Mindfulness Meditation Warnings & Alerts
Brain Yoga
Loving Kindness Facelift
Many thanks to Dan Leven for sharing this Loving Kindness Facelift. He was inspired by Sharon Salzberg’s book, Real Love.
As he puts it, “It begins with “may my face be happy, may my face be peaceful.” And then you continue moving through each body part wishing them well in this way… “may my neck be happy, may my neck be peaceful … may my shoulders be happy, may my shoulders be peaceful,” and so on. You open your heart’s kindness to your whole body (including your own heart).”
It’s a great way to start and end the day. I love it. I really go to town with spreading happiness and peace throughout my entire body. I enjoy coming up with new places to shower with loving kindness with each practice such as for my brain, blood, eyes and ears – even my hair. Before long, it’s going out to family, friends, pets, strangers and to all kinds of situations. This meditation is especially handy when my attention is restless since it lets me jump all around. It can be any length too – long or short. It sure feels uplifting.
Dan goes on to explain the science underpinning it. He says, “the vagus nerve is a core part of our parasympathetic nervous system that has two branches. One branch is associated with surviving in a perceived life or death situation where our whole body slows down, feigning death (a primitive survival mechanism). The other branch is about helping us relax and soften into the loving support of others and is associated with the release of oxytocin (the cuddle or bonding molecule). Both branches are about our relationship to “others, “that being dangerous “others” or safe and loving “others.”
Here’s the kicker he reports, “the vagus nerve has many fibers that connect to our facial muscles where we reveal our emotions through a plenitude of expressions. Scientists have logged 21 different emotional expressions that register within the face and there are 8 universal emotional facial expressions that you don’t need a translator to interpret. So our face can register the vagal response from shock and terror, like a deer in the headlights of a moving car (survival vagus nerve), to happiness and peace, like a contented Buddha face (loving vagus nerve)! However, we can also create the response as we bring happiness and peace to our faces!”
So the KEY point, according to Dan, “is that as you invite or train your facial muscles to discover happiness and peace you are strengthening the relaxation response that’s linked to feeling supportive or loving connection with others -to feeling safe in the world.”
Come on – Give it a shot!
Adjusting to Autumn
Adjusting from summer to fall always comes with mixed feelings for me. At first, it’s so hard for me to accept the end of the warmth, light, and the greenness of the plants, trees and garden. “Where did it go,” I ask my self. “I’m not ready for this!”
Honestly, for years and years, I’d feel mighty bummed. In my mind, I was already jumping way ahead to the shivering cold and darkness of winter while missing all the things I like about summer. Somehow, I’d let myself miss out on what the autumn is all about.
But now, I close my eyes and I sit in yoga meditation. Eventually, my racing mind settles into the steadiness of my breathing and the present moment opens up like a fragrant flower. Instead of feeling sorry that another summer is gone and anticipating an uncertain future, I’m able to take in what’s around me now. When my eyes reopen, it’s easy to notice that the trees aren’t bare. In fact, the air is crisp and clean and the changing light and shadows cast a beautiful spell over me. What a relief.
All that energy that was being wasted on feeling anxious has effortlessly shifted into the energy of inspiration and an undeniable readiness to take what’s right before me and enjoy it for what it is. For years, I missed out on all the gorgeous fall days. Not anymore. Now I’m grateful for the tastes and smells and colors of autumn and reach into my closet for my favorite sweater.
Autumn is a time for harvesting, letting go, and for preparing unsown areas for reseeding. This goes for the actual activities that happen during this season on earth and for what happens in our lives. For me, the magic ingredient that helps me with this is yoga and meditation. Please join me or your favorite teacher so we can continue to grow inward and onward.
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