TONew year, new life, goes the old adage. Starting over (and letting go of 2022) means letting go of what no longer works. There is a precise art that allows you to free yourself from mental and behavioral schemes, from affective automatisms, dto devaluing patterns or attachments that we can dissolve with gentle awareness. It’s called meditation.
Even just 20 minutes a day is enough to practice meditation
The benefits of meditation
Meditation gives more energy to the body, reduces blood pressure and reduces the sensation of pain. It lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol, resulting in a reduction of the inflammatory layers. Tens of hundreds of researches have found that meditating even just 20 minutes a day for a couple of weeks is already enough to start experiencing the benefits of this practice. There are numerous techniques available.
Recent data from the Ipsos annual survey have found that the number of Italians who take care of their mental well-being is growing: a figure that reaches 55% this year, up by 4 points compared to 2021.
Let go of past patterns
One of the biggest problems in the modern world is definitely stress. That load of anxiety and frustration that keeps us nailed to the mind, without having the chance to let go and embrace the heart. But changing the quality of working, emotional or family life is possible. Just finally put some oldies in place ‘good intentions’. The first, essential step is to let go of what blocks you in the patterns of the past.
A 2023 full of promises
What if 2023 was finally the year to start a new journey? «At the beginning of the new year the wheel of change receives strong impulses from cosmic energy flows: the forces of the whole move in specific directions which, just as they condition the earth, nature and the animal world, also act within us, preparing us to renew our lives» explains mindfulness teacher Grazia Pallagrosi which on January 8 organizes its own a day of face-to-face meditation from 10 to 17 on the art of letting go a Cascina delle mele, in via Cascina S.Antonio, 1, in Vittuone, thirty minutes from the center of Milan (click for info). “It is a moment of awareness to build the year that awaits us in a truly new way”.
Meditation = awareness, freedom, joy
Awareness, freedom and joy are the three qualities that make life worth living, continues Pallagrosi who also promotes an online group meditation course: there is no freedom without awareness e there can be no stable happiness if you are not free from negative emotions, from disabling and boycotting thoughts, from internal and external conditioning. “Free to think for yourself and to decide how to live by honoring yourself and your authenticity”.
Breath awakening = Breathe first (online)
Breathing is, of course, the foundation of any path of awareness. Because of this life and energy coach Elena Garbo promotes for the day on Saturday 14 January an online breath awakening session.
“Conscious breathing creates consistency between the electromagnetic field of our heart and that of our brain, which translated and measured in Hertz means: pass through low frequencies such as fear (0.2 to 2.2Hz) and anger (0.9 to 6.8Hz) that create us discomfort, conflict and disease ad high frequencies (such as gratitude: 150 hertz) that create well-being, joy and balance».
The session takes place in group via Zoom. Group work allows the conscious breath to create a flow of energy that passes through the body and creates ecstatic states of magnetism and therefore attraction, vision, strength and physical improvements. For info: [email protected].
Vivi365 is the training course for each month of the year
You can build your own happiness. Day by day, training with simple and effective daily practices which help to create well-being habits lasting a year, changing one’s lifestyle step by step, in an attitude of prevention and cure. This is the idea, but also the promise, of Lara Lucaccioni, Laughter Yoga trainer and Cardiac Coherence, and of Matteo Ficara, philosopher, CHO (Chief Happiness Officer)futurist and writer, founders of the innovative start-up “Happiness for Future”.
For 2023 they have created Vivi365, a journey in monthly stages through the philosophy of the gentle “+1”, to be applied, according to a single monthly theme, on 4 levels: physical (red), emotional (orange), mental (blue) and spiritual (purple) well-being. A true gym of the “Happy Species”, to create more awareness with minimal effort: 15 minutes a day through videos and live and online meetings.
The path is based on HEART, the model for the construction of Happiness, developed by Lucaccioni and Ficara and based on the following components: H as Happiness and Habits; And how EnergyEmpowerment, Engagement; To how AwarenessCompliment; R as Relationships and Resilience; T like Thrive. The goal of Happiness for Future is precisely to build Happiness and Futuresfor individuals and organizations, intended as Wellness and Awareness, through the production of culture and training, with paths and experiences accessible to all.
The Petit Bambou App proposes “the Rush Cycle”
Finally, Petit BamBou is a mindfulness meditation application in French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch with which more than 8 million people are already meditating. It offers more than 600 programs guides on different topics: stress, anxiety, sleep, relationships, work, motherhood, as well as how-to videos that guide users through the key principles of meditation.
To accept the changing nature of life and its complications in a serene way, Petit BamBou has developed a specific mindfulness meditation program for the new year: ‘The Cycle of the Rush’. The name of the program as a metaphor for life: we can in fact be like the rush, which bends but does not break and returns to occupy its place after the storm.
The program, available from December 19, is accompanied by the voice guide of Maria Beatrice Toropsychologist and psychotherapist, and edited by Nicolas Engelsteincertified MBSR instructor by the Institute for Mindfulness-based Approaches (IMA).
Consisting of 12 sessions, the practices of the ‘Ciclo del Giunco’ help stabilize attention, observe and welcome experiences without judgment, to recognize and accept the transience of things. The exercises represent a valid aid in dealing with changes, returning to find balance, just like the rush.
Meditate with the book of the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, the “happiest man in the world”
Ubiliber publishes a small anthology of the most beautiful texts of Tibetan Buddhism translated and commented by “the happiest man in the world” Matthieu Ricard, Like a drop of honey.
Known around the world for his speeches on happiness and altruism, Ricard offers a selection of texts discovered during his spiritual journey in the forty years spent with Tibetan masters.
«This anthology is ‘small’ insofar as it does not pretend to be exhaustive. However, like a drop of honey which, despite its small size, has all the flavor of the jar from which it is extracted, this collection contains the essence of the Buddhist path to Awakening,” he explains.
iO Woman © REPRODUCTION RESERVED