Meditation: The Key to Self-Care and Social Distancing
Image Credit: Mr. EJ Images
Tianna Christine is a DMV-based yoga instructor.
With all that’s going on in the world right now, it can be hard to take a moment for ourselves. It seems like everyone’s eyes are glued to the TV screen (or maybe their Twitter homepage) to see the latest news about the coronavirus.
As we throw our normal schedules out the window, it seems that our self-care can get thrown out with it. According to the World Health Organization, due to social distancing, stress and anxiety are increasing all around in the world. Now more than ever, it’s important to get some “me-time” in.
One way to practice self-care both mentally and physically is meditation.
Meditation is “the process of quieting the mind in order to spend time in thought for relaxation or religious/spiritual purposes.” This practice, which spans thousands of years,
has several health benefits that are especially useful during this unsure time.
Meditation’s physical benefits include lower blood pressure, treatment of insomnia, and even the reduction of risk of age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s.
There are also a slew of mental health benefits from meditation. One important benefit is stress relief, something many are looking for while social distancing. Mayo Clinic states that meditation can “clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress.”
DMV-based yoga instructor Tianna Christine knows all about the benefits of meditation. Christine started her yoga practice two years ago, but has been teaching yoga to her friends and family for four years. She began practicing yoga over ten years ago in her search for a great low impact workout.
To Christine, meditation is “trying to connect with your body and getting outside of your own head.”
When we think of meditation, images of sage sticks and dimly lit rooms might come to mind. But meditation is much easier to practice than many stereotypes may suggest.
“Meditation doesn’t have to be in a quiet room with music and candles. It can be just sitting there on your mat, or maybe even doing something stress-relieving like a puzzle...whatever is something that feels good to you is meditation,” Christine said.
Even though meditation is not as complicated as some stereotypes make it seem, it can still be daunting for beginners.
To a meditation beginner, Christine would say, “Don’t overthink it. Don’t think that you have to make it be something set up or have to make it Instagram-worthy.”
On her YouTube channel, Christine shared her top 10 tips to starting a yoga practice. These tips range from making sure you are wearing comfortable clothes to listening to your body about what poses work or don’t work for you. These tips are just as important for starting a meditation practice.
Though there are many different yoga and meditation practices to try, every practice may not be for everyone. Different bodies are best suited to different practices.
Christine’s favorite practice is Vinyasa, a style of yoga that is “characterized by stringing postures together so that you move from one to another, seamlessly, using breath.”
No matter what kind of practice you choose, meditation is the perfect activity while social distancing. From its slew of physical and mental benefits to its ability to be done by anyone, meditation can give you that quiet time to reset your mind and give yourself the self-care that you deserve.
