Start With Short Sessions

It’s easy to get thrown off by the idea that you need to meditate for an hour to gain any benefit, however this is simply not true. You can experience significant benefits just by meditating for five minutes a day and you’ll probably find it a lot easier to meditate for a short amount of time to begin with.

Be Comfortable

Wherever you choose to meditate make sure it is a place that is comfortable for you. For most people this means a warm temperature and soft flooring. The way you hold your body is also important. You don’t have to sit in the lotus position if you don’t want to but that is a great posture for a beginner to meditation. You can sit however you want though, although it is recommended that you keep your back as straight as possible.

The clothes you wear can also make a difference. The best type of clothes for meditating are loose, soft and comfortable.

Breathe Slowly and Deeply

Meditation is all about focusing the mind on one thing. The easiest thing to focus on is your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply through your nose and focus on how their air feels as it enters and then leaves your body.

Don’t Worry

One of the aims of meditation is to reduce conscious thought. However it is common, especially for beginners, to find conscious thoughts entering the mind while they’re trying to meditate. If this happens, don’t worry, your session is far from ruined. Just allow the thought to flow in and out of the mind.

Create a Routine

Meditation is most effective when it is done regularly. It is better to meditate for five minutes everyday than for an hour once a month. Find a window of time that you can use everyday and use it to meditate. You could also create a routine around this time. For example you may want to have a nice warm bath before you meditate to loosen your muscles and then perhaps read a book or listen to relaxing music for awhile afterwards.

I hope these tips will help you to enjoy meditation and all the benefits it offers.

There are actually hundreds of different forms of tai chi but the most popular ones are Chen, Yang, Wu, Sun and Wu-Hao and Fa styles. While most tai chi is slow paced there are variants that are much faster paced although these are typically only taught and practiced by masters of the slower forms.

The best way to learn tai chi is to scout your local area for classes. Almost all martial arts dojos will run a tai chi class, as do many community buildings. Tai chi is one of the most affordable martial arts to learn as there’s no special equipment required, all you need is to pay for entry into the class and that’s it. It’s best to wear loose fitting clothing to allow for full range of motion and circulation. Also tai chi is typically practiced barefoot or wearing flat soled shoes to enhance balance.

There’s no official accreditation system for tai chi teachers, however as I mentioned above, teaching tai chi is hardly a get quick rich scheme and I can’t imagine there are many, if any, teachers out there who don’t have a good knowledge of tai chi and are just looking to make an easy buck. Also because of the respect people have for martial arts, a dojo won’t employ a teacher they don’t have full confidence in.

Much like meditation, tai chi is something that is best done at least once a day. When you enroll in a class it will probably be run only once or twice a week. This leaves the rest of the week for you to practice what you have learned so far. Preferences vary, but many people like to practice tai chi in the morning as it is a gentle exercise that gets the blood flowing, and gives them a reason to wake up early.

Do remember that tai chi is a martial art and was originally used as a form of combat. Please treat it with the respect its tradition deserves, failure to do so could offend the teacher.

You can follow the tai chi exercises in the video below to get a good idea of what tai chi is, and if it feels right to you.

The idea is to wake up early and get more things done in the morning, while the rest of the world is still asleep, leaving less for you to do in the evenings when you’re tired. Think about how many times you think “I’ll do that later” and then forgot about until the next day. These small tasks build and build until they become a cause for stress and anxiety.

While no-one expects you to wake up at 4am every morning even if you wake up just one hour earlier that is a full hour to get jobs done where you will have little to no other distractions.

Some people find it hard to change their sleep patterns and this is understandable, as they are the result of years of routine…or non-routine in some cases. So how do you change your internal clock so that you can wake up earlier?

Well there are a number of techniques that can be helpful but the most important and obvious one is that to wake up early you also need to go to bed earlier. This may sound counter-productive in some ways since the idea of waking up earlier is to get more things done, however the vast majority of people are at their most productive shortly after they’ve woken up and then decline gradually as the day goes by. Waking up early gives you an extra hour or so before you have to go to work to get things done around the house, or even get a head start on work you have to hand in to the boss. Imagine how impressed they’d be with you handing in your assignment at 9:00 am whenever they give you a project. That’s the type of impression that can lead to promotions and pay rises!

Besides going to be earlier there are many other ways to help yourself wake up earlier. Most people have an alarm set for a specific time and while this is a good idea it can work even better if taken a step further. Try placing your alarm at the other side of your bedroom so that when it goes off you have to get up to switch it off. This makes it much more likely that you won’t just go straight back to sleep. Also have a glass of water next to your bed so that you can have a drink as soon as you wake up, this will hydrate and energize your body immediately.

You should also relax as much as possible before you go to sleep at night. A long soak in the bath and a book will help you to unwind and this in turn will allow you to enjoy a deeper, most restful sleep so that when you wake up you are ready to get up and get on with your day.

The biggest battle in waking up early though is the one with your mind. The alarm goes off at 6:00am and there’s an argument going on with one side saying “Come on! Time to get up!” while the other side is saying “Urghhh…let’s go back to sleep”.  One of the best ways to win this battle is with self hypnosis. You can program your mind and convince both sides that it is much more beneficial to wake up early in the morning. Our friends at HypnoBusters have a great session called Wake Up Early that will relax you before you go to bed and strengthen your desire to wake up early.

Remember, the more you get done early on, the more time you have to relax later on.

Retain your youthful looks.

So it’s clear that to stay looking young you need to relax and reduce your stress levels. If you follow the advice below your skin will noticeably improve and stay looking young.

1.  Sleep

Sleep helps to rejuvenate the body and mind, meaning everything functions better. This includes the health of your skin. Typically people require from six to eight hours sleep a night. If you struggle with your sleeping patterns you may want to look at another article – Ways To Sleep Better.

2.  Diet

Your skin needs the certain nutrients to keep its youthful appearance. To make sure you are getting these nutrients you should up your intake of fruit and vegetables while reducing the consumptions of salty or sugary foods. Omega fatty acids such as those found in fish are also incredibly beneficial to your skin so you should aim to try and eat at least two or three portions of oily fish a week.

3.  Exercise

Exercise is one of the cornerstones of any health regime. It even has a positive effect on your skin. Exercise has been shown to lower stress levels and is well known to give people a “healthy glow”. Just thirty minutes of walking a day will visibly improve your skin. One point of note though is that sweat contains salt, so after working up a sweat you should make sure to wash it off with warm water.

4.  Facial Massage

Treat yourself to a few bottles of massage oil. Every night you can gently massage the oil around your face (be careful around the eyes). This relaxes the facial muscles and stimulates blood flow.

5.  Relaxation Techniques

There are a number of relaxation techniques you can use to improve your skin and stay looking young. Perhaps the best of all the options is hypnotherapy. Not only does hypnotherapy relax you but you can get sessions specifically catered towards skincare. For example HypnoBusters have Sensation Skin Hypnosis and Hypnotic Botox MP3s that can work wonders. This can be listened at bedtime, they will also help you drift off to a deep, restful sleep.

Enjoy the relaxing aroma of lavender.

be used to aid someone’s health or mood. Now I don’t know from personal experience how well aromatherapy works directly in improving a person’s health. However I do know that it is a useful therapy in aiding relaxation, which indirectly does aid both physical and mental health.

Not only does lavender produce a relaxing aroma but it is also both antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. However before you use it in the manners I am about to suggest you should take care as lavender is an allergen, so start by using a small amount.

3 Ways of Relaxing With Aromatherapy

1. After a stressful day (and what day doesn’t contain stress?) take a nice, warm bath – complete with a few drops of essential oil. Not only will the warm water loosen any tension but the aromatherapy oils will also help to recharge you physically and mentally. Even after your bath you will be able to smell the oils on your body – relaxing you and relieving you of any stress.

2. If you have to drive often you are probably familiar with the stresses that driving brings. Gridlocked roads, inconsiderate drivers and a host of other problems can ruin any car journey. To combat this what you can do is dip a cotton wool ball in essential oil and place it near to an air condition vent. This will circulate the relaxing aroma all over the car and relieve any road rage you may be feeling. You will probably need to replace the cotton ball every two or three days.

3. Pour several drops of essential oil onto a tissue (or handkerchief). Carry it around with you, and whenever you begin to feel stress or tension build hold the tissue to your nose and take several deep breaths. Now you have your very own portable relaxation system!

As I mentioned earlier lavender is the most common aroma used for relaxation but if you aren’t keen on the smell or are allergic there are many other aromas you can use. Eucalyptus, lemon oil and peppermint are all commonly used to aid relaxation and are well worth trying.

Aromatherapy is a very affordable form of relaxation; a bottle of essential oil should only cost a few dollars and it will last you a good month or two is used sparingly. A number of websites sell essential oils, candles, vaporisers etc or if you have an alternative healing store in your local area drop in and you’ll be able to find everything you need.