Meditations

Can you remember a recent time when your ruminating thoughts took over your mind? And because of this you noticed that you became more anxious or irritated at yourself, your energy became depleted and/or your sleep was affected?

This is part of being human, and meditation can be an effective means of getting a handle on your ever-pervasive thoughts.

Below, Tanya offers Guided Meditations that can help you on your way to feeling more present and relaxed.

The benefits of meditation are many and have also been demonstrated scientifically.

Physical Benefits of Meditation

With meditation, the physiology and neurology of brain and body are changed with regular meditation practice by:

• Lowering high blood pressure
• Lowering the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks
• Decreasing any tension-related pain, such as, tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle and joint problems
• Increasing serotonin production that improves mood and behavior
• Improving the immune system
• Increasing the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy

Psychological Benefits of Meditation

Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into an alpha state that promotes ‘wakeful calmness’. The mind becomes fresh, delicate and clear. It cleanses and nourishes you from within and relaxes you, whenever you feel overwhelmed, unstable, or emotionally shut down. With regular practice of meditation:

• Anxiety decreases
• Emotional stability improves
• Creative ideas increase
• Intuition develops
• Clarity and peace of mind increases
• Attention and focus expands

Spiritual Benefits of Meditation

Meditation doesn’t have a religion and can be practiced by anybody regardless of the faith they follow.

• Effortless transition from being something to merging with the infinite and recognizing yourself as a connected part of all that is.
• In a meditative state, you are in a space of vastness, calmness and joy and this is what you emit into the environment, bringing harmony to Creation and the planet.
• Meditation can bring about a true personal transformation. As you learn more about yourself, you’ll naturally start discovering more about yourself and beyond.

Getting the Most From Your Practice

To experience the benefits of meditation, regular practice is necessary. It takes only a few minutes every day (Even just 5-10 mins. can be beneficial.). Meditating daily, has been proven to create new neural pathways for positive change.

Prepare the place where you wish to meditate, making it a comfortable space that you’d want to come back to again and again.

It is very important that you are not disturbed during your meditation time, especially as a beginner practitioner, so that you may develop your practice more effectively. Turn off the phone, close the door and ask not to be disturbed. It is a time of day dedicated to yourself.

Meditation is like planting a flower seed. When you cultivate a seed with love, care, attention and commitment the healthier it grows and the more it blossoms.

Busy and stressed people from all backgrounds are grateful to pause and enjoy a refreshing few minutes of meditation each day. Dive deep into yourself and enrich your life.

Guided Meditations

Join Tanya on the banks of the Cache La Poudre River for some real chill time. Integrate these guided meditations into your daily routine and see the stress melt away...

Loving-Kindness Meditation

Join Tanya for an ancient meditation practice that has much value in a modern world that may feel disconnected and unkind. Sit back, relax and enjoy the beautiful rippling sounds of water with the sweet, peaceful music of the Himalayas. A perfect combination...

In the past few years there’s been a good deal of research that has praised the positive affects of Loving-Kindness meditation. As you can see below, bringing this wonderful meditation practice into your daily life will have great benefit to you and those around you.

• Increased emotional regulation (Lueng, 2013)
• Increases vagal tone which increases emotions & social connection (Kok, 2013)
• Increased empathy (Klimecki, Leiberg, Lamm and Singer, 2013)
• Improved, more balanced emotions (Cohn, 2011)
• Increases Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia (RSA) (Law, 2011)
• Promotes positive feelings (Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008)
• Improves empathy and compassion (Leiberg, 2011, Boellinghaus, Jones & Hutton, 2012)
• Helps eliminate the symptoms of depression (Shahar, 2014)
• Reduces the symptoms of anxiety
• Lessens biases (Kang, Gray, Davido, 2014)
• Decreases chronic back pain symptoms (Carson, 2005)
• Improves social wellness and social intelligence (Kok, 2013) 
• Activates empathy & emotional brain processing (Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross, 2014; Hoffman, Grossman & Hinton, 2011)
• Reduces migraines   (Tonelli, 2014) 
• Increases grey matter volume (Leung, 2013, Lutz, 2008; Lee, 2012)
• Slows aging process (Hoge, 2013)
• Lessens PTSD symptoms (Kearney, 2013)