relaxed, sleep better and possibly live longer, healthier lives.

1. Breathing

Proper breathing can add greatly to our health and wellbeing. It is quick and easy to do and focusing on our breath is an instant relaxation tool for the mind and body. 

Babies breathe just below the navel and this technique is taught to actors and stage performers, partly for the sake of improving posture and projecting the voice, but also because it aids relaxation.

If we put our hands over the area just below the navel and gently press down while we breathe out (from the mouth), then let go while we breathe in (through the nose), we awaken and activate this energy centre.

This kind of focused activity allows our breathing to become deeper and more regular, which, if it becomes a daily habit, can have many benefits for wellbeing. Plus, by bringing ourselves back into our body and back into the present, we calm down quickly and become more relaxed.

2. Be present

Once we become more aware of our breathing, it is easier to pause and reflect for a few moments…Make a list of things that need doing right now and we will soon realize that most things can wait.

When we become truly present in the now, many pressing issues or problems can start to dissolve as they are given more space. We seem to have more options to follow the things we enjoy rather than things we ought to do or think we need to do.

3. Silence

Being present, we can then gently close our eyes (even on the bus or on the Undergound!) and be still internally. This can be a relief sometimes, just to switch off our mind and our senses.

This silence puts us in touch with ourselves and calms the mind at the same time. In the longer term, the silence enables us to create more space in our minds.

At night, when you’re at home, you can choose to meditate for longer, which has many other long term benefits.

When we are silent there are opportunities for inspiration to strike, for answers to present themselves and for mental clarity to emerge as our mind becomes more open.

4. Stillness

With more awareness of your breathing and being present, the benefits of stillness and meditation become easier to appreciate.

In his book 10% Happier, ABC News anchor Dan Harris explains how the voices in our heads can be a "total pill" and that most of us are "so entranced by non-stop conversation we're having with ourselves that we aren't even aware we have a voice in our head". His solution? Meditate.

Meditation allows you to focus on one thing and, with practice, helps you to pull your thoughts back when they start to wander. Ideally, we’d have a quiet space of our own to meditate in, with early morning or at night in our homes perhaps the best possible circumstances.

We can do standing or sitting meditations and build up our practice over time. Easy meditation techniques are often taught in Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigongand similar practices, so look out for classes near you.

5. Smile (more)

People will be attracted to you and want to be around you more when you smile more often. Sometimes we have to force the initial smile until it becomes a habit…

A friend of mine went to China not so long ago and asked a well-known Qigong Master what the most important principle to being healthy and happy was—he replied: “Always keep a smile in your heart.”

When your heart smiles, every cell smiles, you feel lighter, your body is healthier and you may find yourself attracting more luck into your life as the Universe notices your smile.

6. Eat slowly

Take time, chew well, talk less and you will digest food better, enjoy it more and possibly even lose weight.

Eating slower gives your stomach more time to start working on the food you eat and can help improve your digestion. When you eat an entire meal in 5 minutes, you may find yourself suffering from indigestion. Instead, take 20 minutes to eat the same amount of food. Your stomach will have a much easier job.

Taste your food. One clear benefit of eating more slowly is that you will taste your food more. If you double the amount of time it takes you to eat a meal, you’ll experience more of the flavours, textures and smells of the food you eat. Your food will become more interesting.

Lose weight. While you are slowing down, you might find that you learn to stop eating sooner. Studies show that "fullness" is a complex concept that combines the number of times you chew, the time you spend eating, the look of the food on the plate, as well as the actual amount of food you eat. Slow down and you may feel full with less.

Enjoy foods that are more nourishing. The more you pay attention to your foods, the more you will prefer natural, healthy foods. Most processed foods are carefully designed by food engineers to taste great for the first few bites. After that the food begins to taste bland and uninteresting and has little nutritional value.

7. Gratitude

By following the above steps, we can start to be more grateful and appreciative of everything we have in our lives. This may seem challenging initially, especially when life presents us with so many hurdles and difficulties along the way.

But if we can start being grateful for the simple things like our health, job, home, family, friends and loved ones, then we suddenly give ourselves chance to feel better about the world and less stressed as a result.

You may not realise it but gratitude is extremely health-giving and shouldn’t we all be grateful for having the freedom to express ourselves in ways that are denied to so many people around the world?

“More gratitude may be precisely what our society needs to raise a generation that is ready to make a difference in the world,” – Giacamo Bono, psychology professor at the California State University.

8. Getting deep, restful sleep.

If you succeed in cultivating your awareness of breathing, stillness, smiling more and taking your time to eat and enjoy your food, then better quality sleep will usually follow.

Sleep and brain functions are closely linked. Recent research found that sleep also clears out the clutter in your brain at a cellular level.

Look at your sleeping environment and ensure no mobile phones, computers are in the bedroom, no TV on standby and ideally turn your wifi off at night. The body is often wired because of the electromagnetic stress surrounding us whether at home, in the office, travelling to work etc. We need to unwind before sleeping and that involves letting go of electronic gadgets like iPads, mobile phones, computers etc well before our bedtime.

Conclusion

You can integrate some or all of these steps into daily life until they become habits.

Use them more or less as and when needed. For example, meditation for longer periods certainly adds to our peace of mind, helps keep our emotions in check and adds to a deeper understanding of ourselves and others. 

Please share these simple 8 steps with your friends and family and send me your comments if you find some or all of them beneficial.

See this article (and more) on my blog here