• About Us
  • Blogs & Vlogs
  • Newsletters
  • The Purple Tent
  • Contact Us
  • Log In/Register
  • Patrons
Global Women Connected
  • Women’s Health
    • Puberty
    • Menstrual Cycle
    • Female Disorders
      • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
      • Endometriosis
      • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
      • Pelvic organ prolapse
      • Fibroids
      • Ovarian Cysts
      • Urinary Incontinence
    • Cancer
      • Symptoms
      • Preventation
      • Breast
      • Cervical
      • Ovarian
    • Menopause
  • Sex
    • Sex introduction
      • Sex Education Guide For Parents
      • Masturbation & Orgasms
      • Sex During & After Pregnancy
      • Sex In Older Age
      • Porn
    • Contraception
      • Condoms
      • Pill
      • Implant/injection
      • Patch/ring
      • IUD
      • Diaphragm/cap
      • Permanent
      • Natural
      • Emergency
      • Young adults
      • 40s and 50s
    • Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  • Pregnancy
    • Preconception Care
    • Tests During Pregnancy
    • Birth
    • Teenage Pregnancy
    • Ectopic Pregnancy
    • Miscarriages
    • Termination Of Pregnancy
    • Maternal Mortality
    • Cancer During Pregnancy
    • Value Of Female Children
  • Wellbeing
    • Energy Management
    • Exercise
    • Sleep
    • Burnout
    • Body Image
    • Eating Disorders
    • Plastic / Cosmetic Surgery

Mindfulness week 3: Movement, breathing and problem solving

Author: Professor Joyce Harper

4 years ago 0
Share this:

screen-shot-2016-11-16-at-06-43-40During week 3 we thought about everyday things that we do on automatic pilot, such as movement, walking and breathing!

We discussed how much exercise we do. Some of the women did no exercise but others did quite a bit.  Exercise increases our endorphins and makes us feel great.  See my blog on exercise.

We started the class with some simple arm lifts and bends, becoming very aware of how our body felt.  How often do you stretch or even just touch your toes?  If you want some simple stretching – visit the many yoga videos from Adriene on YouTube – here is a 20 minute stretch.

We walk around every day but when do you think about what you are doing and how it feels? We walked slowly around the room, in both directions, and became very aware of how we walked and how it felt. For our homework we were encouraged to go for a mindfulness walk – a slow walk with the purpose of being in the moment.

We also discussed how we feel when we wake up in the morning. I think it is a really good plan to lay in bed for a few minutes and relax. Do some deep breathing and gentle stretches. And enjoy the waking-up moment. If we wake up worrying about things, we need to figure out how we can solve the problem(s) so our mind is clear.  We will have a better sleep if we are not worrying.

We talked about what we do when we have a problem. If I have a problem, I do not try and solve it straight away – I push it to the back of my mind and normally the answer will come in time. Usually this happens when I am not thinking about the problem. I will wake up one morning and the problem will be solved or the solution comes to me when I am running.   If we spend too much time trying to solve a problem right away, this can lead us to a negative place where we start to worry, get stressed and it can affect our sleep. We do not need to solve problems immediately. We can step back and let it happen in its own time.

We finished with a short meditation focusing on our breathing.

We usually breathe on auto pilot but it is lovely to think about our breathing and how it is making us feel. Many of us pull our stomachs in when we breath in and push our stomachs out when we breathe out but try it the other way around. When we breathe in we should be filling our body, expanding it with the air we are taking in.  Breathe into your diaphragm, and inhale in through your nose and out through your mouth.  You should take longer to exhale than inhale.  Here is a guide on breathing.

We were encouraged to try the three minute breathing space meditation.  There are many examples on line -here is a 3 minute breathing exercise – The Breathing Space by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  The stages of a breathing meditation are:

1) Awareness – bring yourself into the present moment by deliberately adopting an upright posture. If you can, close your eyes. Then ask – ‘What is my experience right now, in thoughts, in feelings and in bodily sensations?’. Acknowledge and register this experience, even if it isn’t one that you want.

2) Gathering – Redirect your attention to your breathing, to each in and out breath as they come. Your breath can work as an anchor to bring you into the present and help you become more aware.

3) Expanding – Expand your awareness so you get a sense of your body as a whole and stay like this as best you can for a minute or so”

Read More:  Global women – do you stretch?

 

 

 

0 0
Previous Post

Mindfulness week 2: Body scan and negative energy

Next Post

The Red Tent and the launch of Global Women’s Purple Tent

Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Menopause and your menstrual cycle

2 years ago 0
From puberty to the menopause, most of our lives will be governed by our monthly cycles of periods, ovulation and often premenstrual tension. After the menopause we are free of our menstrual...

Urinary incontinence in women – do not suffer in...

2 years ago 0
Urinary incontinence is the accidental leakage of urine. It affects up to 1 in 3 women at some point in their lives, although it is more common after the menopause due to lack of oestrogen,...
  • Recent
  • Popular
  • Comments

How Can Sexually Transmitted Infections Affect Fertility?

6 days ago 0

If You Do Not Want to Become Pregnant, How Do You Prevent It?

2 weeks ago 0

Everything you should know about sex

3 weeks ago 0

Your Fertile Years; what you need to know to make informed choices

3 weeks ago 0

Race and reproduction

3 weeks ago 0

What is in a tampon?

5 years ago 6

Sometimes I get lonely…

5 years ago 6

Do not believe everything you read

5 years ago 6

The Babypod

5 years ago 5

How many women breast feed?

5 years ago 4

Newsletter Sign-up

Twitter Feed

  • Listen to @timspector and Caroline Ovadia talk about how your #microbiome can affect your own health and your baby'… https://t.co/hmtdlxMpjh
    April 25th, 2018
  • Join @DrAndyChilds and @davide_danovi to talk about #eggs, #infertility and #stemcells at @pintofscience and be in… https://t.co/GoNIIc2EVz
    April 19th, 2018
  • RT @DrHelenONeill: More communication between clinicians and scientists is essential in this #genomic era. Thanks for the invite to be inte…
    March 15th, 2018

Instagram Feed

Load More…Follow on Instagram

Disclaimer

On all of our platforms, Global Women Connected does not provide professional medical advice. For any health issues, please contact your health care provider. All comments and discussions are provided by any person registered with Global Women Connected. Global Women Connected does not accept responsibility for any advice given and the advice given may not be the views of the staff of Global Women Connected.
© Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.