Tag Archives: Balance

Meditation – Benefits and Practice

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Oden

About six years ago I was introduced to the benefits of meditation by a book called Undoing Perpetual Stress by Richard O’Connor Ph.D. In the book he outlines all of the physiological things that happen to your body when you’re under continual stress, the psychological habits and/or issues that contribute to the stress response and a number of different ways to combat stress or lessen it on regular basis. Having had some experience with meditation during yoga classes, I decided to test out different types of meditation and see what I could incorporate into my daily life.

The numbers of physiological and psychological benefits of meditation are astounding. Physiologically, the most important of which include those that directly contribute to the reduction of stress: decreases in muscle tension, reductions in anxiety and blood pressure as well as an increase in blood flow (more oxygen!). There is also some evidence that meditation can help with PMS and with healing after injuries and operations. The research currently being done on the impact to disease processes and weight loss are also very compelling. On the psychological side meditation research has focused on the level of way in which it makes you feel better: resolving your phobias and fears, increased relaxation and better focus in your daily activities. Some people even use meditation to assist them with quitting smoking and other addiction issues.

So what is meditation? The definition is pretty simple – short regular periods spent in deep thought, prayer or calming the mind. I like this short video by Eckhart Tolle describing the meaning of meditation as just being in the present moment – experiencing the now with all of your senses. There are as many different ways to meditate as there are different types of meditation practices out there; transcendental, chanting, mantras, sitting, walking, mindfulness and my favorite – yoga nidra.

I myself practice a number of different types depending on my mood and/or the benefit that I’m seeking. My favorite meditation practice is yoga nidra, or yogic sleep, it is a process where through creative visualization you relax your body while your mind remains alert. This one practice can take me in 20 minutes from being a nervous wreck to being calm, alert and re energized. I use yoga nidra to combat sleeplessness, periods of high anxiety and migraines.

Last year, after a couple of years of working on a consistent practice, I decided to try Headspace as a refresher on the basics and to help work my way up to longer mediation times. I’m very happy with the content and the ease of using the application, and while I’m not quite there yet I do enjoy the structure having the guidance provides me. There are loads of apps, sites, books, audio, podcasts to help you get started, the trick is really just to try a few and settle on what you like best.

July – Shifting Priorities and Perspectives

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Oden

I wrote this back in January:

“Living with Cushing’s requires a significant amount of acceptance and patience; you don’t have much control over your body and every treatment is followed with a wait and see what happens.”

That’s certainly true. In the almost four years that I’ve been struggling to get my Cushing’s back under control, I’ve had many setbacks, stalls and a general state of ambiguity. You never really know what’s going help and for many of the positive results, you end up sliding right back where you were.

I also wrote this:

“I guess I’d have to say that the most important and perhaps more difficult resolution I need to make is to not get derailed by work, my volunteer commitments, feeling defeated by lack of improvement in my condition and the depression that can follow.”

All of the above = Check! It’s so easy for me to ignore commitments to myself for those that I’ve made to others. Procrastination via productivity 😉

Here I am, six months later and largely in the same early stages with all of my personal goals. Two things have changed though; I’ve put the majority of my volunteer commitments on hold and I’ve learned that my ACTH levels are steadily declining. As I start looking at my list, I realize that I’m now in the situation where my free time is unencumbered and that any changes I make health wise will have tangible results.

Last week I caught this video in my feed that really hit home for me: Ryan Carson’s – Begin with the End in Mind. In it he talks about having a personal priority list to check obligations and/or anything on your to-do list against. I’ve decided to try this for the month of July, with my list being:

My Health
Improving Relationships
Nurturing My Creativity
Career Ambitions
Enhancing My Life

Everything I do for the next four weeks will have to fall into one or more of these categories or it won’t be given priority. I must do something every week that contributes positively to these priorities and when a conflict comes up, I can either pick the one that fills more than one category or chose which one has a higher priority. I like to think this is a brutally efficient method of enforcing my own personal life balance.

My goal is to end July with a clear set of life reaffirming daily habits: exercise, meditation, mindfulness, gratitude, time devoted to my loved ones and to my writing and creativity, and growth. A month that I can look back on and think of all the accomplishments and not wonder where all the time went.

January Goals – Diet and Exercise

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Oden

Living with Cushings requires a significant amount of acceptance and patience; you don’t have much control over your body and every treatment is followed with a wait and see what happens. Last year I started off with quite a bit of optimism, what followed was frustrating – radiation and surgery without any significant changes. I ended the year with six month check up where instead of celebrating success, we talked about my options going forward.

It hasn’t been all bad news though – I have maintained my weight during the last year, my ACTH levels are steady, I’m not seeing any additional side effects from the extra weight, and my headaches and muscle aches are still infrequent. These are small wins but they are still wins.

This year my only resolution is to push harder. Regardless of the state of my disease in the coming months I want to work on my endurance, my strength and flexibility while preventing any further weight gain and hopefully keeping my blood pressure and blood sugar in check.

Alright, on to the specifics…

Diet

I’m happy with the 1800 calorie diet plan my nutritionist and I settled on last year, the only change I’m going to make is to reduce it to 1500 calories and effectively eliminating a cheat day – I do this because I find that cravings are progressively so much worse as that day comes around and I feel it’s better to maintain moderation than go crazy once a week.

Exercise

For endurance I’ve decided to work on progressively more challenging hikes, I really enjoy hiking and pushing myself while enjoying a new environment sounds like the perfect combination. I also really miss running but every attempt I’ve made in the last two years to get back into the routine has resulted in pain. This year I’m going to follow a program I found through Runner’s World that over twenty one weeks get’s you back into running four times a week.

Strength will be tackled through a combination of adding more weight to my current program as well as adding in a couple of mini workouts throughout the day – I’m going to try out 7 Minutes for the first month and see how that works for me.

Flexibility is all about getting my yoga routine back in force. Years ago my practice consisted of Sun Salutations every morning, a twenty minute flow midday, a restorative flow at night and three 90 minute classes every week at an Anusara studio. I’m positive I won’t be able to fit in the classes but I can certainly do the rest.

Meditation

About a month ago I joined Headspace, a site that helps train you in mindfulness meditation, trying to fit that in every day over the holidays proved difficult, something I’ll need to work on during the next month. I’m shooting for every morning but I’ll take 4-5 times a week as success.

I guess I’d have to say that the most important and perhaps more difficult resolution I need to make is to not get derailed by work, my volunteer commitments, feeling defeated by lack of improvement in my condition and the depression that can follow. Procrastination via responsibilities?! Well, balance hasn’t traditionally been my strongest skills, here’s hoping I can find the right mix this year.

Vibrant Thing

Tag Archives: Balance

Meditation – Benefits and Practice

July – Shifting Priorities and Perspectives

January Goals – Diet and Exercise

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