In a nutshell:

• Meditation alleviate stress and anxiety;
• It makes you less prone to automatic thoughts and negative thoughts;
• It makes you resilient to stress by increasing your awareness and better mentally balanced;
• It improves your physical health in many aspects;

You are overwhelmed. There is too much to do. You feel that your mind is always on. Like many chronically stressed women, you do not know what to do to put an end to this. There is an effective, free, and easy solution to your problem though: it is meditation.

You might be unsure of how to meditate, or maybe you tried it once and it did not work well. You feel a bit confused and fear that you are not good at it. Start to meditate just for a few minutes every day. Then, as you become more proficient, you can extend the time you practice from a few minutes to 30 minutes per day and beyond.

Another misconception when you start practicing meditation is that you might think that you are not doing it correctly because you cannot stop your mind. Meditation is not about stopping thoughts. It is about being aware of your mind drifting away and gently bringing it back to the present moment.

To have a pleasant and fruitful experience, start by sitting on a chair, or sofa, and have your spine well supported. Set a timer to 5 minutes. It is enough to begin. Close your eyes and choose to focus on your breath, on a mantra, a sound, or body sensations. Your mind will wander and it is normal. You just have to bring your attention back to the meditation. At the end of the meditation, open your eyes slowly and reconnect with the world.

To find instant calm, use box breathing. Inhale in 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold 4, and repeat 4 cycles. Or use the 4, 7, 8 method. Inhale in 4, hold 7, exhale in 8. The longer time you take to exhale, the more calming the effect.

The challenge is sometimes to make a habit of meditating. Here are some tips to increase consistency: baby steps (start with 5 minutes); pair it with a routine (when you get up, after your cup of coffee,…); use a visual cue or an app as reminder; use a habit tracker; never skip twice in a row.

Remember one thing: it is important to be consistent. It is better to meditate 5 minutes every day than 1 hour per week. You should also keep in mind that the results are not immediate and that they might vary from person to person. That is the reason why, at the beginning, it might be easier to use guided meditations.

Meditation really works because it puts your nervous system in parasympathetic mode, i.e. in rest mode where your body can heal and repair.

In addition to reducing stress (1) and anxiety (2) (3), neuroimaging studies show that meditation lowers feelings of isolation and encourage social contacts. (4) It also makes you less prone to negative thoughts. (5)

Physiological benefits have also been established by a meta study that showed that cortisol, C-reactive protein (levels of inflammation), heart rate, triglycerides, and tumor necrosis factor - alpha (inflammation) were reduced. (1) Furthermore, It improves sleep quality by calming racing thoughts (7).

Similarly, it alters the way you respond to outside aggression. You take it more philosophically because you have become more resilient. (6) This is exemplified in episodes of road rage. Instead of reacting, you let it go.

Meditation works because it enhances awareness of body sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Hence, people can realize that they are stressed much earlier than before and adapt their responses. This occurs because of changes in inflammatory and stress signaling.

Meditation is really a practice that can change your reactivity to stress. The sooner you start, the quicker you will find relief. If you are ready to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and sugar blood levels, lose weight, and build emotional resilience through simple daily practices like meditation, I can guide you step by step. Book a free Stress Reset Session with me and let’s create a plan that fits your life.

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28863392/
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24107199/
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3772979/
4. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6397548/
5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4178287/
6. Haidt, Jonathan, The Happiness Hypothesis, Basic Books, 2006
7. https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article-abstract/37/9/1553/2416992?redirectedFrom=fulltext