meditation

Integrating mind and body

/ mxospina / Leave a comment

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Hi there my friends,

As you know, my interest is to motivate, educate and, above all, raise awareness to create well-being at all levels. Physical nutrition, (by physical I refer to food), is crucial to have optimal levels of energy and prevent disease. Clearly, nobody wants to be sick. However, physical food is not everything. Drinking smoothies and becoming vegan is not enough if one doesnt cultivate self-awareness (Mindfulness). And how hard it is to practice it every day! The good news is that it is not impossible, we all have the capacity to observe ourselves inwardly and give a name to those tendencies that we have, which lead us to act in a certain way (sometimes constructively and others destructively).

Only when this exercise of self-awareness is done constantly, it is possible to redirect attention in such a way that it helps us to live a life with plenitude and well-being.

Photo by geocities.ws

Some people might think “why are you writing about this topic that has nothing to do with food?” I can say that it has EVERYTHING to do with food. An anti-inflammatory diet is excellent, it will contribute tremendously to improve health but if that person has a negative perception about himself, has low self-esteem and feels lonely, it is very likely that the changes in diet are not entirely effective. The connection between body, mind and spirit is very close, therefore it is necessary to pay attention and cultivate every aspect. Many scientific studies show that problems such as anxiety, chronic pain and depression are curable when a higher level of consciousness develops.

So, friends, this blog is an invitation to self-observation.

In this path of getting out of the usual “autopilot” mode in which we live, I am very interested in what we are taught by experts in mindfulness and neuro-codification. So I’m going to share these authors because I want you to investigate on your own. Do not even believe what I write, I simply wish to encourage you to open your mind so that you can expand your consciousness and thus achieve the fullness and wellbeing that we want so much. (I clarify that I have no relationship with these authors, nor do I get benefits for naming them)

Photo by goodreads.com

 

 

“If you increase consciousness, changes come alone”

Jon Kabat -Zinn

 

Jon Kabat-Zinn – American professor of medicine and molecular biologist, considered as the father of mindfulness, affirms that through mindfulness, (through Zen meditation) it is possible to restore corporal and mental balance creating well-being. The active observation of the present moment without judgments is transformative, it has the ability to change our brain, to expand memory, to increase learning capacity and to manage stress by favorably affecting the amygdala in the brain (which is the internal alarm button that produces stress ). Check out this article and this video.

This topic is closely related to epigenetics which refers to the study of all non-genetic factors that regulate gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. Dr. Nathalie Zammateo, – Belgian Biological Sciences PhD- wrote a book called The Impact of Emotions on DNA, which I think is very interesting because it talks about DNA being information, with millions of neurotransmitters communicating with each other. The activity of these neurotransmitters is affected by the environment and part of the environment are emotions. When emotions are managed (through self-consciousness) it is possible to generate emotional health which is reflected in physical health.

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Every day, there are more scientific studies and more evidence that shows that the mind has an incredible power over health, thoughts whatever they are, generate emotions and when these are very intense and negative they also make us sick and take us off balance.

The Solution?

I have already said it in other blogs and I will continue saying: meditation is a great tool and for this there is a lot of information on YouTube where you can find guided meditations, music to meditate, yoga and many options for everyone.

Stop making excuses for not paying attention, changes start from the inside out and each one of us has the tools to achieve a better version. So I encourage you to get focused. If you need professional help, I am available to device a personalized plan for you.

Namaste!

Maria Ximena Ospina

 

Do you get angry, run away or become invisible?

/ mxospina / Leave a comment

images-2Many of us know that stress affects health in general but I think we still need to understand and assimilate better what are the effects of being constantly in this state (of stress) since it is one of the main causes of degenerative diseases that affect society nowadays. Clearly, we live in a world where it is increasingly accepted to live half-heartedly. What do I mean by this?

To live tired, running from one side to another, without energy, with sleep and digestion issues.

Years go by and many people continue living this way, which only brings unhappiness, frustration and health problems not to mention the effect on our personal relationships. In this blog, I want to focus on the solutions, because there are solutions. It is a question of doing it consciously and constantly and patiently.

So let’s talk about stress and biochemical processes in a simple way.

Of the various systems that humans have, it is the limbic system, which manages physiological responses to emotional stimuli. The hypothalamus and the amygdala are key organs in the triggering of emotions in our body. When the brain’s amygdala is activated, our danger detector, it creates imbalances in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the part that allows us to learn, make decisions and direct behavior. The brain amygdala is like our internal alarm button that makes us react to danger. Our body does not know if the danger is associated with a survival issue (if a lion is chasing us and we have to run for our lives) or simply if it is an argument  with the boss. The sympathetic nervous system is ignited and triggers a series of biochemical processes in preparation to “fight or flight”. This is our primary internal defense mechanism.

Once the amygdala is activated, the pituitary gland orders the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol, which are the stress hormones. From here onwards, the body is prepared to defend itself, which is why the heart rate is accelerated, the contraction movements of the stomach are inhibited, the pupils are dilated and blood glucose levels raised. (in addition to other processes)

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Photo by autopsiareview.org

According to several scientific studies, I am referring in particular to those analyzed by Dr. Mario Alonso Puig (of whom I have spoken on several occasions, whom I admire for his knowledge about human behavior and neuroscience), it is demonstrated that mindfulness or self-consciousness, (developed through the practice of meditation), increases the size of the hypothalamus which makes us less reactive and we can better regulate our emotional state.

It is also proven that physical activity is of great help to activate our parasympathetic nervous system, which is what allows us to save energy, recover normal  body functions, think and act clearly and live in a calm manner. Both systems: sympathetic and parasympathetic work together, we can assist these systems to live healthier and happier with good habits.

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photo by lamenteesmaravillosa.com

Cultivating healthy habits

Meditation and physical activity are really the best ways to improve our health.

Meditation allows us to modulate the chemical reactions that activate the amygdala, making us less reactive. We accept our emotions and feelings kindly and see them for what they are. Without judgments or attachments. We learn to let them go which means we do not keep them in our body as toxic elements. (That later on cause diseases such as depression, fibromyalgia, digestive and heart issues).

On the other hand, physical activity increases brain function by improving memory, it increases oxygenation of the brain, creating and connecting of neurons which help us in learning processes. In addition, at a hormonal level, endorphins, serotonin and dopamine are triggered generating feelings of well-being, calm, joy and even euphoria. Its my natural drug of choice!

As I said before, the solutions exist and do not cost money or long treatments, just by implementing these two habits in your life as well as a healthy diet, you will be in the path to wellness and success. I practice both regularly so I can say that they do help me to keep calm and understand better my emotions and reactions.

I hope you have learned something new today, and more importantly, that it inspires you to learn about mindfulness and gets you in the right mindset to start exercising. Remember that anyone has the power to make changes, it is hard, I know that, but it is possible, and you are not alone. I can help you get there.

Do not forget to share this message and give me your comments. I would love to know your opinion.

 

Bear hugs!

Lessons’ from Irma

/ mxospina / 3 Comments

 

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If it hadn’t been because of the unpleasant visit of Irma, it would have been a very relaxing quiet Sunday, probably by the pool or having a BBQ by the beach with friends.

However, to spice things up a little, we had Irma’s visit. As we all know, fortunately for us in Miami, it changed its route and it wasn’t as devastating as we thought it was going to be. (I am convinced all my prayers and those of all around me helped too). I want to say I started writing this blog while we were in the hotel with another 400 people who had to evacuate their homes (in Miami or the Florida Keys) or just happened to be in Miami for a holiday or due to a layover trying to get to their homes in other cities and countries. All of us together for the same reason: protecting ourselves from Irma. A massive force of nature that didn’t care if you were healthy, sick, rich, poor, it didn’t really matter. All of us hoping for the best but prepared for the worse.

This was my first pseudo apocalyptic experience and I felt we prepared for it as much as we could: shutters were up, towels covering the floor to absorb any water, furniture and electronics moved, personal documents in a safe place, cars secured, even healthy food in the cooler. All the physical stuff was secured, I would say the pre-Irma preparations were completed.

But once the storm began, there were other points to consider and I could only prepare for it while I was going through it, while I was looking at what nature was doing outside the hotel windows. Many thoughts crossed my mind: I hope we don’t lose power and if we do, that I can communicate with my family before that, I hope my friends who stayed in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are safe, where would the birds and Iguana’s at the park go for shelter? I wonder if the apartment is flooded, and so on.

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I only had 50% battery on my laptop so I thought instead of focusing on the things I can’t control, I will focus on those I can, so I started interacting with others who in a normal situation probably I would have never met. An Italian couple who were on holidays in Miami Beach and were stranded because of the hurricane, an Argentinean lady who was on a layover hoping to return to her country, a full family of Cuban Americans who were more than prepared with food and were happy giving it away to others, an American guy who was caring for his mother and sister, people of all sizes, and colors with pets or alone, all of them with such different stories. The only certainty we had was: there’s no electricity, there’s water, the hotel generator is working (for emergency and common areas only), Irma was passing. I could hear the wind was blasting the windows, the trees were fighting to stay rooted and even the toilets were making weird noises. I knew the situation was temporary and was going to finish at some point but for those hours it was stressful. This was the time to apply what I learned in my meditation practice to keep it cool: abdominal breathing, physical exercise, ( I worked out in a quiet corner on Saturday and on Sunday walked 4 floors 5 times at different times of the day just to keep moving) and more importantly, I set my intention to learn from my experience.

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So what did I learn from Irma’s visit?

  • To accept things as they are
  • To be mindful and observe when I was about to start panicking
  • To use my emotional intelligence to manage the situation (being nervous and uncertain) and breathe in and out to calm my emotions and thoughts
  • To understand that my emotions and thoughts are temporary, they are part of my immediate perception of reality and they should not control my actions
  • To be creative and find ways to keep myself active and entertained
  • To be calm and compassionate to others around me
  • To stop judging the book by its cover
  • To accept the generosity of strangers and don’t think they always want something in return

Many lessons that happened in 3 days and all happened at the right time. On Sunday night, I ended up finishing this blog writing with a flashlight knowing that Irma was heading north and we were going to be safer the next day. It was an intense experience that made me think that as human beings, we are very vulnerable and we should enjoy more, laugh more, love more, stress less, and complain even less. Life is short and I want to appreciate it and live it to the fullest. I know many of you also want the same thing.

How wonderful was that I could see more the faces of people instead of their heads looking down to their phones! people were actually talking to each other, for those hours, even though the reason wasn’t exactly a fun party, people were present in that moment. There was uncertainty and fear but also kindness and compassion.

I want to finish this blog with these words from Paramahansa Yogahanda, the Indian spiritual leader, which resonate with me deeply: “Open the door of your calmness and let the footsteps of silence gently enter the temple of all your activities”. I am applying this thinking in my life and believe me, in this situation, that was very stressful, it helped a lot. I keep working to increase my calmness and help others around me find it and nourish it in their own paths. Meditation or any other type of spiritual practice is food for the soul, just as important as having the right food in our bodies.

Do you have a spiritual practice? If so, I would love to hear from you. If you don’t, don’t worry, I can guide you.

Until next time my friends!

And remember to share this blog and subscribe to my website to receive more nourishing tips on how to live to the fullest.

 

Bear hugs,

 

 

 

 

 

Healthy lifestyle habits

/ mxospina / 3 Comments

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The other day I was listening to a woman in the elevator talking to someone on the phone and she was saying to her friend something like “well, you know how it is, marriage is like a roller coaster, it has ups and downs…” and that got me thinking I should write about what I call spiritual nutrition and how this connects with nutrition in general.

For the record, I don’t consider myself enlightened, but being the curious, emotional woman that I am, I reflect frequently about how to improve my relationships with the people around me in the world we live in.

Something that has really helped me in the self-reflecting process is the meditation practice. I was lucky to complete a 10 day meditation retreat (Vipassana Meditation) in 2004 in Sydney, Australia and it was the beginning of a calmer and happier me. Since then, I make an effort to meditate during the weekdays (unless I am sick or something extraordinary happens) for 15 minutes or more if I have the time. How does it help me? It helps me to reduce anxiety, be focused, calmer, to let go and enjoy the here and now. I should probably add here that to make the meditation practice a successful effort, its important to complement it with the teachings of the Buddha and practice meditation with a group (in Buddhism it’s called Sangha), so I also dedicate time to read, join the Sangha (not as often as I want to) and attend live sessions with spiritual leaders to improve my understanding in this topic. Being born in a catholic family shaped my values and beliefs but I always felt it lack something. I am not going to go into the details of the aspects about Catholicism that I don’t believe in or I don’t relate to, but I can say the more I read and study Buddhism, the more I connect to it. For the purpose of this blog (Because I could easily write a lot about my appreciation for Buddhism) what really speaks to me is the understanding that we have the power to be happy within ourselves. The fact that we have the power to be active and not reactive in our relationships with others and the world in general.

Think of this: When you get angry, have you ever had that feeling inside your gut when you are just about to yell or scream at someone? It’s almost like a click that turns on inside you making you feel hot as if smoke will come out of your ears in a second. This is the time when you have two choices (even though things happen really fast in your brain and you don’t really see the two choices immediately):

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Choice No. 1. React with aggression, say everything that comes to your head without thinking of the consequences, quickly looking for words to offend your opponent and defend yourself.

Choice No. 2. Breath in, breath out, acknowledge the heat inside your body and don’t engage in aggressive behaviour. See the other person with compassion and decide its better to cool off before saying anything else you will regret later.

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Personally, when I get upset, I feel the heat inside my head and I know in the next second I have to make a choice: should I put on my boxing gloves? Or should I just let it go and find another time to choose my words better? It’s not always easy but I have a choice. This is exactly what I mean by becoming active and not reactive. So the question is how do we train our mind to see things with this light? Meditation practice.

You don’t need to change religions to learn how to meditate. But it is crucial to act with intention. How can we expect others to act with wisdom and compassion if we don’t practice it ourselves?

So going back to the roller coaster comment, I could not agree more. Marriage is like a roller coaster, it has ups and downs but we have the choice to make the ups more enjoyable and memorable and the downs less intense and destructive.

Being a healthier person is not just about the physical food you eat, our emotional health is very important, meditation is one way to detox your mind and create the space to be calmer and content. There are different meditation schools and practices; I can suggest these ones: The Diamond Way Buddhism , Bodhy Path , and Vipassana Meditation. But be active and look for other options, you don’t need to start this path alone, there are more people than you think interested in practicing meditation.

Having clarified this point, I want to share with you healthy food options that would help you to focus when you start your meditation practice:

  • Have a herbal tea like ginger and lemon, mint or chamomile before you sit down in your quite area to meditate. Having a full stomach will make it very hard to focus
  • Plant based diet is the ideal option because its lighter and it will not take that long to digest. (Grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, seeds) If your body is too busy breaking down the food, your attention will be diluted
  • Avoid drinks which are high in sugar and caffeine, they will get you agitated

Now that you have this information, I hope you share with me how’s your meditation practice and what type of healthy foods are you including in your diet. Don’t be shy and share it here.

Hasta pronto!

 

 

5 changes that are working for me right now

/ mxospina / Leave a comment

As some of you already know, I am currently getting certified as an integrative health coach and I cannot be happier! I am one of those people who enjoys learning new stuff and specially stuff that can bring benefits to my wellbeing and to others. I have numerous books about cooking, diets, personal development (and other topics) and follow different people on social media but I felt it was time for me to make a more serious commitment. So here I am, studying what I like and applying all of it at the same time. I plan to share all my experiences with you along this process so I am writing this blog for you.

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To start with, I want to share five things I am doing this year (that my studies have reinforced) that work to start on a cleaner path to good health.

1. Drink more water

It sounds pretty simple and we hear it all the time. Well, guess what? I knew it before and I wasn’t really doing it as much. Now I am drinking a full glass of warm water first thing in the morning or herbal infusions depending on the week. The important part is to keep hydrated as much as possible. Throughout the day, I carry a glass bottle with flavour water (basil and lemon, apple slices, ginger and cardamom) and I make sure I drink all of it. I don’t like the taste of water so these natural flavours totally work for me.

2. Set a timer for bedtime

I know I need to sleep 7-8 hours to have the energy to start my day and not be moody or tired next day. Setting up for bedtime (in my cell phone) works great because I am making the effort to create a routine. Scientific studies show that when we create this routine (just like babies and kids have) we tell our body that its time to switch off. The goal is to slow down your brain activity so you can fully rest when you go to bed.

3. Morning meditation

Every morning (except weekends) I jump from my bed to my meditation mat outside my balcony. If its rainy I do it in my bedroom but I do it yes or yes. I use some mantras (if I feel restless) or just practice shine meditation, which is the one taught at the budhist meditation group I am part of. I meditate for 10-15 mins and I finish my session with a prayer thanking the universe for all the goodness I have in my life. This is a precious moment to connect with my spiritual being, to remember what’s important and what’s not that relevant.

4. Mind my thoughts and words

We live so fast that we don’t really pay much attention to the thoughts we have in our minds, but its SO true that our thoughts become words and before we know it, they become actions. (I believe it was Margaret Thatcher who said this) We spend a lot of time thinking about things we have done or said and what we will say or do in the future. Minding the chatty monkey in my brain makes me more conscious of it. I still haven’t mastered this fully but I keep working on it everyday. I feel it makes me a more centered person and I enjoy more the now.

5. Planting at home

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I got a mini greenhouse and I am planting coriander, cherry tomatoes and watermelon. I have no idea if this will work but its making me more conscious about the whole process of creating food, specially food that comes from mother nature. Also, I must say its relaxing to do gardening. I already have an aloe vera plant and I love to be able to eat from it and see it growing.

I hope these tips are something you can relate too. And if you already have some that you think could be beneficial to others, please don’t be shy and share it here. I would love to hear from you!

Hasta pronto!

 

MXO