Meditation is a practice in which the focus is on breathing to gain mental or emotional clarity. It’s a strategy to help you achieve a relaxed state of being and move in the direction of achieving inner peace. Americans are soothing their senses and quieting their minds like never before. Studies have shown meditation can reduce blood pressure, stress, anxiety, and other medical conditions just as well as medication.
By learning to focus one’s breathing or attention on a specific thought or activity, meditation can produce a deep state of relaxation and enhance clarity and emotional well-being. This is thought to happen because several brain regions are known to be affected at once while in a meditative, and continuous breathing has been shown to increase air and blood flow throughout the body – calming one’s nerves, releasing toxins, and expanding lung tissue. Research has shown that meditation can also strengthen areas of the brain that are responsible for memory and, over time, may increase one’s cognition and attention span. Meditation can also help you build your patience, quiet the mind, feel more grounded, and live in the present moment. Join us on Fridays at 1:00pm at the Countryside Community Center for our new Meditation session. The Meditation sessions will be guided by Ed Valentin focusing on breath and healing.
Check back each month for Ed’s new feature article on the TOI website.
For more information about the Mediation sessions, call (607) 687-4120 ext. 335.
