Though you may not have openly expressed interest in meditation and yoga, I’m sure it’s something that you’ve wondered about before – what is it? D’you just sit around and make weird chanting sounds? D’you just get to fall asleep? It looks really boring!!

Well, here is an answer to your interest: an introduction to yoga meditation the easy way. This four-class yoga meditation course starts Tuesday November 15^th and runs until December 6^th. Running for 45minutes, with the space and yoga instructor available to you for an hour, the class starts at 11am. This course is specifically designed for people who have never been patient enough to meditate and for people who have always wanted to try meditation but ‘haven’t found the time’.

Meditation can help to

• increase productivity with less effort
• improve sleep quality
• boost immune function
• balance the nervous system and decrease anxiety
• lower blood pressure and reduce stress levels

amongst other things! If you want scientific evidence, check out this article from Psychology today on The Benefits of Meditation.

The brain waves of meditators show why they’re healthier. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex—brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before. Colin Allen

“You don’t need to quit your job, give up your possessions and spend 30 years chanting. Recent research indicates that meditating brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 10-minute session. Several studies have demonstrated that subjects who meditated for a short time showed increased alpha waves (the relaxed brain waves) and decreased anxiety and depression.

To explore exactly what part of the brain meditation acts on, researchers at Harvard Medical School used MRI technology on participants to monitor brain activity while they meditated. They found that it activates the sections of the brain in charge of the autonomic nervous system, which governs the functions in our bodies that we can’t control, such as digestion and blood pressure. These are also the functions that are often compromised by stress. It makes sense, then, that modulating these functions would help to ward off stress-related conditions such as heart disease, digestive problems and infertility.” CaryBarbor

So, now’s the chance to check out what all the fuss is about and to enter the silly season with the calm knowledge that you’ll survive it this time around!

To book – please do, as numbers are strictly limited! – email anita@anitawhelan.com.au.