Self-healing

[Genevieve Simperingham]

Teleseminar recording on 17th June 2015:
Developing a regular meditation/ focused relaxation practice.

In this recording, I talk about the benefits of meditation or focused relaxation for reducing stress, anxiety and exhaustion, and I’ll teach a simple meditation technique based on the breath and counting for those who would like to learn.

Feel free to share any feedback, questions or related experiences once you’ve practiced it.

https://www.peacefulparent.com/teleseminar-recordings/

[Lucy McGilchrist]

Well finally listened to this last night- really really useful and I am sure this is the way forward for me, heartening tip to hear about timings and better short than nothing=- I am just curious how people have managed to fit it in- Genevieve talked about morning and evening and I feel the evening one is do-able- I really NEED it inthemorning however my 2 yr old is a Velcro toddler so when I leave the bed he does- as he’s already breastfed for 2 hrs plus I am a little touched out by then and not wanting to meditate when feeding again but also getting out of bed with him before 6am feels too tiring to think about-
So do I just go with the evening one or does anyone have any tips for the morning one?
xxxx

[Genevieve Simperingham]

Lucy, I wonder if it could be a possibility to listen to my track “Bliss” with ear phones attached to your phone before you get out of bed? I’m not sure if that would work. But for a lot of people, listening to guided meditations is a really good way to start meditating, because you’re being guided through it, it really helps in developing the discipline of bringing one’s attention inside, noticing where tensions are held and starting to ease them out, using awareness of the breath as an anchor to bring the awareness more into the body consciousness and away from the busyness of the thinking mind (which always thinks the answer to all problems is to figure things out).

You can download my tracks with the link at the top of this page:

https://www.peacefulparent.com/ecourse-audio-resources/

[Lucy McGilchrist]

Wow that’s fab- and somehow I have downloaded it to my phone!!! 🙂 pure fluke- so THANK YOU- look forward to starting this tonight and i’m sure my little one will want to give you a great big squeeze for extra cuddles in bed!!! thanks again xxx

[Genevieve Simperingham]

Even better! Good luck Lucy 🙂

[Sara Donetto]

I am really failing at re-building my meditation practice. 🙁 I will try the recordings but genuinely can’t think of a time to do it other than on the bus to work (not exactly the most conducive). Our nights are still really bad so I usually spend the 5-6am window next to our little one, trying to persuade him to stay in bed a little longer (he can have a rather bad temper if we start the day at 5am, tried and tested). Evenings – I’ve tried and if I attempt 10-15 minutes after putting the little one to bed, I tend to fall asleep. And nobody is going to cook dinner for what’s left of the grown-ups! 🙂 Any ideas? I know this would be very good for me/us.

[Lucy McGilchrist]

Hey Sara, its a minefield at times isn’t it! Genevieve’s tip to us of listening to it IN bed is actually working !!!!!!!! My boy is now sleeping better too- ive had 2 mornings of me listening to it at 5am when he’s stirring and he’s gone back off with me………never heard of before!
The evening ones I tend to listen once they are dropping off too and bedtimes have been going smoother- as G suggested I listen with my headphones- I am not a techy person but managed to download them onto my ohone.
Not sure if that helps but hope so, thinking of you, im noticing big differences already even though my concentration span is much to be desired!!

[Genevieve Simperingham]

Lucy, this is so good to hear! You know, me dropping into a meditative state nearly always helped my little one settle, either back to sleep, or sleep more soundly, or help them get to sleep. Remember I talked about the mirror neurons in Week one’s video, their brain wave patterns follow ours.

Sara, if you’ve got a backlog of exhaustion, which I know you do!!, then yes you’re going to fall asleep when you attempt to meditate, but just keep doing it. The sleep you drop in to will probably be more restful and less agitated. When my mother first started practicing meditation, she fell asleep just about every time for the first 2 years! After 9 children and living with PTSD and panic attacks her whole life, there was such a backlog of exhaustion. My mother meditating generally looked like someone sleeping while sitting with the head drooped (funny image I know!). Funny story, one time a neighbour driving past dramatically pulled in their car and ran to my mother sitting in the car to see if she’d had a heart attack – no she was just meditating/ dozing! The car btw is a good place to meditate I’ve always found, the seat helps you keep that nice straight back, which really helps if you’re in a sitting position.

The bus is a good place to meditate Sara, not ideal because you’re still learning and will be more easily distracted. But you’re really just aiming for those odd little moments of peace in the midst of your meditation, don’t expect it to be an experience of dropping into blissful peace and basking in that for 20 minutes, that takes time to get to for most people. But even if you’re mind keeps thinking of all these things you need to do or remember, just keep meditating. Distracted, notice, come back to the breath, distracted again, ok, you notice, you come back to the breath again.

Be endlessly patient with yourself in developing a meditation practice, set really doable easy goals, like “I’m starting with aiming to meditate for 5 minutes a day” and anything after that is a bonus. Also, 5 minutes 3 times a day would be great either. We often overwhelm ourselves by setting our goals too high then feeling defeated and deflated.

[Lucy McGilchrist]

thanks so much for replying to us Geneieve.

So can I just check my ability to focus and listen is probably 30 secs then a thought floods in- dinner tomorrow, meat I ordered- – ooh meditate- – 30 secs I hear your voice and then again notice I haven’t heard it- – its bizarre- I have never noticed such a short attention span, that I have NO control over, I keep just heading back to your voice for the entire track and quite strangely am calm not frustrated- – IS THIS NORMAL??

[Genevieve Simperingham]

Sooooo normal Lucy! This is also why meditation is just the best way to develop one’s ability to concentrate and focus. Slowly over time, you’re training your mind to focus and settle. This awareness of hard it is to settle and focus one’s mind is very useful information isn’t it! I’ve taught meditation over many many years, and yes this is normal. And normal to feel the benefit of it even though it doesn’t feel like it was that successful.

My son (18) is in Spain, about to fly to India. He got really stressed about visa trouble, trying to organize himself in a country where he didn’t speak the language etc. So he asked me if I’d send one of my guided meditations to help him relax. How cool is that! While another person his age might use alcohol to calm the nerves, he knows he needs to meditate.

[Sara Donetto]

Dear Genevieve and Lucy, thank you for the much needed encouragement!!! I’ve downloaded the tracks to my Google Drive but the website access on my phone doesn’t look as straightforward. Can I transfer in any other way? I will find a way/time to listen to them – I will. Our friend Gauri a few weeks ago posted “if you have time for Facebook, you have time to meditate” so I’ll find a way!! 🙂

[Genevieve Simperingham]

Sara try downloading the google drive app onto your phone and see if that makes it easier to download them.

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