Walking Meditation to Ease Stress

Start out by setting aside 10-15 minutes to walk. Leave all things that you don't absolutely need (keys, etc.), at your home or office. Outside, walk slowly, at about a third your normal pace, maintaining silence. Breathe in and out through your nose. Be aware of the breath as it passes in and out of your nostrils. Notice everything that you see, feel, smell, or hear, as well as everything that comes into your mind. As you notice, name the thought, feeling, or sensation to yourself. Breath in right nostril...tickle in left eyebrow...seeing tree bark...air around my face...and gently return to the breath. Just like any new habit, it takes time and patience to get good at this. As you get better, you can melt away emotional stress and re-focus in just a short period of time.

Meditate For An Open Heart

Meditation might be your prescription for a happier mind and kinder heart, a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows. Scientists worked with 16 Tibetan monks and 16 meditation novices, giving the beginners lessons on compassion meditation two weeks prior to a series of brain-scan experiments. Those brain scans-taken while the participants responded to different emotional cues-revealed that the monks had more activity in certain brain regions involved in processing empathy. The findings, according to study authors, suggest that meditation may train the brain to increase feelings of compassion and happiness.