Survival Strategy for the Holidays: Meditation

As a therapist and life coach, I hear many times how much people don’t like the holidays, how they find them both stressful and depressing.  Below are some how-to’s to start or renew the habit of meditation, which has been shown to reduce both stress and depression.

You may meditate either alone or with one or more friends.  Meditating with others is preferable, as when you do that you are actually creating Synergistic Energy Exchange, (a cooperative exchange of energy) and it enhances the meditation experience.  But even if you are meditating alone, there are still many benefits.

Sit either on a cushion on the floor or on a chair, with your legs crossed “Indian-style”.  If this is uncomfortable for you, you may sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor to ground you to Mother Earth instead.  Keep your spine straight. This aligns your seven main chakras, the energy centers that run along your spine.

You can either look at a focal point on the floor or close your eyes.  If you eyes are closed, look at your “third eye”, or brow chakra, the energy center that is just above your eyebrows in the center of your forehead.  You may see colors or images there as you meditate.

Start by taking a deep breath in through your nose, allowing your belly to expand as you do.  Hold this breath in for three seconds, think of all the things that have been bothering you, and let it all out through your nose.  Repeat two more times.

Now continue to breathe deeply and slowly through your nose, in the same manner, but without holding your breath this time.  Try to sit for ten minutes. If at first you are unable to do it for this long, start with lesser amounts and work up.

As thoughts come, do not fight with them.  Simply acknowledge them and allow them to drift off.

The idea of meditation is that feeling good is our natural state.  If we are not doing anything to interfere with that, we will feel good.  Meditation can give us a break from the negative thoughts that create our fear, doubts, and despair.  This we call our resistance.  When we meditate, we release the resistance.

It is best to meditate every day. The most beneficial times  to do it are either just before dawn or just after sunset.  Perhaps this year instead of waiting for January first to make a resolution, you can get a head start on a new, healthy commitment- meditation!