Love Yourself This Valentine's Day With This Simple Daily Meditation

While Valentine’s Day is a great time to acknowledge the loved one in our lives, it can also be a great time to appreciate yourself. One great way to do so is to adopt this daily meditation into your everyday life. It is called the Loving-Kindness Meditation. I first learned about it from a great yoga instruction and have since heard more about in as I have learned more about the benefits of meditation, such as just 5 minutes of meditation daily can reduce cortisol levels for the entire day? Or that meditation actually changes your neurotransmitters? (These are the little chemicals that most of America is taking in a prescription form, such as serotonin and dopamine.) Daily meditation also reduces risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

What many people don’t realize about meditation is that it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to sit still for 30 minutes at a time and hum. In my practice, I help patients learn to meditate by doing something that they love and that is relaxing to them. I always try to have patients incorporate deep breathing. By taking long drawn out exhalations, you can switch you nervous system from being in the sympathetic, fight or flight mode, to the parasympathetic, rest and relaxation mode. It really can be that simple: Just incorporate 5 minutes of deep breathing into your daily living to reap the benefits.

To learn how to practice the loving kindess meditation, click here. For more about Dr. Stephanie Gilfoy, ND, please visit her website at www.madisonCTnaturopath.com.