Meditation - Breathing - Mindfulness

Meditation is a practice that allows us to center ourselves, to shed ourselves from outside influences, to still our mind from the constant distractions and worries we occupy ourselves with.  -- 

It will help us focus  on love of self, awareness of self, recognizing fears, recognizing when the mind wanders from the now to the future or past events and through it we can learn to create a safe space, a peaceful space to regroup, regenerate and create.

There are different forms of meditation.  Moving meditation and seated meditation are the ones Nicole specializes in.  Given her training and knowledge of Qigong, she uses the essence of this practice to reinforce mental focus through guided breath and visualization exercises.

You will learn about the proper body posture and different breathing techniques.

The seated meditation called “The Inner Smile” is an essential starting point to become aware and get in touch with our bodies.  It will be through this inner smile meditation that we will recognize where we feel discomfort and pay extra attention to those areas in meditation as well as by rechecking our body structure and learn stretches to address the areas that are tight or present discomfort.

The concept of the inner smile can then be incorporated as the foundation to all other routines of daily life.

 

Qigong

Qigong is a fundamental aspect of Chinese medical theory and has been an integral part of Chinese culture.   The ancient techniques of moving and seated meditation aim to strengthen the body, improve breath management and focus the mind. Its meditative concepts and exercises have become more popular across the globe in recent years as part of mindfulness training for stress reduction.

Where the mind goes, the body will follow. When actively guiding one’s breath, learning how to breathe deeply into the lungs and the entire body, we not only oxygenate the body, which in turn allows us to be more alert and energized, we also get to know our bodies better and learn to recognize where tensions lie. This will enable us to address possible physical ailments, restrictions and strains sooner and hopefully prevent escalation of a problem.

Qigong lends itself well to bridge the physical and mental aspects by helping to counteract or prevent anxiety and provide tools to help focus the mind through breath.

 

The moving meditation Nicole teaches is called Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Silken Brocade) and is one of the most widely performed Qigong exercises.

One additional seated meditation is the "Six Healing Sounds," where we vocalize a sound that resonates with each organ in particular and through gentle movements, while seated to bring balance and a sense of well-being to our bodies and minds.