Meditation is beneficial for all-round health. Amy Shanks finds out why everyone should be seeking peace of mind
WHAT DO Yin Yoga/Wellbeing Napier director Carol Neilson and model Miranda Kerr have in common? Both meditate daily.
In recent years actors, models and musicians have boasted about the benefits and it seems
more everyday folk are catching on, too.
As stress and anxiety creep in, it's easy to loose internal balance, which inevitably zaps our energy levels.
It can even translate as fatigue and escalate into illness.
Practising meditation, the art of focusing 100 per cent of your attention in one area, can help bring you back from breaking point.
Often we don't realise how fast our minds are racing until they are completely clear, Neilson says.
"Essentially, when people are leading a really busy life they have higher levels of cortisol released. When you come into meditation or Yin Yoga it's almost like a rescue remedy, bringing the ergonomic nervous system back into balance.
"When you are stressed there's no time to stop and think; meditation allows us to come back into our bodies, slows the heartbeat and brings the breath back into alignment."
For many, the thought of sitting cross-legged on a cushion for hours may be off-putting but meditation comes in many different forms and can take only five minutes morning and night.
The benefits are far greater than trying to wind down in front of a television but it requires peace and calm to be truly effective.
Neilson recommends taking time out when you first wake up and before bed: lock the door, turn off your phone and make sure everyone in the house is aware it is "your time".
"It's important for sanity - this world is getting busier and the demands are getting stronger. Relaxation comes in the form of drugs, alcohol, technology ... when that happens people become lost.
"When you sit and observe yourself, there's a space between the end of one thought and another but when you are stressed it's like one long sentence."
She believes everyone should allow themselves permission to reset, no matter how much pressure they are under, by stepping aside and taking five deep belly breaths.
Meditation in its many forms unravels stress by calming the mind and delivering a fresh sense of clarity. Research shows it also has many benefits for health and wellbeing, including improved happiness and emotional satisfaction.
It aids the immune system, keeps you focused, increases memory, self-control and even helps to develop intuition.
Transcendental meditators were found to have 48 per cent fewer deaths, heart attacks and strokes, visiting cardiologist Robert Schneider told Kiwi audiences last year.
"I want New Zealand doctors [to know] why the American Heart Association is now recommending it," he says.
Many preventable deaths in this country are as a result of cardiovascular disease.
"It is believed that practising transcendental meditation to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease is probably most directly related to its ability to lower psycho-social stress and to correct deleterious effects of stress," Canterbury University health sciences lecturer Arindam Basu adds.
# Starting today, Yin Yoga in Napier will be holding Giving Back - A Meditation Series, in exchange for a koha of non-perishable food or a wrapped child's Christmas present for donation to the Napier Foodbank.
Each class will be different, with a theme and an invitation to explore meditation through many styles, from dynamic movement to Yoga Nidra.