You know that meditation would be helpful yet when you've tried it just feels stressful- isn't it meant to be relaxing?
You're not alone in this. Many people struggle to meditate because they've been told that it's about emptying the mind of all thoughts and as soon as they try to meditate their mind seems to filled with SO MANY thoughts that it just feels impossible!
Yes, slowing the mind and not actively enagaging in thoughts is beneficial. But for many people meditation feels like a battle with their minds and this actually creates it's own kind of stress and leads many people to give up, believing that they 'just can't meditate'.
If this has been your experience, you might like to try breathwork.
Breathwork is an active form of meditation which actually helps to get you out of your analytical, thinking mind and into your body.
Many meditation techniques are actually very mentally orientated and most of us already spend far too much time in our heads and disconnected from our bodies.
Using your breath you can bring your awareness back in to your body which naturally slows your mind and allows you to center yourself in more grounded, less cerebrally orientated way.
By being more grounded in your body, your resistance to stress and ability to focus is greatly enhanced.
The very process of breathing influences your nervous system, so using conscious breathing techniques you can quickly and effectively balance your nervous system to reduce stress and overwhelm and to release built up tension from your body.
Most of us spend so much time with our sympathetic nervous system (SNS) running the show and we are deprived of the relaxing, restorative functions of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). We simply can't relax whilst in our sympathetic nervous sytem, no matter how hard we might try to tell ourselves to 'relax'.
There are many different kinds of breathwork, some which are done over a period of time for a deeper session and also techniques which can be used quickly as needed to create a shift in your nervous system, physiology and emotions .
Read more about breathwork here: https://blossomwellbeing.com.au/breathwork/
