The Christmas and New Year holidays can be a challenging time for some people and experiencing a pre-Christmas slump is a thing for some people. As we come to the end of another year it might feel like it is a sprint at the end of a marathon and there is just not that energy left to sustain you to the finish line. So I had begun to notice my own mental health and well-being had been neglected a little. I have been doing all the usual practices that sustain me, yoga, meditation, walking in nature and keeping my gratitude journal. I kept telling myself and others that I just need to get through the next few weeks to have a holiday from work and teaching. I work in the area of mental health prevention, so I told myself surely I would recognise if I was just feeling depressed or have depression?
As we come into spring I am starting to see more ‘challenges’ on social media, particularly ‘yoga challenges’. I am just not a fan of them so you won’t see me participating in one anytime soon. There is nothing inherently wrong with them and if they assist you to get started with yoga or meditation or back to a regular practice then no harm done. They say it takes 21 days to establish a new routine and maybe more like a few months to form a habit. But I just don’t feel the word challenge along with all its definitions really fits with the philosophy of yoga.
So maybe you have tried a few types of mindfulness or meditation based practice and enjoyed the benefits. Maybe they did not work for you? What makes Dru Meditation different from other styles of meditation?
Dru Meditation combines the ancient wisdom of the yogic tradition along with the science of meditation to make it relevant for our modern world. Dru is a kriya, or action based, style of meditation with a typical class starting with mindful movement, breath work and a deep relaxation before sitting for meditation in a chair or on the floor. Other styles of mindfulness and meditation may bring a sense of peacefulness however Dru Meditation has the potential to be transformational in your life.
I am a Dru Yoga teacher and thus teach meditation from the perspective of a yoga teacher. As I wrote in a previous blog post the eight limbs, or facets, of yoga include asanas (postures and sequences) and works towards dhyana (meditation). My view is that there is no separation of yoga and meditation, as it is all yoga. That said I will soon qualify as a Dru Meditation teacher and be eligible to join as a member of the Meditation Association of Australia separate to my membership to Yoga Australia. I also facilitate Mindfulness Works Australia 4 week “Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation” courses which approach meditation from a different and non-yogic way.
There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing. We take over 25,000 breaths in a day and in the last couple of days wearing a mask at work and other indoor public venues I have become even more aware of my breath. The last time I was wearing a mask I became very aware that I breathed through my mouth and not my nose more frequently than I thought. This motivated me to take a deep dive into the book “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” by James Nestor. I can highly recommend reading this book to any human being that breathes!
There are many definitions of mindfulness and meditation. There are also many and varied methods of mindfulness and meditation practices. Sometimes mindfulness and meditation are terms used interchangeably and in some ways they mean the same thing and in other ways they are quite different. There are “sound meditations” offered where participants lie down to be bathed by sounds. I would say these are more sound relaxations however some forms of conscious relaxation could become meditation. In fact practicing a progressive muscle relaxation and/or body scan done seated or lying down is a technique that combines the benefits of relaxation and meditation.
Goals are external achievements. Intentions are about your relationship with yourself and others.
As 2021 comes to an end it is a time for new beginnings, making plans and setting goals. Many of you will make or consider making New Year resolutions. As an alternative I invite you to consider focusing more on your core values and intentions rather than setting specific goals. Goal setting is still a very valuable practice particularly for the completion of tasks and they can motivate you. It is particularly helpful if you make those goals S.M.A.R.T – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. But setting large, unachievable goals can set you up for failure and this is why so many New Year’s resolutions are not fulfilled or not even started.
Many of us have had feelings of anxiety and this is normal however when these feelings persist, happen for no reason or impact our regular activities in life it may be the sign of an anxiety condition. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data in December 2018 that indicated that 13% or 3.2 million Australians had an anxiety-related condition, an increase from 11% in 2014-15. Data released in August 2020, as part of the ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, indicated that over two in five Australians reported feeling nervous (46 per cent); restless or fidgety (41 per cent) and that everything was an effort (41 per cent) at least some of the time in the previous four weeks. Beyond Blue states that anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia with 1 in 4 people likely to experience anxiety at some stage in their life.
“Once you’re facing in the right direction, all you need to do is put one foot forward.” – Zen saying
One of the causes I have chosen to support this year is the Black Dog Institute One Foot Forward walk for mental health in October. The mission of Black Dog Institute is Science. Compassion. Action. They are the only medical research institute in Australia to investigate mental health across the lifespan and their aim is to create a mentally healthier world for everyone. 1 in 5 of us will experience symptoms of mental illness in any given year. In Australia that’s around 5 million people. And roughly 60% of these people won’t seek help.
