Sea to Sky Fitness
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Meet Nikki
    • Pelacore Training
  • Fitness
    • Personal Training
    • Pre and Post Natal Personal Training
    • Prepare to Push Workshops
    • Babes 'n Bellies Bootcamp
    • 8-Week Workout Plan
    • Aqua Mat/Fit Mat Instructor Training
  • Stand Up Paddle
    • Paddleboard Certifications
  • Media
    • Mom Babes book, V2
    • Blog
    • Publish to our blog
    • Recipes
  • Contact
    • Subscribe to our mailing list
    • Partners
  • SHOP

Four tips to prevent falling asleep during meditation

7/28/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Most people who know me well know that I have a propensity for narcolepsy. I love my beauty sleep and generally I fall asleep pretty easily...a little too easily sometimes. (There may or may not be a photo of me asleep on a fork while eating poutine late at night in my teenage years.) Somewhat sad, but true, and kind of hilarious.

Nevertheless, it turns out that falling asleep while meditating is a common problem (not just mine). While one of the objectives of meditation is to calm and focus the mind, it is not to fall asleep. Meditation should happen when we are awake.

Wendy from thecalmmonkey.com says that falling asleep in meditation can happen for a few reasons: being tired or actually resisting meditation (an unconscious psychological reaction). Here are four tips from Wendy on how to prevent falling asleep while meditating:

1) T
ry keeping your eyes very slightly open and keeping a soft gaze.
2) Sit tall, with a nice long neutral spine.
3) Use a guided meditation to stay focused (a recording).
4) Try moving meditations like a walking meditation, yoga or tai chi.


Tips and tricks for other common meditation problems

For many of us who have busy brains, meditation is a great too help calm the mind, especially before bed. By the same token, a busy mind can also keep us from focusing and experiencing good meditations.

For those of us with a busy brain, she suggests beginning each meditation by imagining that there is an empty box next to you, placing all thoughts in the box next to you; ready for you when you finish your meditation practice.

Similarly, thinking of thoughts that come through your mind as visitors, just noticing them, and then allowing the to leave, can be a useful tool a well.

Noise can also be a hindrance to meditation. Wendy suggests using earplugs, which can allow you to experience a whole different meditation experience. If the noise is unavoidable or you don't want to wear earplugs, simply acknowledge it is there, and then let it go away.

Lastly, feeling uncomfortable in a seated position can be a challenge to new meditation practitioners, but Wendy ensures us that it is ok to move and re-adjust while meditating.

In the meantime, here is a great mantra for those of us with busy brains and busy bodies (myself included). It comes from a fellow yogi, who says y
ou have to slow down to find that childlike joy in just being and playing:

"Slow down, kids at play."

-Nikki

0 Comments

Meditating is not just for monks and hippies

7/13/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture

Meditation is one of those words that scares people a little. It evokes thoughts of chanting (heaven forbid) and conjures images of tree-hugging, crunchy-granola, hippy-dippy types sitting around cross-legged, swaying in the breeze (kind of like this picture, right?)!

 There is something about the idea, at least in the recent past, that somehow hasn't always jived with mainstream, western societies.

But lately it is almost hard to pick up a newspaper and read a recent report without reading about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness.

I must admit, while my yoga practice is my own moving meditation, I don't carve time out of my day to purposefully
meditate. So being the eternal student that I am, I decided to take a short course through UBC Health Promotion on learning to meditate.

The course is taught by Wendy Quan at The Calm Monkey, a really inspiring woman who has now taught thousands of people to meditate over the last ten years. Her years of teaching and her own research have shown that meditation can increase "personal resiliency", which she describes as one's own ability to bounce back from difficult situations, and allow things to easily bounce off of oneself.

Wendy's demeanour, needless to say, is calm, collected and soothing - I suppose only to be expected from a teacher of meditation.

"When you are the most stressed out," she says, "that's when you should be meditating the most."

Words from the wise.

So for all of you type As out there whose brains are buzzing and you're thinking, "I don't have time to read about meditation," I know where you are coming from... because I am one of them.

So I will cut to the chase. My homework for this class is to meditate for at least 5 minutes a day for the duration of this course over the next four weeks.

Interested in joining me?

Here is the quick and dirty of what I learned about meditation to get started:


  • Mindfulness and meditation are often uttered in the same breath, but they are different from another, although complementary. While meditation is about purposefully carving out time to meditate using various techniques, mindfulness is about practicing being present in the moment.
  • By being mindful, we are able to enjoy the moment, and enjoy our life experiences more fully by not worrying about our future vacation plans or ruminating over an argument we had yesterday.
  • Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not about having an empty or a "blank" mind. Rather it is about learning to focus the mind, noticing when our thoughts wander, and then coming back to our initial focus.
  • When we notice our thoughts wandering, we become more self-aware. When we are self-aware we are more able to change our thoughts about something. Remember that time you manufactured that story in your mind about how your friends were talking *hit about you behind your back the other day? You know what I am talking about. When we notice the stories we manufacture in our own minds, we are able to change them. I particularly like this quote:

    "Don't assume motive, assume positive intention."

And here is the very basic on how to meditate:

  • Start by downloading a meditation timing app. Wendy suggested Insight Timer. This will allow you to set a timer for the duration of your meditation.
  • Find a cushion to sit on and ensure your knees are at the same height as, or lower than, your hips. If you don't have a cushion, you can also sit in a chair, feet flat on the ground. 
  • If you sit cross-legged, try not to stack your ankles which can cut off circulation.
  • There are countless props you can use, including a meditation bench, which I think I will try.
  • Relax and roll your shoulder blades down your back, Close your eyes.
  • Start a simple meditation by focusing on your breath, without breathing differently than you normally would.
  • You can listen to some free, simple meditation recordings by visiting Wendy's website here.

Lastly, here are some final meditation tips from Wendy:

  • "Attitude is everything."
  • Have no expectations.
  • Hold no judgements or negative self-talk.
  • Be an observer.
  • Bring a beginner's mind, let go of the ego.
  • Don't expect a "blank mind" but notice the moments when your mind wanders. Your job is to re-focus gently.
  • Be patient, give it time, and allow rather than try.

Finally, here is an example of how NOT to meditate below. This was me, a couple of years ago, attempting a mystical meditation in Hawaii. Although the view is alright, my knees are above my hips, and my ankles are stacked. #meditationfail
Picture

Now that you know what to do, keep calm and and meditate on.

Namaste, 

- Nikki
2 Comments

    Author

    Nikki Johnston Beaudoin is an outdoorsy Mountain Mermaid, and the Founder of Sea to Sky Fitness.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Alternatives To Pasta
    At Home Workout
    Bootcamp
    Breakfast Recipe
    Bride
    Christmas
    Detox
    Events
    Fitness
    Group Fitness
    Health And Wellness
    HIIT
    Hiking
    Meal Prep
    Meditation
    Nik's Quick Nutrition Tips
    Nutrition
    Paddleboard Sale
    Post-natal Fitness
    Post-natal Personal Training
    Post-Partum
    Pregnancy
    Pre-natal Fitness
    Pre-natal Personal Training
    Recipes
    Salad
    Sea To Sky Fitness
    Stand Up Paddle
    Stay Active On Vacation
    SUP
    SUP Fitness
    SUP Yoga
    Yoga

Services

Pre and Post Natal Fitness
​Prepare to Push Workshops
​Personal Training

Aqua Mat Teacher Trainings
​Paddleboard Certifications



Sea to Sky FITNESS

About
Blog
Paiwen Paddleboards

​


Subscribe to our mailing list

Be the first to find out about upcoming workshops, fitness classes, teacher trainings and outdoor fitness events !

* indicates required
© 2020 Sea to Sky Fitness | sup@seatoskyfit.com  | 604-770-2006
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Meet Nikki
    • Pelacore Training
  • Fitness
    • Personal Training
    • Pre and Post Natal Personal Training
    • Prepare to Push Workshops
    • Babes 'n Bellies Bootcamp
    • 8-Week Workout Plan
    • Aqua Mat/Fit Mat Instructor Training
  • Stand Up Paddle
    • Paddleboard Certifications
  • Media
    • Mom Babes book, V2
    • Blog
    • Publish to our blog
    • Recipes
  • Contact
    • Subscribe to our mailing list
    • Partners
  • SHOP