Relax, unwind, and de-stress

Meditation can often brings up many images, such as sitting bolt upright with your legs crossed, fingers making up a circle with each hand resting on each knee, of chanting an affirmation over and over again, or staring at a spot on the wall for hours. Although these ways of meditating are extremely beneficial and involve a form of discipline which forms part of the meditative state, here at Ongoing Support we like to use movement, our senses, and our body to meditate.

Meditation, relaxation, breathing techniques and hypnosis really all mean the same thing; ‘state-change’ (changing your physiology), you will naturally state change throughout each day and night, depending on how you personally respond to your environment, however sadly many people do not incorporate a relaxation/meditation state change within their daily routine, one that connects your mind and body together consciously in order to create a feeling of ‘at one with yourself’.

There are many good reasons to start meditating, it can help manage anger, stress, anxiety, depression, low mood, sleeping problems, physical pain, bereavement and loss, ME, fibromyalgia, and many other life issues. Short bursts of meditation have been shown to be as beneficial as a nap to help refresh the body, and indeed many people do fall asleep during meditation, although we view this as your body and mind communicating to you about what you need most (once you have let go of tension in your body and relaxed your thought processes).

We like to think of our relaxation sessions as being no different to going to the gym, or Zumba for that fun mind and body workout that improves your strength, stamina and fitness; that you could take an hour out of your weekly grind to really pamper and take care of yourself – body and mind!

So what makes us different to anybody else offering meditation classes? Well, we (Dena and Mark) are both experienced clinical psychotherapists (12 years+), so we work with both the body and mind every day – our own and our clients. We routinely use and teach meditation and relaxation therapeutically for a variety of presenting problems (such as stress, anxiety, depression, anger etc), and we pay close attention to the links between our bodies, minds and energy systems, encouraging acceptance within ourselves and promoting self-care. We are also both qualified and experienced martial artists / instructors (traditional karate), where the bringing together of mind, body and spirit (otherwise known as ‘the martial way’ or ‘way of life’) promotes harmony, knowledge, integrity, respect, and courage. And finally we really do like to have fun, laugh and enjoy ourselves and our life.

Our relaxation sessions themselves can also include setting the room up prior to your arrival:

UNWIND WITH OUR COLOUR CHANGING LIGHTS

These change the mood of the room completely. We can set it to a particular colour, or have them rotating through the full spectrum of colour, which can induce a hypnotic trance all by themselves On evenings when we use colour therapy meditations, we will synchronise the LED lighting to match too, so you can really integrate the colour into your meditation.

DE-STRESS WITH SOME MEDITATION MUSIC

The music itself just carries you away to distant places and promotes relaxation from head to toe. We have digital music at our fingertips so we can create themed meditations and create a variety of different moods.

EXPERIENCE OUR FULLY GUIDED MEDITATION

We can also pick a theme for the evening, and base a meditation around your needs, so that we can guide you gently into and out of relaxation. If you are not used to meditation this will be of particular importance, as it is much easier to follow instructions than to make your own up. There will usually be a guided relaxation to begin with, using your body or your senses; following this, a guided meditation with a 15 minute gap to enjoy the meditative peak state (and drift away with the music); and then a graded guided awakening back to the relaxation state, and finally brining your awareness back to the room. If needed we also will do some energising exercises before you leave and return home (this can be particularly helpful if you are driving).

These elements together create a very special environment indeed, one that helps you to get in touch with yourself and sooth away the stresses of your week in a variety of different ways. Because we can vary different elements of each mediation session, each one can be different.

Our relaxation and mediations sessions are the same cost as individual therapy sessions, and they can be arranged alongside your therapy, or as a separate service. You can call us on 079 800 61115, or email us.