Reinventing the way Teachers Live, Love, and Teach through Guided Meditation

Dear Fellow Educator,

My sincere hope is that this guide will help you in your journey as an educator, life-long learner, and influencer.

Remember, though, that this is merely a guide, not medical advice for any ailment. But it certainly can’t hurt.

As Herbert and Benson, Harvard medical doctors, have pointed out: “Meditation decreases oxygen consumption, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, and increases the intensity of theta and delta brain waves – the opposite of physiological changes that occur during stress.”

We all strive for less stress.

The value of meditation is not in the length, but in the starting.

For you, the change might be fast and profound. A transformational change — or it might be slow and less profound at first. “It is for those who wish to change.”

Meditation re-orients and reprograms the brain to give you a sense of control over your days and your life in general.

From Frustration to Calmness

Meditation can take you from frustration to calmness, from impatience to empathy, from anger to compassion, from arguments to peaceful agreement, from procrastination to complete focus, from disagreements to harmony, from absolute obedience to peaceful negotiations, from dysfunction to order. That’s a big promise, but I do promise that if you keep on with the 21 days, your life will change. You will feel more peaceful; you will have more peace, harmony, compassion, empathy, order, focus, and control over your days and life.

It is a commitment, but, I hope the reason you looked at this was to find a lasting solution to a problem, your frustrations, lack of control, not just a onetime deal to get through this one day. Meditation can give you just that. I believe these are words worth repeating: “It is for those who wish to change.”

Enjoy Sense of Control

Meditation gives you a sense of control. Many times, we feel utterly lost in the hustle of everyday life, trying to juggle work, family, friends, and commitments.

To take control of your day and life, you need to be mindful of each moment and event. This will take time. Meditation and mindfulness is not a cure-in-a-minute-type hype. But don’t worry if even after several days and weeks of meditation your thoughts wander off while at an important event. This is perfectly normal. In fact, you probably shouldn’t try to be in a moment 100% every day, every minute of the day. That would be exhausting. Your brain needs the “downtime” to recoup and rethink events, happenings, and thoughts.

The “daydreaming,” if you will, should always be part of your day and life and with meditation, it can become more vivid and real. You might be inspired by your daydreaming in totally different ways than before.

Breathing promotes physical wellness and restores cells.

Breathing promotes healing and ensures circulation of both oxygen and blood throughout every fiber of your body. And because breathing is automatic, we can make it a focal point of meditation.

If it can do that on its own, imagine what conscientious breathing can do for you.

So, the first thing to do is to figure out how to breathe and focus. Now, this can be very hard at first, so don’t give up. I often notice while I’m meditating and practicing yoga that I’ve stopped breathing deeply, with intention, and that’s okay. Just re-start.

Notice how you breathe. Take a deep breath and exhale. If you are sitting in a relaxed position, you probably filled the upper part of your lungs and then, as you exhaled, you slouched. It’s okay, don’t worry, most of us do it exactly the same way.

How to Breathe in Meditation

Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. Some people like to breathe only through the nose. This takes a bit of practice, so if that’s your way, just keep practicing even if it doesn’t feel right immediately.

Now, sit in a chair with your back straight and pretend there is an empty balloon in your stomach and you are going to fill it. Breathe in and fill the balloon. When you exhale, think of the balloon and try to get all the air out of it. This means that your exhale is about twice the length of the inhale. You could count to 3 to 4 as you inhale, and then count 6 to 8 as you exhale.

Another variation of the inhalation/exhalation in calming and meditating breaths is to use the 4/7/8 regulation. Inhale for 4, retain breath in for 7, and exhale for 8 counts. Now, again, remember, any type you adopt, will take time. And as with meditation in general, the longer it’s taking and the harder it is, the more you need it. 🙂

The breathing helps you stay present in what you’re trying to accomplish. “Live in the moment” as they say.

Posture in Meditation

There is no right or wrong way to lie or sit while meditating. Choose a posture that is comfortable for you. You don’t have to contort your body into a Lotus position (this is the posture you see established yogis use- sitting with a straight back and legs on top of each other, legs crisscrossed on top of each leg). I’ve been practicing for more than a year now, and no matter what, this is not comfortable for me.

You can simply sit on a chair or lie on your bed. It is recommended that either way, your back is straight. So even if you can’t lie all the way down on your bed, still try to have your back straight – propped up by pillows, if needed.

Devote yourself to action, to doing this every day for the next 21 days. You CAN carve out 10-15 minutes every day. Your life might depend on it. Or at least your sanity.

You only need to get up a few minutes earlier to reap the rewards. Or maybe it will be easier for you to do this in your classroom, before anyone gets there, before anyone else is in the building or classroom. Take the 15- minute break at work you always feel that you need. Give time for yourself — take the 15 minutes out of your lunch (and believe me, I know exactly how hard it would be- my lunch was exactly 35 minutes long, and that included the “passing time” for the students), end of the day (lock your classroom door if needed), sit in your car for the time it takes you to meditate, take a break, — control your day.

Pledge this gift to yourself, decide, and commit.

Most sincerely,

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KEEP READING: Day 1 Creating a Sense of Control and Quiet

©Taru Nieminen 2017 The Happy Teacher Solution — Meditation for Teachers