Why should you zen out?
You have so much you want to do and accomplish, but life has a way of stepping in and presenting challenges. These challenges can cause you to go into stress mode, compromising your ability to think clearly or in an emotionally balanced way.
Many of the issues we have with mental clarity and emotional imbalance can be traced directly to stress. Stress, which signals a natural hormonal response to our fears, and negative perceptions of information, events, challenges, and issues, has a way of depleting our peace of mind. This leaves us open to negative thoughts and self-talk, unfounded fears, anxiety, and depression that can release an overwhelming dose of fight or flight hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, into our bloodstreams. These hormones are what make us physically feel our stress. They speed up our breathing and create shallow breaths. They tighten the muscles across our shoulders and can leave a queasiness in the pit of our stomachs. Stress hormones can cause insomnia, headaches, toothaches, backaches, and other illnesses that arise from a lowered immune system, like colds and infections. The best ways to override the symptoms of stress are to know your signs of stress, and consciously avoid them by getting your zen on.
Getting your zen on is all about managing and eliminating your stress by taking yourself easily into a relaxed state on a regular basis. In your zen state, you will realize that it is your perceptions of things that cause you pain, not the thing itself. You will also realize that you have the mental power to choose how you process and understand information, as well as how you respond to issues and challenges. Below, you’ll find some ideas on how to get your zen on.
What is zen and zenning out?
Zenning is the new version of an ancient Japanese Buddhism practice that emphasizes the value of meditation and intuition. In Japanese, zen means ultimate meditation. Zenning out is the combination of mind, body, spirit actions you can take, to raise your ability to meditate, heighten your intuition and release the stress that is interfering with your mental clarity and emotional balance.
How to zen out
- Meditate – A neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School did an extensive study that found, meditation not only reduces stress and relaxes you, but it actually restores grey matter to various areas of your brain and helps you to retain your short term memory longer. If you are not good at meditation, try a guided meditation app, like Calm, or find a free one to help you get going. Take a look at this list of meditation apps to see if any of these will work for you.
- Practice yoga – Yoga can help to gain and maintain mental clarity by increasing your body’s awareness, relieving stress, and reducing muscle tension, and inflammation. Yoga also sharpens your attention span and calms your nervous system as reported by the American Psychological Association. To get started you might look for classes in your area or try a health spa.
- Get a massage – Massage therapy can actually treat anxiety and other mental health disorders like depression, because of its ability to reduce cortisol levels in highly stressed individuals. Also, you need to know that massage releases toxins from your muscles into your bloodstream for elimination, so after a massage, drink lots of water and avoid caffeine and alcohol. Also, avoid getting a massage when you are feeling sick. To get a professional massage you might look for deals in your area or if you live in Salt Lake contact us at Zen Massage https://zenmassage.net/
- Take Tea – In general, low or reduced caffeine teas can promote calm serene feelings, but according to a 2017 study, reduced caffeine green tea shows great promise as an aid for helping you to sleep better as well. Getting a good night’s sleep is critical to gaining and maintaining mental clarity and emotional balance. Don’t just drink tea, learn how to Take Tea. Try this zen tea music with your tea.
- Take a stroll – All exercise is deemed beneficial to mental and physical health, but according to the website, Walking for Health, consistently walking for 90 minutes a week, can improve your self-perception, self-esteem, mood, and sleep quality, all while helping to reduce your stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Lace-up a good pair of walking shoes, find a scenic path, and get to walking.
- Clearing – Clearing is a lovely ritual, of getting rid of things that are no longer useful to create sacred space for positive energy; be it clothing, habits, or even thoughts. Clearing will open your mind and heart and allow peace to flow freely in and around you.
- Cleansing – When we cleanse as a form of meditation, cleansing becomes a ritual of commitment to personal harmony and beauty. When we cleanse, we are detoxing and purifying everything that contributes harmony and beauty in our lives; be it our minds, bodies, homes, or even relationships, cleansing can help us find mental clarity and emotional balance.
How do you zen out?
Come in and Zen out @ Zen Massage
If you want the best masseurs in Salt Lake City, set up an appointment with ZEN Massage today! Book Online or Call (801) 467-3529
Zen Massage
5520 South Van Winkle Expy
Salt Lake City, UT 84117