Mindfulness Regina on Facebook

Hope you check out Mindfulness Regina on Facebook for unique videos, ideas and inspiration.   Please share with your friends.   Peace.  Dr. Todd Sojonky

When you're feeling anxious or stressed, these strategies will help you cope:

1. Take a time-out. ...
2. Eat well-balanced meals. ...
3. Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can aggravate anxiety and trigger panic attacks.
4. Get enough sleep. ...
5. Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health. ...
6. Take deep breaths.

Breath

One of the greatest gifts that is present in every moment is the flow of your breath.  Your breath is the mover; you are the dancer.    -Shiva Rea

Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain's Gray Matter In 8 Weeks

Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University.  The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter.  “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Sue McGreevey of MGH writes: “Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.”  Until now, that is.  The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercises, and this is all it took to stimulate a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.  McGreevey adds: “Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.”

“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. You can read more about the remarkable study by visiting Harvard.edu.  If this is up your alley then you need to read this: “Listen As Sam Harris Explains How To Tame Your Mind (No Religion Required)”

Go to site for audio:http://www.feelguide.com/2014/11/19/harvard-unveils-mri-study-proving-meditation-literally-rebuilds-the-brains-gray-matter-in-8-weeks/

Meditation

When people begin to meditate, they often say that their thoughts are running riot and have become wilder than ever before. But I reassure them and say that this is a good sign. Far from meaning that your thoughts have become wilder, it shows that you have become quieter and are finally aware of just how noisy your thoughts have always been. Don’t be disheartened or give up. Whatever arises, just keep being present, keep returning to the breath, even in the midst of all the confusion.    ---Rigpa

The key to wise thought is to sense the energy state behind the thought.  If we pay attention, we will notice that certain thoughts are produced by fear and the small sense of self.  With them will be clinging, rigidity, unworthiness, defensiveness, aggression, or anxiety.  We can sense their effect on the heart and the body.  When we notice this suffering we can relax, breathe, loosen the identification.  With this awareness the mind will become more open and malleable,  with this pause we return to our true inner nature.  Now we can think, imagine, and plan, but from a state of ease and benevolence.  It's that simple. 
                                                                                                        ---Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart

How to Stop a Panic Attack

How To Calm Down In 10 Seconds (Fast Relaxation Trick to Stop Anxiety an...

10 Minute Guided Meditation to ease Anxiety, Worry, and Urgency,

Five News Ali, 18, Sufferer of Anorexia Nervosa

"A Good Day" With Brother David Steindl-Rast

What is Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)?

Good introduction.  Workshop in Regina for November 23 has two openings.   Monthly training will be available send your email queries to todd.sojonky@sasktel.net for details.

Three Rational Humorous Songs

Mindfulness Workshop

Mindful Walking: Understanding Stress, Anxiety and Depression 

(limit of 14 people)

Saturday Nov. 23rd 

Living Spirit Centre 

3018 Doan Dr.

10:00am -12:00pm

$30.00 per person

Wear loose clothing and bring slippers or warm socks!

Please book directly through Dr. Todd Todd.sojonky@sasktel.net

Or 306 737-6533

Your Thoughts Make You Suffer ~ Eckhart Tolle mp4

Depression

This is an excellent tool for those living with depression!

Wonderful Albert Ellis Teaching

Mindful Walking

Jon Kabat Zinn Mindscape Guided Meditation

Jon Kabat-Zinn "As Good As It Gets"