![]() If you do notice that your breath is shallow, simply breathe in and out more deeply, letting your diaphragm fully expand and expel oxygen. Notice how you are breathing you don’t necessarily need to change anything, as your brain stem is thankfully doing all of the work to regulate the breath. Feel your hands rise and fall as you breathe air deep into your diaphragm. Place one hand on your sternum near your heart and your other hand on your belly. Take a few moments before and after the guided meditation to focus on your breath.Simply label in a neutral way and tune back into the meditation. When thoughts come to you and you find yourself “checking out” of the guided meditation, notice the thoughts and label it: “thinking.” We are wired for thought, so please do not judge yourself for thinking.Even if the speaker doesn’t tell you to do it, this is your meditation, so do as you please! Closing your eyes can help put you in touch with your other bodily senses. If this is your first time meditating, it might be helpful to: You may practice sitting down, lying on the floor, sitting on a bus, on a plane _ _ _ as many iterations as Dr. I am a firm believer that there is no right or wrong to meditation. You simply need to download an app, choose a meditation, press play, and let the speaker guide you on a journey in your imagination. There are many apps now for guided meditation. Guided meditation, as compared to silent meditation or regular mindfulness meditation, is great for trauma survivors, because it requires less effort on our parts by giving us something to focus on, allowing us to relax even more deeply. This is the first step in letting go of well-worn and possibly unhealthy patterns in our lives. In a sense, we are creating space through meditation, a buffer from our thoughts, feelings, and sensations, which allows us the time and ability to act differently instead of continually reacting and being controlled by them. She describes the thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations as clouds passing by us in meditation. ![]() Researcher Susan Smalley at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center borrows from monk Ajahn Amaro in describing meditation as “ Unentangled Participation” –being able to observe and remain curious without being swept up in the strong emotions of anger, upset, betrayal, guilt, shame, loss, hopelessness, essentially the whole gamut that impacts crime and trauma survivors. There is much research to support the effectiveness of meditation. It helps to improve our brain’s balance with the executive functions. ![]() So often, it is easy to be hijacked by our emotional brain after a traumatic experience or to continually travel back to the past, but meditation can help us to notice our thoughts, feelings, and sensations without being overtaken by them. Meditation helps to change our relationship to our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and our bodies. Deepen our clarity of mind and purpose by improving cognitive functions and memory,. ![]()
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