Meditate with Mindful Breathing

Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment,
I know this is a wonderful moment!

Do you live a life of action while maintaining a life of peace? The two do not seem to coexist and we often find ourselves striving to achieve one or the other. Do you relate to being determined and yet patient as you move through your life? We plan and organize for the next moment, week or year then forget the actual intention for the planning in the first place. We are much better at doing than being.

There is an abundance of happiness available to us. Clarity is waiting to be seen. Inner peace is free for the taking. It is all available to us if we are willing to make a modest investment. The benefits are priceless and dividends continue to multiply over time. It is within reach, here and now, and it can be applied to everything you think, say and do.

Throughout our Western culture we are suffering the effects of stress and paying the price in the loss of health and well being. The constant bombardment to the autonomic nervous system keeps us from letting down and allowing our bodies to fully rest. The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, emanating from the spinal cord, control involuntary, unconscious actions of smooth muscles, cardiac muscles and glands. The sympathetic system and the nerves controlling it are found in the thoracic and lumbar segments of the spinal cord. This system primarily uses neurotransmitters adrenaline and noradrenalin to mobilize the organism in "fight or flight" reaction in emergencies. The parasympathetic system is located in the cranial and sacral segments of the spinal cord. It uses the transmitter acetylcholine to relax the body. These nerves, working together, control involuntary functions such as breathing and heartbeat.

Neurophysiologist Candice Pert states that there is a wealth of data showing that changes in the rate and depth of breathing produce changes in the kind and quantity of peptides that are released from the brain stem. By consciously altering the breath by holding it or by breathing fast, you cause the peptides to diffuse rapidly throughout the cerebral spinal fluid, in an attempt to restore homeostasis. Many of these peptides are endorphins, the body's natural opiates, as well as other kinds of pain relieving substances. The peptide - respiratory link is well established. This peptide substrate may provide the scientific rationale for the powerful healing effects of conscious connected breathing.

The key to combating the constant stress activation of our fast paced world is to cultivate its opposite - stillness. One of the best ways to do this is mindful breathing. The simple act of focusing the attention on the breath for a short time every day calms the body and the mind. When practicing simple breath meditations,* you enter the mind body conversation without judgments or opinions, releasing peptide messenger molecules from the brain to regulate breathing while unifying all systems. The physical benefits are increased oxygen supplied to the body and relaxation of the nervous system creating balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The rewards are expanded awareness, increased clarity and a deepening inner peace. Breathe!

Carol A. Lampman
http://www.IntegrationConepts.net

MORE RESOURCES:

At New Haven Shambhala Center, meditation leads to clarity - TMCnet

Peace of mind: Prayer, meditation may help - The Desert Sun

Maury Cooke Promotes Meditation for Health, Clarity - RedOrbit

Minister enhances faith through meditation - Calgary Herald

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-0fd=Rurl=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html%3Fid%3D04899569-0ce8-48f5-ac67-fbb4c27e8ae2cid=1256417638ei=46XySPeGJ5_S9QSd0ei6Bwusg=AFQjCNGBICY9MUxci4yoKFpoU5tbHSsoTgMinister enhances faith through bmeditation/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCalgary Herald,nbsp; Canadanbsp;-/font nobrOct 11, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1A leading voice in the Canadian Christian bmeditation/b community, an ancient spiritual practice finding renewed popularity in a chaotic, noisy world, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-1fd=Rurl=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html%3Fid%3Dc4f5e6a4-60a2-435b-879c-f40c70fbf29ecid=1256417638ei=46XySPeGJ5_S9QSd0ei6Bwusg=AFQjCNGHSCrQWBFMIr8qFH7msvdGyUb98gFaith calendar/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCalgary Herald/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256417638hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Humble meditation on reconciliation within reality - MorungExpress

Gather your thoughts, learn to focus - Times of India

Hurdy Gurdy Man - New York Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6i-0fd=Rurl=http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwlH-H7kiJtCuvfVJyVXhLg9HwNAcid=1256192602ei=46XySPeGJ5_S9QSd0ei6Bwusg=AFQjCNFtN3uYhvpQp0tBAM_WPDqenxNcsQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=baOioaPoZIUJimgurl=canadianpress.google.com/media/ALeqM5hzqOghynDWHsqvObDwNPgg0i6xEQ width=80 height=77 alt= border=1brfont size=-2The Canadian Press/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/fashion/sundaystyles/12nite.html%3Fref%3Dfashioncid=1256192602ei=46XySPeGJ5_S9QSd0ei6Bwusg=AFQjCNGu_KeXA4vZMLbsHQIT9eJFqJaD_AHurdy Gurdy Man/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNew York Times,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Mantras, maharishi, bmeditation/b and, yes, Donovan, the man-child Scottish musician who parlayed a gentle manner, a seriously tousled head of hair and a knack b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-1fd=Rurl=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jg9yTk6Bha4J5plK3kRHfyk6bLcAD93NQH700cid=1256192602ei=46XySPeGJ5_S9QSd0ei6Bwusg=AFQjCNGqIRHKr8DAAdp5Y4S8O95owCVSFADonovan still a Sunshine Superman at 62/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256192602hl=ennobrall 106 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Transcendental meditation, the road to calmness and peace - Fiji Daily Post

Recharge yourself with meditation - Times of India

Metro Watch - Malaysia Star

Meditation - Google News

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