The Life Changing Habit of Meditation

Meditation has been apart of my daily routine for years now and I have to say that this has been one of the best habits I ever adapted into my life. This practice allows you to pause and become centered. It has truly changed my life for the better and had gotten me through some of the hardest times in my life. Meditation has so many amazing benefits on your mental and physical health, and before I share my favorite types of meditations I will share some of the benefits of meditation. But before I jump into it I would love it if you subscribed to my blog to get email updates every time I post, and follow me on Instagram @GutsyFeeling to get more updates from me on my day to day life.


1. Lowers Stress 
Meditation reduces your stress which lowers the cortisol levels in your body. This is excellent because cortisol causes inflammation in your body, which is never something we want in excess.

2. Promotes Greater Emotional Health
Meditation promotes greater emotional health in the body. Meditation is an act of self love and so through time a meditation practice can help you perform more acts of self love and grow your confidence.

3. Increase Concentration Levels
Regular meditation practice lengthens your attention span overtime. This is because, meditation requires a lot of concentration and so overtime studies have shown thatmeditation improved brain fog and concentration.

4. Decreases Anxiety & Depression
Meditation decreases anxiety and depression with normal practice. A larger study in 2,466 participants showed that a variety of different meditation strategies may reduce anxiety levels.  Another study shows that those who practice meditation daily show significant decreases in depression over a 3 year span.

5. Improve Sleep 
Meditation can also improve sleep and insomnia overtime. More than half the population struggles with sleep in one way or another, but studies have shown that people who meditate before bed can fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer.

6. Helps Control Pain
Your perception of pain is connected to your state of mind, and it can be elevated in stressful conditions. In multiple studies, they have seen that people who practice meditation have a lower sensitivity to pain.

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Overall meditation can do wonders on both your mental and physical health. I have multiple meditations that I perform based on the situation and time of day. I usually meditate twice a day, in the morning and at night before bed, but I will always meditate in the morning no matter what. I find that when I meditate in the morning it helps me to get centered for the day and set me intentions. Some of my favorite meditations are as followed.

Golden Light Meditation
This meditation is great to achieve full body awareness. While doing this meditation it is important to try to picture your body, almost like you are able to look at yourself from above.

1. Sit in a upright comfortable position, or lay on your back with a straight back.
2. Begin by deepening your breath, do at least 5 cycles of breath.
3. Start by picturing a golden orb of light in your stomach. Really focus on this idea, feel the pulsing of the golden orb, picture the colour, see it growing in your stomach to encompass your back. Take 3 long cycles of breathe before moving on.
4. Overtime this golden orb starts to grow, allow it to grow in size up to your chest and knees. Take 3 long cycles of breath.
5. The golden orb continues to grow reaching your neck and your ankles. Take 3 long cycles of breath.
6. The golden orb now fully encompasses your body and now you are completely immersed in the orb. Continue to picture yourself inside of this orb. Breathe deeply for at least 3 cycles of breath.
7. Continue to breathe deeply until you are ready to finish your practice.
8. Slowly wiggle your fingers and bat the eyelashes open.


Head to Toe Meditation
This meditation is great to relax your whole body. This is perfect for before bed or after exercising. With this meditation the key is to take it slow.

1. Sit in an upright comfortable position, or lay on your back with a straight back.
2. Begin by deepening your breath, do at least 5 cycles of breath.
3. Start by focusing on your head. You will repeat the following mantra in your head, or out loud for every major part of your body. “My head is relaxed, my head is relaxed, my head is completely relaxed”. It is important to also synchronize these words with the breath. For example your breathing pattern may look like this: “My head is relaxed (inhaling), my head is relaxed (exhaling), my head is completely (inhaling) relaxed (exhaling)”.
4. Repeat this same mantra and replace the body part as you move down the body. You can make this meditation as short or as long as you want based on the number of body parts you wish to include. It may include some or all of these: the head, eyes, lips, nose, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, hands, fingers, stomach, back, hips, legs, knees, calves, feet, toes. Make sure that your breath work is still in place as you move down the body.
5. Once you have made it to your feet, finish the practice with this mantra “My whole body is relaxed, my whole body is relaxed, my whole body is completely relaxed.
6. Continue to breathe deeply until you are ready to finish your practice.
7. Slowly wiggle your fingers and bat the eyelashes open.


Healing Through Visualization
This next meditation takes lots of practice but can be very beneficial for anyone who struggles with body confidence or chronic illness. I have been doing this mediation for years to promote positive feelings and healing vibes towards my intestines. Before you begin this mediation pick 1-3 areas of your body that you wish to focus on. I often selected my immune system and intestines.

1. Sit in an upright comfortable position, or lay on your back with a straight back.
2. Begin by deepening your breath, do at least 5 cycles of breath. 

• For Trust: I trust in the universe, I embrace my life, I love myself
• For Trust: The universe is for me and so is everything else
• For Strength: I am not a victim, I am a warrior
• For Self-confidence: I am strong, I am beautiful, I am enough
• For Self-love: I am the sky, everything else is just the weather
• For Fear: I am fulfilled, I am fearless
• For Gratitude: I am grateful for all I have and all that has yet to come