Guided Meditation In The News

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Many studies have been done on the effects of guided meditation and most of these studies have proven its effectiveness on calming a person’s mind and body. Guided meditation is not a new exercise and has been around for many years but since the recent notice of stressful and time consuming jobs and lives, many people have turned to it to help relieve their stress and to instruct them on how to deal with straining situations. Through the use of guided meditation practices, people who participate in these meditative sessions are finding more calm and quiet moments in their lives, even when they are not meditating.

Guided meditation and private meditation were developed in the Buddhist community about 2,500 years ago and have been used ever since. The Dalai Lama takes this line of guided meditation so seriously that he decided to meet with Western neuroscientists to help them test the effectiveness of the guided meditation exercises. The Dalai Lama stands by meditation by referring to it as a way that human beings express their ability to avoid suffering and find their own personal happiness. The Dalai Lama met with these scientists in a number of sessions in which they interviewed him and presented their research on the subject of guided meditation. He offered his opinions on the subject from his Buddhist point of view but also engaged in the scientists’ factual understanding of meditation and its effects. Although the Dalai Lama stands by his completely spiritual and meditative practices, he cooperated with the scientists and showed them that he understands the importance of science and research on the subject.

Guided meditation was shown to be effective at calming a person’s inner thoughts and sometimes relieving ailments such as migraines. By attempting to achieve the three levels of guided mediation, many people have found their limit of difficulty and what they need to work on to make their meditative session more intense. The meditating person must first work to achieve an external focus during a guided meditation session. This is the most basic type of meditation and the easiest form to achieve. In the external focus session, the person must concentrate on an object in the room while still paying close attention to his or her own body. The internal focus is a form of guided meditation that is found to be a little more challenging. In this form of meditation, the person must focus on occupying the mind with a mantra or another small but non-thinking task while concentrating solely on removing thoughts from the brain and relaxing the body. The unfocused form of guided meditation is the most challenging form and it is the form where the person meditating can go the deepest into the meditative state. In this state of meditation, the person focuses on nothing and keeps the mind completely silent.

People are finding the world of meditation is easy to become one with when they use the help of guided meditation. Many users can achieve their meditative goals and the meditative state of calm with guided meditation.

Posted on August 31st 2009 in Health Biodevicepartnering

The Process Of Guided Meditation

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There are many different methods of guided meditation. Since each person has a different goal when starting the meditation process, there are several ways to achieve these goals with diverse guided meditation programs. There are a few steps that the meditating person must go through in order to achieve a complete meditative state. Most of these steps in the process focus mainly on relaxation and the clearing of the mind. Since clearing the mind can be a difficult task to achieve, people who find interest in meditation turn to guided meditation to help them to center their minds and bodies. The guided meditation process can make meditating seem achievable and can help the user to feel more grounded and in touch with themselves rather than feeling lost while trying to quiet their mind.

There are many different ways to achieve a meditative state but most of these processes start by instructing the person to sit in a comfortable position. It is also very important that the person is in a quiet space with no distractions or sounds around that could divert the concentration that is needed. Guided meditation generally instructs the person who is meditating to quiet and stop the mind. This means that the person should release any thoughts from his or her mind and concentrate on nothingness. The meditating person should also make sure that his or her body is completely relaxed and there is no strain on any body part while sitting in the position.

The goal of a guided mediation session is to achieve a completely empty mind and a clear conscious. This moment of complete silence and peacefulness allows the person to experience what a feeling of whole calmness is throughout the body. This calm feeling usually makes the stress of everyday life melt away for many people. Once this feeling of calm has been experienced by a meditating person, he or she focuses on achieving this feeling throughout the day and not only during a meditation session.

Many guided meditation processes also include a mantra. A mantra is the expression of a sound from the meditating body. This expression of sound can also aid in the calming of the body and mind at once. The most common mantra that is expressed in guided meditation is the “Om”. By releasing this sound from the mouth, the person who is meditating finds it less complicated to eliminate excessive thoughts from the mind. Centering the mind and body in a quiet fashion is easily achieved with a mantra that is shown through a guided meditation session.

A meditative state should be achieved by the mediating person for about 15 minutes a day. However, everyone is different and many people will find that a more substantial amount of time is more beneficial for them. Through the use of guided mediation, many users have also found that the advice and process that is shown can be used throughout their day to relive stress and tension or to deal with difficult situations.

Posted on August 24th 2009 in Health Biodevicepartnering

1 Pound Of Fat = 3,500 Calories

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here are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat. Thus, if you cut back or work off just 3,500 calories, you will lose an entire pound of fat. While it is possible to cut back on your calorie intake and increase your exercise regimen in order to lose pounds quickly, it is important to note that doctors recommend that you lose no more than 2 pounds of weight per week in order to ensure that your body properly adjusts to the weight loss.

Here are some tips to help you safely drop 3,500 from your regular routine:

Run

Running for about 1 hour at a slow pace will help you lose approximately 350 calories, depending on your body type, speed and terrain. Thus, if you run for one hour five days a week while maintaining a consistent diet, you will safely lose one pound.

It is important to understand that many people who just begin running will eat pasta and other foods high in carbohydrates in order to compensate for the exertion. They think that because they worked out so hard, they deserve a treat. After all, they justify, the pasta will help to keep their energy levels high.

However, what they may not realize is that while they are justified in thinking that the carbohydrates will infuse their workout routine with energy, they are not actually setting their bodies up to lose weight. When you burn 350 calories but intake 450 over a high-carbohydrate pasta dish, you are adding more calories to your body than you otherwise would have.

Running does, however, help to boost our metabolism and change your muscle tone so that you burn calories more efficiently. Instead of inhaling a pasta dish after a run, select instead to have a large salad and splurge for the carbohydrate-rich croutons.

Eat In

When you eat out at a restaurant, not only are you subjecting your body to an array of high fat, high calorie foods, but you are also tempting yourself to eat a larger portion than you might normally eat. Therefore, what could be a simple 500 calories meal can easily turn into a 1500-calorie fat fest. In order to lose weight by cutting calories, it is essential that you are aware of exactly what you are putting into your body. Especially in the beginning of your new routine, it is important that you prepare your meals and monitor your level of hunger.

When eating out, generally you are in a social situation where food is not a priority – but spending time with your friends is. For this reason, people tend to eat more than they normally would. Non-dessert eaters often even spring for the extra round of calories. If you must eat out, help yourself avoid temptation by selecting a salad rather than a plate of pasta or burger. You will be amazed at the difference in the amount of calories you intake when you make simple choices such as meal option.

By reducing your overall calorie intake and increasing your level of physical activity, you will be able to lose those 3,500 calories without much trouble. Make sure that you stay focused, motivated and on task. You’ll shed unwanted weight in no time!

Posted on August 17th 2009 in Health Biodevicepartnering

What is Pilates?

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Pilates has to a lesser degree become a new craze in the fitness industry. But what exactly is this exercise? What is the science and philosophy behind this program? It was created by Joseph Pilates first as a way for returning soldiers and veterans from World War 1 who were bed ridden. It was designed to allow those soldiers to exercise even though they were stuck in a bed.

Yoga is about connecting mind and body and Joseph Pilates has stated that it is very much similar to that yoga philosophy. Weight lifting is about strengthening your muscles but is done by shortening and strengthening. It focuses on lengthening and strengthening. From my personal experience after my first session I noticed better balance and overall looseness. This form of exercise focuses on increasing balance, flexibility, while strengthening your core. It also an aerobic workout meaning it increases oxygen to the cells. Weight lifting is an anaerobic exercise which means lack of oxygen. Anaerobic is usually short and intense.

What I found extremely funny in my first session is I as an 18 year old kid couldn’t do what many 60 year olds were doing. It goes to show you that consistency is clearly key in promoting longevity. Much like yoga focuses on breath, the movement between poses and movements so does Pilates. To incorporate this fitness routine is highly recommended. Some benefits you will notice fairly quickly is relaxation (I personally believe through the mind-body connection), improved flexibility and balance.

How do I find a good pilates instructor?

While it is good to get DVDs on this amazing fitness routine I would recommend going to a class. There are usually classes at the local ymca or jcc. Research on the internet and get some books on the subject. Maybe take a class at the local community college.

There have been many famous people who do this form of exercise and still continue to do so. Those include:
1. Hugh Grant
2. Julia Roberts
3. Jennifer Aniston
4. Patrick Swayze (one my favorite actors by the way : ) )
5. Lucy Lawless

This list is not to try and sell you on this movement program only to convey that it is alive and well. It will surely increase vitality and create an overall feeling of well being.

Posted on August 10th 2009 in Health Biodevicepartnering