An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March / April 2023 www.military.ie/magazine 14 | How does this all show up in your day? When you're driving your car and your mind wanders of f to something in the past or the future (which is of ten something that you will worr y or ruminate about – our negativit y bias in action), using a mindfulness practice will help you notice that you are in your head worr ying or ruminating. You can then decide to return your attention to driving. The same goes for when you are at work, home etc. Your formal practice of meditation is where you streng then the attention muscle so you can notice this mind wandering. Then throughout your day you can practice mindfulness, live in the moment with awareness of what is going on for you and with the attitudes of kindness, curiosit y, and non-judging. And like any thing in life, the more you practice it, the better you will get at it. So, it 's not about not having all these thoughts, its more about increasing your capacit y to becoming aware of the thoughts, so you can decide if you want to stay with that thought process, or just let it go. You're taking back control from your thoughts. If you decide to star t a mindfulness practice, I would recommend f inding a course where you will learn from an experienced teacher. One of the best relaxation tools I teach on my courses is, the 4-7-8 relaxation breathing technique. This is where we intentionally change the way we breath, so we can move into a state of relaxation. This is a brilliant tool to have in the toolbox for when you are in a state of stress, can't sleep, about to go in for an inter view, inside an MRI machine, etc. I will give a brief description, and it is explained in more depth in my video course, or if you look up Video: Dr. Weil's Breathing Exercises: 4-7-8 Breath (dr weil.com) When we are stressed, we breathe in a rapid shallow way and when we become aware that we are in a stress response (being mindful), we can use this tool to move from a stress response to a relaxation response. The 4-7-8 works like this: We breath in through the nose for the count of 4 (getting plent y of oxygen into the body) Hold the breath for the count of 7 (oxygenating all the blood around the body) Breath out through the mouth strongly for the count of 8 (helping to activate that relaxation response) Please note that the count doesn't have to be a count in 'seconds', it can be slower than that until you get used to the practice. The goal is not to get light headed. You can do this as many times as needed, depending on your situation. I would use the 4-7-8 relaxation breathing technique before I do my formal practice of meditation. This helps me become more relaxed and to settle into my meditation. I would strongly recommend practicing this ever y day, so when the time comes that you really need it, you are ready. A mindfulness practice can suppor t you in so many ways in your in life, and the only way to truly know if it works, is to practice it. It has changed my life. That doesn't mean I wake up ever y morning with a smile on my face and run around the house high f iving all my family. My practice has suppor ted me on focusing on the good in my life, by putting my energ y into the positives, I can grow all that is good in my life. You only have so much energ y ever y day. What do you focus on? What do you give your energ y to? Does it nourish you or deplete you? A mindfulness practice suppor ts you in gaining clarit y, awareness, and space, so you can respond instead of reacting to what happens to you in life. I would like to leave you with some simple tips to suppor t your health and wellbeing. 1. Practice gratitude. "If you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you, no matter what is wrong with you". ( Jon Kabat-Zinn) 2. Take one minute ever y day to sit and just 'be'. Feel your breath coming in and out of your body, this can be through the mouth or the nose. (meditate) 3. Practice the 4-7-8 relation breathing technique. 4. Become aware of what you let into your head. All that bitching and moaning comes at a cost. 5. Practice being kinder to yourself. You're doing the best you can. Be aware of how you speak to yourself, the tone of voice you use. Be kinder to yourself, life is hard enough. There's just not enough room to cover ever y thing or to explain what I have mentioned in depth. There are dif ferent t ypes of meditations, and dif ferent ways to do them. Please check out my video mindfulness course: Video Mindfulness Course for serving and retired members of the Defence Forces - €10 (all proceeds go to the O.N.E.) - Inward Bound Mindfulness I have it reduced from €99 to €10 and all proceeds goes to the O.N.E. Video course ad. Fergus on his graduation day

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