Yoga and Meditation – A source of connection with the Soul and Body

Life can become very hectic after having children. Most of the parents think that they are prepared for it but all the responsibilities and duties that come with being parents are almost always unexpected. As a busy parent, it becomes necessary to take small breaks every now and then to relax and take some time off for yourself. People have different ways of relaxing and finding a comfort zone. Some keep striving for some alone time while many keep scheduling some fun short vacations to their favourite spots. The best way, however, is to find solace in Yoga and Meditation.

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Yoga Meditation:

Most of the parents find the idea of meditation bogus and simply undoable. You have to push your limits to actually benefit from it and find the point behind it. It is important to understand that there is a misconception about yoga meditation that it has more to do with physical postures than anything else. However, the truth is that yoga meditation is an art of discovering inner peace, relaxing your mind and comforting your body. It lets you understand, accept and train your soul into finding the core of consciousness.
Conceptually and historically, with yoga meditation, one is supposed to work with all senses and be able to consciously respond to them. Breathing and stretching, together, let a person explore different levels of mind, leading to the core of consciousness. As the name suggests, yoga means ‘to join’ which refers to finding the connection between your body and soul so that the true identity makes more sense and has a deeper meaning to you. It is a way of relaxing your mind and finding the focus. Take some time out for it to reach a level that calms you and lets you deal with your busy life smoothly.

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Why should you consider Yoga?

As a busy parent, you can benefit from yoga meditation in many ways. It helps:

To Relax Your Mind:

So let’s consider you are a mother of two school going children. You wake up early every day to prepare breakfast for the whole family. As soon as everybody leaves, you probably have a list of all the chores you need to do before everyone comes back home. The time passes fast and before you know it, it’s time for everybody to start returning home. You then continue with other tasks. So the cycle keeps moving and there comes a time that you get frustrated with it! You can’t escape it yet you want to stop doing it. Yoga meditation is a smart way of dealing with stress on a daily basis. If you manage to start with taking a deep breath in a park or your lawn, things will get much easier for you. It will relax your mind to such an extent that you will feel motivated and excited to wake up every morning and start your day with a smile!

To Encourage Your Children:

With such technologically advanced world, children have also become hooked to the screens. During their free time, they choose to play games on a mobile phone or tab rather than wanting to go out and play. To improve their creative and imaginative skills, take them out with you and let them follow your footsteps. It will encourage them to follow yoga meditation routine and will eventually help them in fighting their own battles within the mind.

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To Stay Happy with the Family:

Yoga meditation has a greater impact than you may realize. A healthy and mentally relaxed family is able to deal with the situation rather smoothly and calmly. With a light mind, people are able to listen more and understand rather than throwing tantrums and refusing to understand each others’ point of views.

Meditation and yoga practices:

The best thing about yoga meditation is that it doesn’t have to take much time. The idea is to let you relax by finding your inner being and providing nourishment to your soul. Here are the ways in which you can relax your body and mind:

1. Relax your mind

• One of the most effective and easy ways to achieve mental relaxation is to take a pause to breathe. In fact, take a deep breath with short intervals of time. You will be able to feel your body as well as be conscious of its core. In the beginning, you might have to set reminders to actually take deep breaths. Once you get comfortable with the idea, you no longer have to follow any routine. For example, after lunch when the children are ready to take a nap you can relax yourself, sit and take deep long breaths. This can also be done after dropping your children off to the school when there is less to worry and think about. Shed some load off of your brain and lets deep breaths guide you to the centre of your mind.

• According to Dr Kristin Neff, there are three components that are useful for mindful self-compassion.

1 Encouraging self-kindness:

With so much competition out here, many people fail to identify their own purpose. As a result, they end up with self-criticism. However, it is important not to be too hard on yourself and let your mind learn from the experiences. Be kind to yourself.

2 Finding peace with common humanity:

Humans are socially dependent on one another. There comes a time in every person’s life when they face hardships. During such times, you can share it with other people and take help from them. You can’t run away from your challenges and fears. The best way to deal with them is to face them.

3 Taking advantage of mindfulness:

The experience of being mindful can take you to a higher level where judgments don’t exist and a person is able to think freely without any criticism and judgment.
To achieve all these components, sit down and relax your body. Tell yourself that it is only a challenge that is upon you which is a part of your life. Put your hands on the heart and chant ‘May I be Kind to myself’. You can use this way to deal with challenging times. Whenever you find yourself frustrated, follow this way of yoga meditation.

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• To soothe your nervous system, Child’s pose is what you should follow whenever you get the time. This pose lets you rest and find comfort for yourself. Curl up in child’s pose and stay in the pose for some time. After a while, get up, take a deep breath and find yourself lighter. It is that simple! You can follow this pose on a daily basis or when you get too exhausted with your daily life routine.

• Making it a habit to repeat these small simple steps on a daily basis will minimise exhaustion every day. You will feel less tired and much more motivated. Keep moving forward with the levels of mindfulness and find yourself stress-free even as a busy parent!

2. Relax your body

• You can identify the areas of your body that are under tension. There is a very simple trick to it and doesn’t need you to take time out especially to follow it. When you lie down on your bed at night, slowly start to examine your body. We are talking about visual examination here. Let your eyes travel on every part of your body slowly, noticing what parts are under tension and need more attention. This actually relaxes your body and let you gain control over it. The more you learn about your body, the better you will feel eventually.

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• If you are feeling very stressful, you can follow a simple yoga pose called ‘standing forward bend’ in simple language. All you have to do is, stand still with your legs close together, raise your arms up and start taking deep breaths. Then take your arms down, stretched in the same way until you can touch the ground. Hold it for 20 to 30 seconds and repeat it as many times a day as you wish. This yoga pose holds the importance of:
  I. Improving your blood circulation within the body, eventually taking good care of your nervou
  s system.
  II. Increasing flexibility of the body and releasing spinal tension. It relaxes your back muscles and improves the posture as well.
  III. Toning your abdominal muscles and helping in maintaining as well as losing weight.

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• Down dog is another body stress relieving pose. Here is how it can help you relax your body:

I. As a parent, you would find it very beneficial because it takes care of the fatigue and tiredness of your body.
II. For women, it works up on the bones decreasing the risk of osteoporosis to a high level.
III. It shakes up all your sense letting you feel more present minded and alert.
IV. Doesn’t let the body stiffen up and relaxes the neck muscles.
To follow the pose, sit on the ground with hands and knees on the floor, supporting your body. Straighten your bag and push your hips up such that the knees are straightened.

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• Bridge pose may be challenging in the beginning, but once you get used to it, it can work up on your back, relaxing and releasing the tension off your back. To follow this pose, lie down on a flat surface and place your hands on the side of your head such that the arm joints are lifted up and your palms are positioned flat on the floor. Lift yourself up with the support from your hands and form a bridge. Whether you have a job of sitting all day on a chair or you have a job of taking care of all your children and home chores, you can take advantage of this pose to straighten your back and let the body stretch. Remember that you body comes first then come everything else. If you are not at peace with it, you will keep getting distracted and end up disturbing your mind too.

The Impact:

• You will realise how yoga meditation is important to boost your energy levels and let you feel satisfied with your being. You will end up realising that the body and soul should be treated as one and once you find the connection, you have more control over your mind and body.
• The easy to follow exercises will add excitement to your daily routine. You can follow these during your chores, taking small breaks.
• As you make it a part of your lifestyle, your children and life partner also get inspired to follow it with you. This is a big step towards achieving family health goals. Not only is the bond strengthened between the family members but good health is also ensured.
• When children follow yoga meditation, know that you have accomplished something great. Children find yoga fun and there is no better way to keep them engaged in an activity while you also get some time to relax.
• It teaches lessons of love, self-compassion and acceptance. These are the key factors that can keep one happy and feel lighter at all times. Unfortunately, a great percentage of our society falls under depression because of these missing traits.
• You start feeling more confident with your life. It teaches you to release your tension and gain more control over it. So at times when life gets too busy and complicated, yoga comes to the rescue!
• An emotionally stable person is able to analyse every situation and react in an appropriate manner. Same way, the confidence level is so high that all it takes is will and the first thought to carry a task forward gracefully.
  It’s never too late to start taking care of yourself.

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