7 Types of Meditation To Give A Try

One of my most favorite things to talk about in my practice is meditation...and for good reason...it really works!

There are innumerable benefits to meditation that far exceed even mental health benefits.  Some of these benefits are: reducing pain (emotional and physical), enhances the immune system, increases blood flow, slows heart rate, promotes a sense of calm, peace, and balance, helps you control your thoughts, reverses heart disease, increases energy, and reduces stress.

There are many different types of meditation but don't get sucked into trying to figure out which type is best for you because {hint) they're all pretty freakin similar!  I recommend checking out a few different types, practicing with them for a few days, and then decide which type works best for you.

In this video, I provide a brief description of 7 types of meditation that I like the most and discuss how they help and who they work for:

1) Loving Kindness - based on Buddhist principle, this type of meditation focuses on cultivating feelings of love and kindness (aka compassion) inside yourself first then energetically sending it to others.  This type of meditation is helpful for those harboring resentment and/or anger towards others or for those who just want to wish others, and humanity, well to promote peace in the world.

2) Body scan aka Progressive Muscle Relaxation - this relaxation-based meditation focuses on scanning the body starting at the top of your head and progressively moving down the body while focusing on parts of the body holding tension and asking them to release.  This type of meditation is good for those who struggle with high anxiety or don't have a lot of time to meditate who are looking for a quick calm down.

3) Mindfulness - the most common type of meditation for good reason, it's the epitome of meditation!  In this meditation, you focus on being present and allowing yourself just to be.  You sit with your thoughts and feelings just as they are without judgment.  This meditation is for everyone who has trouble controlling their thoughts, being overly critical, stuck in their heads, or simply struggle with general pessimism.

4) Breathing - this meditation focuses on practicing various breathing techniques while also repeating mantras.  This meditation is for those who have a hard time calming down, focusing, and concentrating (ADHD).  These individuals claim to be "bad at meditating" or state that "I've tried meditation and it's not for me" as it gives you something to do while meditating.

5) Kundalini yoga - this meditation combines movement, mantras, and mudras (hand placements) making it a somewhat intensive process.  The purpose of this type of meditation is more geared towards connecting with our higher selves and experiencing a spiritual awakening.

6) Zen - often led by Buddhist mentors, this type of meditation is typically multi-step and is similar to mindfulness meditation.  Those seeking to achieve higher levels of consciousness and experiencing the full, true benefits that meditation has to offer engage in this type of meditation.  It requires much discipline and the rewards are vast including higher connection to the greater good, feeling connected to the full universe, and being less concerned with small problems.

7) Transcendental - this type of meditation is also typically reserved for the more advanced meditator who is looking to transcend their state of being.  It is also most often associated with reprogramming the brain for long-lasting behavior change based on repeating a mantra during an elevated level of consciousness that translates into overcoming fears and personality changes in the conscious form.

How often should I meditate and for how long?  Honestly, the amount of time and how often is secondary to simply being consistent.  Start out with 5-10 minutes and as you feel more comfortable increase to 20-30 minutes.  20 minutes is typically the minimum to experience the maximum benefits of meditation although it is not necessary in order to experience some benefits.

Let me know what you think in the comments below and don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to my channel to receive more videos like this!

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Disclaimer:

Blue Sage Counseling and Wellness, and the information provided by Ashley Francis, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Ashley Francis is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.

****If you are in crisis please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or your local emergency services****

Masculine & Feminine Energies | How to Balance them in a Relationship

Have you ever been told that you're too needy and sensitive? Perhaps too assertive and unrelatable?

Oftentimes the culprit for the problems in our relationships is that there is an imbalance between the type of energy we are bringing to the relationship compared to our partner.

This creates a breeding ground for fights and conflict and not to mention a whole world of confusion and frustration.

Energy, regardless of gender, is the emotional environment that we bring to situations and relationships that is largely categorized either by intuition and creativity or assertiveness and power.

Feminine energy is characterized by receiving and masculine energy is defined by giving.

If both partners are geared more towards one side of the coin, it creates a disruption in the natural order of things and leads to conflict.

There are 4 types of energetic "personalities" with which we can identify.

Excess Feminine

Deficient Feminine

Excess Masculine

Deficient Masculine

Once identified, we can then begin learning different ways to balance the energy out and minimize conflict and increase overall happiness.

In this video I teach you:

1) how to identify which energetic personality you are

2) the pros and cons of each energetic personality

3) what you can do create more balance based on your energetic personality type both for yourself and in you relationship

If you enjoyed this video, let us know by hitting the like button, subscribing to our channel, and leaving a comment in the comments section below.

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Book a FREE Phone Consultation: https://calendly.com/bluesage/15min

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Blue Sage Counseling and Wellness, and the information provided by Ashley Francis, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Ashley Francis is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.

****If you are in crisis please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or your local emergency services****

How to Stop Negative Self-Talk

In this week's video, I talk about identifying negative self-talk and negative default programming, how to reduce the shame around it, and provide some practical tools to help you feel better about your own negative self-talk. Negative self-talk is the naughty, self-deprecating things that we say about ourselves to ourselves. It's the unedited version of just how awful we can be towards ourselves...and we ALL do it! Negative default programming is a term used to identify when and how negative self-talk was born and why it still persists. It is the automatic, negative thought(s) that comes up when something doesn't go our way and we either:

a) direct that negativity towards ourselves,

b) direct it towards others, or

c) both

As children, we are blank slates. We are sponges to the experiences around us and we are simply soaking it all in at a rapid pace at all times. The most challenging part is that we do not have a choice of what gets absorbed and how much because the ego (sense of self) has not yet fully formed to filter these things out. Additionally, a child is ego-centric which means the child, by default, can start to blame his/herself when he/she is directly, or indirectly, exposed to enough negative experiences. This results in not being able to decipher when things go wrong whether it is his/her fault or someone else's. Over time, if the child continues to be exposed to these types of experiences, and it isn't corrected, the individual will internalize such negative messages as not being lovable, not good enough, they are damaged, something is wrong with them, etc. These messages, or some form of them, can carry over into adulthood and oftentimes show up as the first thing to come to mind when something goes wrong, there is an inordinate amount of stress, or an experience is simply perceived as negative. Another point about negative default programming is that we actually have no control over it as it is a survival instinct that is inherent to the human condition. It actually functions to keep us safe and alive. The purpose of the automatic negative thought is to simply get our attention that something is wrong...that's it. Once it's been realized, we then have the choice regarding how we want to react to it and when we are healthy we choose the positive choice. That's how things can get better. How to feel better about negative self-talk:

1) Recognize that the origin of it was born long ago and there is nothing you can do about removing it. Once it's there, it's there and you can't control it. This now frees you up to focus on what you CAN control

2) Remind yourself that it exists to keep you alive and it is bringing your attention to something that needs your attention for further exploration and it is a growth opportunity. The decision you make following that realization is then up to you.

3) What you can control: reduce negative influences in your life and increase positive ones. a) Take an inventory of everything that influences you (i.e. media, friends, work, relationships, etc). b) Then, label them as mostly positive or mostly negative - notice the thoughts, feelings, and body sensations that come up as you think about each item to use as a guide. c) Finally, begin to take steps to reduce or eliminate negative influences in your life and begin taking steps to increase the positive influences. Surrounding yourself with things that uplift you and make you feel good about yourself helps to navigate how you choose to react to negative situations following the default negative thought when it occurs. If you enjoyed this video, let us know by hitting the like button, subscribing to our channel, and leaving a comment in the comments section below.

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