The power of the breath
Sometime in your life you may have heard of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. To keep it simple and non-scientific the sympathetic nervous system is our fight or flight response. This part of the nervous system can induces stress, anxiety or states of depression. I think of it as never turning off the lights, electronics, and anything with power in the house. The parasympathetic nervous system on the other hand is our rest or digest system. When you meditate you are basically telling your body to relax or shift down to a lower gear like in a car or when you fall to sleep.
The objective of this post, is to show you as the reader how to do a quick meditation in order to relax your parasympathetic nervous system. Your focus is on your breath not any external influences. This easy meditation will teach you how to relieve stress in your body by consciously listening to yourself breath in and out. Most people I’ve encountered tell me that they can’t meditate because they can’t quiet their mind, or they don’t have enough time to commit to it, or they need to be more active and meditation is too slow for them. The purpose of meditation is to connect with your mind, body and spirit and by doing this you have to tune everything else out. Meditation slows your mind down relieving stress a major cause of anxiety and depression, which can lead to other forms of disease within the body. Meditation teaches you to listen to what your body needs amounts other things.
Do you suffer from constant neck and upper back pain at work or in the comfort of your home? This blog targets people who do office work, but is beneficial for anyone who may have muscular issues in the areas as depicted in the pictures provided to the right. I have suffered with these symptoms, both after a car accident and when I had a sedentary job in an office. As a massage therapist, I see many clients with upper back pain ranging from, thoracic outlet and carpal tunnel syndrome, shooting pains, numbness and tingling in the arm, as well as pain in the upper chest. These symptoms may be caused by anything from tense shortened muscles, subtle changes in the joints, to impinged nerves. 