Mindfulness Meditation Warnings & Alerts
Julie Lusk, M.Ed., NBCC, E-RYT-500
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What is Yoga All About
Hatha yoga is a mind/body exercise which dates back thousands of years to India. The word yoga means 
“union” or “joining”. Although there are several branches of yoga (Raja, Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and others) Hatha yoga refers to achieving the union of the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual selves through the practice of physical postures and special breathing techniques. For those interested, yoga can go beyond the physical exercises to incorporate dietary recommendations, meditation, service to others, philosophy, and moral and ethical guidelines for living. Yoga is neither a sport nor religion.
Hatha yoga is noncompetitive and emphasizes show, purposeful movements practiced mindfully and in combination with deep breathing. Yoga can be modified to help people achieve a wide range of personal and fitness goals. Some styles of yoga are gentle and slow while others are vigorous and strenuous. Yoga’s benefits include the ability to: [Read more…]
Not Sleeping Soundly? Here’s Help
Have you ever felt like you were ‘half-awake or only half asleep’ all night? Me too. It’s so frustrating, especially knowing that you have a big day ahead and want to be feel sharp and well rested. Perhaps you don’t want to miss a moment of your vacation or there’s an important conference you’re excited about.
As it turns out, half of your brain can sleep while the other half stays awake, according to sleep scientist Masako Tamaki and her colleagues at Brown University and reported in Current Biology*. They found that this usually happens when sleeping the first night in a new place, like a hotel, friend’s house, or while camping. The second night is much better.
It’s our brain’s attempt to protect us by going into survival mode. What happens is that the right half your brain sleeps while the left half stays alert, standing guard. How strange is that?
Scientists measured the slow-wave activity of the brain, something that occurs during deep sleep. They measured brain activity during light sleep by first playing a tone and then a different tone was played. Surprisingly, the brain reacted to the variation in sound only on the left side of the brain – the right side stayed asleep.
Next, they played a sound loud enough to awaken someone. They found that when it was transmitted into the right ear, the subjects in the experiment woke up faster than if it was sent to the left ear. The right ear is associated with the left side of the brain.
It stands to reason that it would be the left side of the brain that stays on duty since it is known to be objective, analytical, and rational and would be more prone to be protective whereas the right side is best at intuition and abstract thinking. Could this phenomenon be at play when sleeping in an unsafe neighborhood or household? What about when having to keep an ear out for a child or sick person. More studies are needed.
Sleeping ‘half-way’ is involuntary and the brain’s way to keep you alert enough to save yourself if something bad happened and most likely associated with the flight-fight-freeze response to stress. Because of this, scientists think there’s not much you can do about it other than to accept it rather than letting it bother you. Some suggest going two nights ahead of your big day since it’s so hard to sleep that first night.
Here are my suggestions:
- Make the room feel familiar and safer to you, tricking the brain into sleeping better. Try using a familiar scent – lavender is calming and aids sleeping. If you’re used to sleeping with a fan whirling away, bring one with you. Using your own pillow makes sense too.
- Try yoga nidra. It’s a comprehensive practice done lying down to go far beyond deep relaxation and mindfulness to a place of natural peace and quiet that is tremendously restful. Along with being a special type of meditation to increase uplifting levels of awareness, it can also be practiced at bedtime as a sleep aid. Layers of stress are cleared out so they don’t follow you to bed and disturb sleeping. In fact, while not a substitute for actual sleep, one hour of yoga nidra practice is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. This is due to the types of brain waves experienced along the way. Proven relaxation skills, specialized breathing techniques, guided imagery, and mindfulness are systematically used. Learn more about yoga nidra here
Use a yoga nidra recording. See below for recommendations. Download it to your listening device, put it on airplane mode, and listen by putting the ear buds or the device itself under your pillow. It will transmit right through your pillow and not disturb your sleep partner. - Use a mudra. They are yoga positions for the hands. Curl your fingers into a fist. On the same hand, touch the tips of the thumbs to the tips of the first finger to form a circle. Rest your hands with your palms pointing down. It helps bring on sleep and reduces stress by promoting a sense of safety and security. Learn more about mudras here.
- Breathe slowly and smoothly. To calm your nervous system, breathe in to the count of four or five and then breathe out for five to ten. When you get distracted, gently go back to focusing on your breathing.
- Use the Moon Breath to calm your bodymind and brain by combining a mudra with breathing. Bend your index and middle finger of your right hand to your palm, leaving your ring and little finger softly extended. Softly press your right thumb to your right nostril and inhale through your left nostril. Next, release your right thumb and press your ring finger to your left nostril while exhaling. In other words, in left / out right / in left / out right and so on. Learn more about this and other practices in Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices for Awakening (WPA, 2005)
- Follow the guidelines for good sleep hygiene. Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s 7 tips for doing so. Read How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep – The Ultimate Guide. It’s excellent.
So even if you can’t sleep as soundly as you might like due to your brain’s insistence on staying half-awake, at least you now understand the reason why. The above suggestions may lull you to sleep, and if they don’t, you will at least make use of the time in a positive, productive way.
Sweet dreams!
Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD Use deep relaxation, soothing flute music & ocean waves to go to sleep. "I slept like a log." Downloads available. By Julie Lusk, Yoga Nidra Meditations author.
Reference: Current Biology Volume 26, Issue 9, p1190–1194, 9 May 2016
Resources: Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation & Stress Relief by Julie Lusk (NHP 2015)
Yoga Nidra: Guided Meditations for Relaxation & Renewal (Health Journeys 2016)
Julie Lusk, MEd, E-RYT 500, has more than 35 years of expertise in stress relief, yoga, relaxation training, guided imagery, and meditation as an international author, recording artist, and 
workshop leader. Julie is the author of Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief, Yoga Meditations, two volumes of 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing, and Desktop Yoga®. Her CDs include Wholesome Relaxation, Power of Presence, Blue Moon Rising, and many others. Learn more at WholesomeResources.com
Details 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing – Volume 2
by Julie Lusk
30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing provides
- Reliable ways to relax, get stress relief and boost your energy
- Ways to look inside yourself so you can make valuable, well-informed decisions.
- Uncover a powerful resource – our intuition and instincts
- Safely benefit from your true feelings
Enjoy and benefit from over 30 scripts for learning and leading guided relaxation and imagery techniques. Volume 2. CLICK on the blue title link above to find out more...
Enjoy and benefit from over 30 scripts for learning and leading guided relaxation and imagery techniques. Volume 2. CLICK the green title link to find out more...
30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing is packed full of
- Fresh, easy-to-follow relaxation scripts
to use personally or with others - Designed for professionals and semi-professionals
- Includes strategies for stress relief and relaxation training exercises
- Progressive muscular relaxation
- Breathing techniques
- Creative visualization
- Guided imagery and guided meditation
Benefit now – Buy now
- Discover answers you’ve been searching for
- Benefit from the power of relaxation to heal
- Manage your feelings smoothly
- Gain personal power and peace
Table of Contents: 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery & Inner Healing – Vol. 2
Julie Lusk
Whole Person Associates Publisher
Becoming Relaxed
The cornerstone of all guided imagery work lies in the ability to relax the body, mind, and emotions. This is true whether you would like to awaken your intuition, communicate with your inner guide, connect with nature, or benefit from the healing visualizations. You will be wasting your time if you don’t relax first.
Practice the following exercises until you become comfortable doing them. The method used for relaxing isn’t important; being able to relax is. Relaxation opens the door to your inner resources. Try out each exercise several times and choose the ones that work best for you.
After you’ve mastered the relaxation exercises, explore the different types of guided visualizations in the other sections of this book, or of those from volume 1.
- Relaxing while Lying Down
Learn to lie down and relax by alternately tensing and relaxing all muscle groups and by mentally releasing tension. (10 minutes) - Expanding and Contracting
This short relaxation exercise, performed while lying down, combines progressive relaxation with breathing and body scanning techniques. (4 minutes) - Magic Carpet Ride
This deep breathing exercise works well for people who have difficulty with relaxed breathing. (15 minutes) - Threshold Relaxation
In this exercise, you will slightly tense a specific part of their body until it begins to feel tense. Once tension is felt, it is held a moment and then relaxed. Threshold Relaxation teaches participants to be sensitive to small changes in the body. Through practice (several times a day at first) the body learns what relaxation feels like in each muscle and how to regulate itself in automatic and unconscious ways. (12 minutes) - Heavy
This script helps you experience the freshness of spirit and calmness of mind that results from passive attention to the rhythm of their breathing and the relaxed heaviness in their hands and feet. (15 minutes) - Warm
This autogenic relaxation routine asks participants to gently focus on warmth spreading through their bodies, bringing complete relaxation and a sense of personal peace and renewal. (15 minutes) - Relaxation Training for Children
This entertaining relaxation script is perfect for children (and adults) because it teaches them how to tense and relax their muscles while utilizing their fantasy and imagination skills. (12 minutes)
Nature and the Environment
This section contains a variety of guided meditations that will help deepen your ability to relax and sharpen your ability to visualize, whether you visualize by using your imagination to see, feel, smell, or hear the scenes described. When you practice using all your senses, your experience will be enriched.
Getting in touch with nature is soothing, inspiring, and healing. To get the most out of these visualizations, first take the time to thoroughly relax. Remember to briefly describe the content of the guided visualization to the people you are working with. If a particular setting makes anyone uncomfortable, select a different script.
- Finding Your Own Sacred Place
Participants are gently guided into a relaxed state of being and then given instructions for discovering and exploring a comfortable, personal sacred place. (20 minutes) - Mountain Tops
A mountain top is the setting for this relaxing journey to relaxation and renewal. (8 minutes) - Caribbean Vacation
This guided meditation promotes inner peace, beauty, renewal, and release of negativity. Participants are encouraged to feel connected and grounded to the universe. (10 minutes) - Mighty Pine
Participants take an imaginary walk into a grove of trees to find a mighty pine tree from which they draw strength and energy. (10 minutes) - Listening to Mother Earth
This script can help participants experience their connection to Mother Earth and learn from her wisdom. (5 minutes) - Flying
This script begins with a relaxation exercise that emphasizes the feelings of heaviness and lightness to help participants more fully experience the imagery of flying. (20 minutes) - Hot Tubbing
Participants experience feelings of peace and understanding by imagining they are lounging in an outdoor hot tub. (5 minutes)
Inner Answers
Using the guided imagery exercises in this section will help you listen to what you already know. In other words, you will awaken your intuition to help you be consistent and in alignment with your own inner, individual truth.
These scripts are written to unlock your creative potential, provide you with insights, help you see patterns and possibilities, and understand yourself better. In order for this to happen, it is crucial to relax your body and quiet your mind first. So be sure to use a relaxation exercise whenever you are instructed to do so.
Read Awakening Intuition by Frances E. Vaughan for more information about accessing your intuitive self.
- Cruise Meditation
This script helps participants receive special messages from their own personal inner guide. (8 minutes) - Imagery for Nurturing Your Inner Child
In this guided imagery, each participant is invited to meet and lovingly nurture his or her inner child. (10 minutes) - Your Private Space
This visualization works well with individuals in weight classes and in other classes dealing with the need for boundaries, protection, positive body image, healing, and unconditional love. (15 minutes) - Body, Mind, Soul
Help your clients get in touch with their body, mind, and soul while they increase personal awareness and create personal strength and well-being. (8 minutes) - Visiting Your Heart’s House
In this script, participants equip themselves to meet lifeís challenges by receiving insightful and helpful gifts from an ancient chest located in their heart’s house. (18 minutes)
Enjoy and benefit from over 30 scripts for learning and leading guided relaxation and imagery techniques. Volume 2. CLICK on the blue title link above to find out more...
Enjoy and benefit from over 30 scripts for learning and leading guided relaxation and imagery techniques. Volume 2. CLICK the green title link to find out more...
Healing
The mind and body are one, and what you believe and feel are reflected in your body. Sometimes your thoughts may lead to illness, aches, and pains; and other times, they can lead to exhilarating feelings of joy, pleasure, and peacefulness. Likewise, the condition of your body and the way it is feeling affect your thoughts. This is why it is impossible to worry when you feel relaxed.
Much of the benefits derived from the following healing imageries come from the necessary first step of calming and centering the body and mind. Therefore, it is important to perform a relaxation exercise whenever a script calls for one. Read the works of Bernie Siegel, Jeanne Achterberg, Joan Borysenko, Patrick Fanning, and Deepak Chopra for an in-depth look at how and why healing imageries work.
- Healing Firemen
This visualization was developed for aiding in the healing process for any illness. It is particularly well-suited for cancer patients who are receiving radiation treatment or taking drugs. (12 minutes) - At Peace with Pain
This visualization is designed to help meet the challenge of severe and persistent pain. It relies on the paradox of acceptance and surrender as a way of gaining power, not of giving up. (20 minutes) - Pond of Love
In this script, participants sit beside an imaginary pond that radiates love. Endless variations can be created by substituting different characteristics and virtues radiating from the pond. For instance, the pond may be full of peace, understanding, or forgiveness. You may also want to let participants choose the characteristics on their own. (8 minutes) - Inner Smile
This gentle relaxation exercise has its roots in Zen meditation and will leave participants feeling inner harmony and happiness. (10 minutes) - Thoughts Library
This script can help participants control wandering, stressful, distracting thoughts by having them exchange these thoughts for relaxing ones. Participants visualize putting away unwanted thoughts in a book with vinyl see-through pages and then opening up another imaginary book to experience a relaxing and beautiful ocean scene. (15 minutes)
Personal Growth
Many people find it hard to make decisions, and many others find it difficult to make positive lifestyle changes. If this is true for you or your clients, try out these guided visualizations. Give your body and mind the chance to work for you instead of against you.
Read Creative Visualization and Living in the Light by Shakti Gawain for a description of the principles used in these scripts.
As always, be certain to use a relaxation script whenever advised to do so, and feel free to modify these scripts to fit your situation.
- Visualizing Change
In this script, participants spend time exploring and visualizing a desired behavioral change to enhance the change process. (10 minutes) - Stop Smoking Relaxation Exercise
This script is intended to be used in conjunction with a smoking cessation program or a strategies for quitting program. It begins with a passive progressive muscle relaxation exercise to put participants at ease then offers positive suggestions on becoming smoke-free. (18 minutes) - Imagery to Increase Basal Metabolic Rate (Learning Script)
This and the following imagery script focus on weight control by having participants imagine increasing their basal metabolic rates (BMR), which stands for the number of calories burned at rest. (12 minutes) - Imagery to Increase Basal Metabolic Rate (Shorter Script)
This script should be used after participants have gone through the preceding script several times. (8 minutes) - Peace for People Experiencing Grief
This gentle and loving script helps people deal with their grief by guiding them to a special place full of beauty and healing energy. In this place, the grief and pain surrounding loss begins to be soothed and relieved. (25 minutes) - On Being a Wellness Professional
This guided visualization helps participants discover a career path to follow that is in keeping with their inner talents and interests. Although it is written with a focus on professionals in the field of wellness, it can be adapted for almost any profession. (15 minutes)
Enjoy and benefit from over 30 scripts for learning and leading guided relaxation and imagery techniques. Volume 2. CLICK on the blue title link above to find out more...
Enjoy and benefit from over 30 scripts for learning and leading guided relaxation and imagery techniques. Volume 2. CLICK the green title link to find out more...
Mind Body Mastery
What is the Mind-Body Connection?
The mind-body connection recognizes the reality that the mind and body are intimately and ultimately linked as one. There is absolutely no separation. What is thought or felt always resonates throughout the body moment by moment
through a bio-chemical reaction. This reaction is either life and health enhancing or defeating. It has also been verified that each emotion has a distinct biochemical signature that affects mental and physical health.
Researchers report that meditation, controlled breathing, deep relaxation and directed, guided imagery can boost the immune system, alter blood pressure, decrease pain, and help with problems such as infertility and insomnia. These practices often help people cope with and recover from unpleasant medical procedures as well as the effects of stress from daily living. Furthermore, the refinement of consciousness that takes place leads to spiritual growth and maturity.
Positive aspects of this connection consist of and contribute to:
- The ability to accomplish dreams and goals
- Feelings of contentment
- Living in balance
- Physical, emotional, and mental well-being
- Awakening the spirit
- Finding peace and happiness
On the other hand, the mind-body connection can also:
- Undermine one’s health physically, mentally and emotionally
- Create negativity
- Block the flow of creative and healing energy
- Contribute to illness, injuries and disease
- Cause unhappiness and dissatisfaction
Transformational tools that activate and assist this process include:
- Focused breathing
- Guided imagery and creative visualization
- Meditation
- Mind-body fitness modalities like yoga and tai chi
- Affirmations
- Honest expression and congruence of thoughts, feelings and actions
Mind-Body-Spirit Tools
- Take a 2 Hour Power Nap in 10 Minutes
It’s easy and effective. Don’t wait! Take a power nap. It’s only a click away. - Crown Pull
Stimulates blood flow to your brain. Reduces mental congestion. Helps overcome insomnia. Strengthens memory. Opens the crown chakra to higher inspiration. - 3 Thumps
Stimulates your energy, boost your immune system, and release stress, relieve pain.
Take a 2-hour Power Nap in 10 minutes
Trouble sleeping? Insomnia is at epidemic proportions and has dreadful consequences. A few problems associated with inadequate sleep include feeling irritable, exhausted, lowered immunity, poor mental / emotional health, and heart disease.
Relaxing regularly and deeply is the perfect remedy to conquer stress. The World Health Organization predicts that stress-related disorders and psychological disorders will be the second leading cause of disabilities in the world by 2020.
Guided Relaxation is another tool for your stress relief toolbox. The secret to gaining relaxed energy is to clear away the mental ruckus and emotional debris to make room for clear thinking.
One of the easiest ways of doing this is through relaxing the muscular tension held in the body by tensing and releasing muscle groups throughout your body using a reliable technique known as progressive muscular relaxation. Doing so not only releases physical tension, it also teaches you the felt difference between tension and relaxation.
By knowing this, you can catch physical tension early on and before it causes painful headaches, back problems and digestive trouble. A calming effect for the body, mind, emotions and spirit is awakened as well.
→ Listen to Take 10 free of charge. It’s an excerpt from the Power Napper eBook by Julie Lusk that includes relaxing and refreshing exercises.
Take a FREE 2-Hour Nap in 10 Minutes Now.
Click on the Picture.
PS. Benefit from the 2-Hour Nap in 10 minutes often by coming back to this website again and again.
PPS.
Power Napper - Instant PDF Download!
Enjoy relaxation like you've never felt before. Guaranteed!
Learn to take a 2-hour nap in 10-minutes! Audio file included!
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PPPS. Explore more mind-body exercises in Julie Lusk’s books and CDs, featuring deep relaxation and yoga nidra, guided imagery, and meditation.
Crown Pull
Stimulates blood flow to your head. Reduces mental congestion. Helps overcome insomnia. Strengthens memory. Opens the crown chakra to higher inspiration.
o Start with your thumbs on your temples with fingertips resting at the middle of your forehead.
o Apply pressure and slowly pull your fingers apart, stretching the skin. Breathe deeply, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Repeat if it feels good.
o Place your fingertips at your hairline and repeat the stretch.
o Repeat this pattern starting at the top, center, and back of your head. Continue until you reach the base of your neck.
3 Thumps
Stimulates your energies, boosts immune system, and releases stress. Relieves pain.
- Place the fingers of either or both hands in the center of your sternum at the thymus gland. Tap for 15 – 20 seconds. Use your thumb and all your fingers. As you tap, breathe slowly and deeply in through your nose with your tongue at the roof of your mouth and out through your mouth.
- Tap or rub the neuro-lymphatic spleen points firmly for about 15 seconds. They are beneath the nipples of the breasts and down one rib.
- Tap or rub the spleen acupuncture points located on the sides of the body about 4 inches below the armpits. As you tap, breathe slowly and deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- In the future, use either the neuro-lymphatic spleen points or the spleen acupuncture points if one set is more tender than the other.
Get more info on the Mind-Body Connection
Power Napper - Instant PDF Download!
Enjoy relaxation like you've never felt before. Guaranteed!
Learn to take a 2-hour nap in 10-minutes! Audio file included!
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