At Saneadvice.com we want to help our visitors learn to relax without the use of medication. If you can learn to relax and remove stress from your life without medication, it’s what you want to do first.
The most important thing for you to do on a daily basis is meditate. There are many resources online that you can use for learning the art of meditation, like the TM site, and we at SA would like to put up a very simple and easy meditation technique that is only 10 minutes long. This meditation should be done twice a day, but three is better, and one is just helpful. Do it once in the morning before you start your day, and once later in the day when you have finished all or any chores, work, etc. Instead of turning on the TV as soon as you have some time to kill, meditate first.
I am going to use some sample videos from Claire Diab that will prepare you for your meditation. These are Youtube clips I put up so you can try meditation, without having to invest anything money wise -- just time wise. However, these clips are far from the entire DVD which goes through everything in MUCH more detail, so if you want to learn much more about mediation, please see Claire Diab’s web site and order her books, DVDs, and CDs there. Sane Advice is a non-profit blog for anxiety suffers, so we do not profit from linking to Claire’s web site. We just know she truly cares about helping people and making money is a natural bi-product of success.
Now on with the meditation process. These clips come from Claire’s DVD called, “Breathe….Move…..Meditate”, where she guides you through a 10 minute, 20 minute, and 30 minute meditations, including the pre-meditation breathing exercises. Here is a bit from her site;
Claire Diab will teach you mantra meditation, breathing techniques, chakra toning and the six directions of the spine. These powerful breathing techniques help to purify and cleanse your lungs, which in turn purifies and nourishes every single cell in your body.
If you have never meditated before, you can use a simple and effective mantra which is provided by Claire as well. You will use the mantra SO -- HUM -- NAMAH. You make these sounds to yourself slowly and easily, so you can pretty well do this anywhere. This is silent meditation. But first the breathing exercises to do before we start the mantra.
Breathing Exercises Before 10 Minute Meditation -- Close Your Eyes
- First breathe deeply and gently in so your stomach is moving in and out, and do this about a dozen times to relax yourself. Try and clear your mind at this step best you can, because we are getting in to the flow of the meditation already.
- Then you breathe in through your nose twice in a row, then exhale twice in a row. These are short little breathes. So this 10 times and then take a break for a moment to breathe easy. Then do it again for 10 more times -- then breathe easy. Do the whole cycle 3 times.
- Then you breathe through your nose quickly, in and out, in and out, in and out. Do it 10 times, and then take a break for a few breathes. Do this quick in and out breathing through the nose 10 more times, and then take another break. Do the whole cycle 3 times.
- Alternate nostril breathing is the next breathing exercise. Hold one nostril closed and breath in through the other and hold your breathe for a moment. Then release that nostril and close the other which you just took your breathe in with, and exhale. Keep your finger closing the nostril you are closing now, and inhale. Once you inhale, hold your breathe again, switch your finger to the opposite nostril holding it closed and exhale. Repeat the whole process a few times. See video below for reverse nostril breathing.
- Breathe in and out normally for about 10 breathes, just like you would breathe if you were not even paying attention to your breathing. Just relax. You are likely feeling quite relaxed now, but the best is yet to come. Stay with me here.
Start Your 10 Minute Meditation
Now start your 10 minute meditation period. Close your eyes, and slowly, calmy, gently, repeat the mantra from above;
SOOOOO - HUMMMMM -- NAMAHHHHHHH…………………SOOOOO - HUMMMMM -- NAMAHHHHHHH
If you hear noises in the background, just focus back on your mantra, SO -- HUM -- NAMAH. If you have any thoughts that disturb your mantra, just go back to the mantra SO -- HUM -- NAMAH.
If you have never meditated before, you will find that your mind will fight back against you somewhat and disturb your thoughts. That is normal. Just focus back on the mantra, and after awhile your mind will calm down, and after a further while you will feel a sensation of nothingness when your mind has calmed down completely and you in your true and natural state.
Just 10 minutes a day, twice a day, is amazing. If you can do 30 minutes twice a day even better.
I will be posting Youtube video clips to show these steps as well. Once again, these are just small clips of Claire’s instructions.