Calming your mind!

meditationHow is your day or week going? Is it hectic, running from one place to the next, action item after action item, only to then come home and have to clean up the house, drive the kids around, attend a meeting, maybe squeeze a training session in, then off to bed?? Sound familiar, I bet it does. Our lives are in a constant state of motion and activity and our brains are being forced to keep up with this frenetic pace, but how can you work to calm your mind, so that your body and mind can recover, well it is through meditation. Now before you groan and say “all this mental stuff doesn’t work” or “I don’t have time”, or any other lame ass excuse you can come up with, let me just ask you do you have 7 minutes you can spare in the morning? If you say no, then get up earlier! But let me explain, I came across a short piece from Jennifer Heil, an Olympic Gold Medalist Freestyle skier, and she recommends that we take just “seven minutes each day to focus on your breath. Slowing down to six breaths per minute for seven minutes is enough to calm the nerves and allow our bodies to physically recover.”

So, as always I became a human guinea pig in a new experiment to bring my frantic mind into calmness in just seven minutes. I start by sitting on the floor legs crossed, arms in my lap, concentrating on slowing my breathing down until I am at 6 breaths/min of time. My mind is usually racing trying to plan the day, remember to work on the website, call a student back but each time a thought wonders in I force myself to sit and concentrate on my breathing. After my first week, I felt huge improvements on my ability to focus on a task and creativity started pouring in. A ninja, must be able to control his/her thoughts and emotions on short notice, and so I ask you can you spare 7 minutes of your day to work on calming your mind? If not why are you reading this post, go and get some practice time in!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu

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