mindfulness Archives - Page 2 of 2

6 Ways to Stress Less This Winter

The winter months can seem exceptionally long, especially when cold and dreary, bringing their fair share of stress this season as well! Between the holidays, busy schedules, and changes in daylight and weather, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. To help give you a respite, we’ve compiled six ways to stress less this winter. Incorporate Physical Activity Exercise is often less consistent this time of year, but staying active is a great way to manage stress, among many other health benefits. Add some physical activity to each day. Consider indoor options like the gym, a class, or home workouts whenever the weather isn’t conducive to exercising outside. If you’re heading outdoors for a workout, dress appropriately for the weather and wear reflective gear during the hours of limited daylight. Eat Mindfully Stress less about your food intake by being more intentional [...]

Tags: exercise, health, mindfulness, nature, physical activity, relax, stress relief, wellness|

Mind-Body Fitness

Mind-body fitness incorporates mental engagement with active movement and controlled breathing. This full-body approach to activity focuses on body awareness during exercise and can also include mindful meditation. Let's take a closer look at the benefits of this fitness style and ways you can add it to your current workout routine. Benefits Mind-body fitness is a form of activity that allows the individual to see full-body benefits. When our mind is prepared for and focused on the exercise we're completing, it can help us pay more attention to our movements. We’re more in tune with our intensity, technique, and form. More awareness lowers the risk of injury and increases the ability to experience the benefits of physical activity. Research has shown how this type of fitness can benefit overall health and disease management. Research suggests, “Incorporating approaches such as mind-body [...]

Tags: controlled breathing, corporate wellness, exercise, fitness, health, mind-body fitness, mindfulness, stretching, wellbeing, yoga|

Mindful New Year’s Resolutions

A new year is a perfect time for reevaluating and setting new goals. However, we’re all too familiar with how difficult it can be to stick to those resolutions all year long. We quickly get caught up in the hustle and bustle of a new year, and those good intentions slip down our priority list. Mindfulness is about purposefully focusing on the here and now. It can be a beneficial tool for successfully establishing, reaching, and maintaining new goals this year. Set Your Intention and Attention When setting your intentions for the new year, think about the purpose behind the goal. Why is it important to you? Why is it something you want to accomplish or improve now? What is your motivation? Thinking about your answers to these questions will help you keep your attention tuned into the motivation behind [...]

Tags: cleveland wellness company, goals, mindful, mindfulness, new years resolutions, resolution|

Mindfulness Meditation

What is the first thing you think of when someone tells you to meditate? Perhaps you think of monks sitting cross-legged repeating “hum” in a Zen garden. This may be the truth for some, but the modern world has taken a different approach to meditation, combining the practice with a concept known as mindfulness. Mindfulness meditation has shown to have long-lasting benefits and can be easily done by anybody. What is Mindfulness Meditation? Mindfulness meditation is an approach to becoming aware of our breath and mindset. It involves examining each breath we take and noticing how our mind begins to wander during this task. As we continue to practice returning to our breath, we are able to build the muscles of attention and mindfulness. We increase our own ability to stay in the present as we guide ourselves to [...]

Tags: corporate wellness, de-stress, destress, health, meditation, mindful, mindfulness, stress, wellness|

Stress Less: Apps for Meditation and Stress Reduction

Apps for Meditation and Stress Reduction Do you often get overwhelmed by stress? Not sure how to manage the rush of everyday life? You might consider giving mediation a try! Mediation is a well-established method for relaxation and stress reduction and may help improve sleep, concentration, anxiety and overall health. This practice helps push aside thoughts that may be distracting, negative, or stress-inducing, and focuses attention on the present moment. Thoughts of the past or worries about the future are pushed aside to focus on the peaceful moments spent in the experience. This is often accomplished through focusing on an external object, a repetitive word or phrase or slow, deep breathing patterns. Meditation is a skill that takes practice. To help you get started, there are many apps available that teach proper meditation techniques and can be done in as [...]

Tags: calm, corporate wellness, meditation, mindfulness, stress, stress reduction, stress releaf|

Stress Less: How Breathing Fights Stress

How Breathing Fights Stress What’s the first sensation you notice in your body when you face a moment of stress? Are you shaky? Does your heart race? Do your palms sweat? Maybe your breath becomes quicker and shallower. These physiological changes are all regulated by the autonomic nervous system, which continually works to regulate heart rate, respiratory rate, and digestion. When we face any stress, whether big or little, the sympathetic branch (better known as fight-or-flight) of the autonomic nervous system activates. Even bad traffic on the way home can cause the release of adrenal hormones into the bloodstream that triggers fight-or-flight in multiple parts of the body. The result can be higher blood pressure, faster breathing, a quicker heart rate, and even elevated blood sugar levels. It might seem like there is little we can do to stop fight-or-flight [...]

Tags: breath exercises, corporate wellness, destress, mindfulness, stress, stress relief, wellness|

Modern Meditation

What comes to mind when you think of meditation? Many people imagine cross-legged monks in Zen rock gardens. While this might be a great place to meditate, it’s probably not all that relatable if you live on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Luckily, there are many places and many ways to meditate besides sitting in a lotus position for hours on end in silence among rock gardens. What is meditation? Meditation is a mind and body practice akin to yoga, acupuncture, and massage therapy. The goal is to connect mental focus, controlled breathing, and body movement (or stillness) to elicit relaxation. A typical meditation misconception is that you need to empty your mind and leave the world behind. But consider a different perspective. Instead of draining your brain, focus on filling it with love, gratitude, and compassion while [...]

Tags: body scan, breathing exercises, corporate wellness, gratitude, meditation, mindfulness, stress|