Wellness Posts by Diana Lang

conscious moments

2007-11-14T08:55:49Z

Wellness.com - conscious moments by Diana Lang

I like to think of life's momentous experiences like beads on a string. Those moments that are important, valuable or rare are like beautiful colored beads that we lovingly thread onto this string of beads. Each bead symbolically represents a moment, an experience, a special person. As life goes on a gorgeous necklace of our lives is created, full of these moments that have meant something to us.

This little metaphor is a way to imagine making our lives more conscious. By recognizing these moments more often we become more fully alive to our experience. It is easy to see how a marriage or a birth of a child would be a bead on our string, but what about today? What about right now?

I like to think of every moment as being valuable. What I bring to it is what I get out of it. My own consciousness can make this moment something or nothing. A conversation can be life changing or mundane and forgettable. It is not the situation that is creating the meaning; it is the consciousness that I bring to it. So now a conversation with a friend or looking out the window on this rainy day can become memorable and a bead, or not.

One of the ways I make my moments conscious is by using my breath. When I awake in the morning or go to sleep at night I take a conscious breath. In between daily rituals like my morning tea or meditation, or taking a walk or going to the grocery store, I take a breath to establish myself in the place where I am. I was there. Now I am here, and everything is different. Between every activity and often even between thoughts, I pause and take a breath. Now, I am doing this. Now I am thinking this. This is a practice of becoming consciously aware.

A conscious breath says, "here I am." I was driving to work. And now I have arrived. The breath is a way for me to register that this is a new moment full of all the opportunity and potential that every moment is imbued with.

This is one of the most valuable tools I have. I use it all day long. Between every client and every class, between every activity in my day, I take a conscious breath. I also do this inside my experiences while they are happening like a song that is lifting my heart or a movie that touches me in a certain way that I want to always remember. I want it to be inscribed in my consciousness and in my heart. These aware moments then are indelibly written in my consciousness. They become part of me. They are beads on my string.

I call this whole phenomenon "being awake". There is a wide-awakeness about this way of being in the world. I am feeling, noticing, being, with all of my senses. I am practicing staying open to my experience.

Integrated deeply within this philosophy is nonjudgment. Judgment limits our experience of the moment. When we make a determination that says something is always like this, then it is. We then can go on automatic pilot, moving through our moments in one big swell. Time feels like it's going by too quickly. We can lose track of our lives. Days, months, years can go by without us really being in them.

By breathing in a moment we are choosing to stay awake to our life, whatever it brings, however it goes. This life-breathing awareness brings about a real connection to life. We breathe it in and receive the experience rather than reject it. Cynicism, sarcasm and judgment are all ways of separating from our experiences. We can remain untouched and unmoved. It is a kind of closure.

By breathing in the moment we are agreeing to be in it, to remember it; it goes on our string of beads. It belongs to us.

A spiritually conscious life is a life that has capacity. How much awareness we can hold is equivalent to our depth. This can be felt. It looks like magnetism or charisma. It is compassion and understanding.

A conscious breath is a physical/spiritual acknowledgement of the moment. My inhalation and exhalation establish me in the new moment that I am in. This way of breathing starts to create a living wellspring of moments that are now conscious. We start to realize we are holy and that every step we take is part of our sacred journey.

When we use the breath like this, life becomes a living meditation, seamlessly connecting the dots of our experience, one to another, like beads on a string, and soon we have a collection of moments that is an acknowledgment that this life and everything in it, is sacred.

By practicing conscious breathing we can live a more full and dimensional life. Every moment can be a surprise and a gift. As we move through the world with awareness and awakeness, our world is blessed by our open mind and heart.

Breathe your life in deeply. Live your life completely. Recognize that this moment, right now, is special and add it to your life's string of magical moments. Know that today is a new day and anything can be.

www.DianaLang.com

FIRES AND LAWSUITS AND BEARS - Stess and the Breath

2007-11-05T08:00:00Z

Wellness.com - FIRES AND LAWSUITS AND BEARS - Stess and the Breath by Diana Lang

Recently here in Los Angeles, our beautiful mountains from Topanga to Big Bear were on fire. Raging wildfires tore through the sage and the wild sumac that go up like firecrackers from this long drought we've been in. I watched from a half mile away as great, chugging helicopters filled to the brim, dumped their loads of ocean water on burning, smoking hillsides. I watched in awe as these great flying machines were pushed around by the hot, dry, wicked winds of Santa Ana that emerge every October like clockwork here in the City of Angels. Our beautiful heroic firemen could barely keep up.

Friends of mine were evacuated and fought the fire with their garden hoses. Fortunately, all of the people I know personally are fine, just beat up emotionally and psychically. But many did not fare as well. Thousands up and down Southern California were displaced, hundreds of homes burned to the ground, and many more were damaged badly.

When we have a crisis, whether natural or personal, how we handle our stress makes a difference in how we move through the experience and also how we remember it.

If stress isn't processed it can become a kind of post-traumatic stress syndrome like vets returning from war or natural disaster survivors. The compressed and relentless tension from a long endurance test of worry leaves an indelible impression on our lives. Anxiety and fear, that can range from hope to despair, takes us on an emotional roller-coaster ride that can leave a permanent mark on our psyche and photographic-like imprint in our unconscious minds, where just the smell of smoke from a nearby chimney can produce a panic attack.

This goes for any stress. Whether it be the stress of school exams or job worries, relationship problems or health concerns, stress takes a toll on our health and how we age.

By listening to our bodies we can learn better how to manage stress. We can do this by breathing deeply and consciously. By conscious breathing we can stay present to our experience so that we can process it. As David Viscott, M.D., a wonderful friend and mentor said to me so profoundly when I was seventeen, "Mental health is determined by our ability to stay emotionally current." I never forgot this and it has proved to be true. What we can't feel, we can't heal. It becomes the unconscious material of our life that leaks and spurts out unexpectedly. We wonder, how did this happen to me, because we don't see it coming, because it's unconscious.

A willingness to stay aware, by talking about it, crying about it, feeling about it, are all parts of the various stages of healing. And it all starts with the breath. Holding our breath is a way to feel in control. It stops us from consciously feeling what we are feeling. The feelings are still there, we are just holding them back. How many times have I heard my clients say they are sorry for crying, as if they have done something wrong. Crying is breathing. Crying is feeling. Laughing is feeling. Understanding is feeling. When we feel, we start to heal.

This process of breathing and feeling is a choice to experience our life with our heart's wide open. We are choosing to live largely and fully. We are fully engaged and awake to our experience - come what may!

By breathing, by staying conscious, we are making a choice. It is the opposite of reacting. It is a choice to respond. It is giving ourselves the time to decide how we want to respond. We can than choose how to respond from a world of choices instead of the knee-jerk reaction that just happens. The breath then becomes a catalyst both physically and symbolically of life force. It says, I want to experience my life fully and deeply, and we breathe it all in.

When you find yourself in a stressful situation remember to breathe. It will help you get centered and evaluate what is happening around you better. Your mind will be calmer and you can make the decisions that you need to. You become like a lighthouse in a storm. This lets you stay centered, relaxed and ready, clear and perceptive, so that whatever your next step is, it is taken from a place of connectedness and your inner knowing. You literally light the way for yourself and for others.

www.DianaLang.com

Rhythm of Life

2007-10-29T07:00:00Z

Wellness.com - Rhythm of Life by Diana Lang

The breath is a cycle. Inhale . . . exhale.

It is like a little life. A little experience. The breath teaches us about cycles. It teaches us that if we inhale, we must exhale. That something has a beginning and an end. It teaches us that life goes on, even after we exhale, another breath will be taken.

Every day, every moment, we are breathing. We don't have to remember to breathe, it happens automatically without any conscious effort on our part. It is like a metronome of our beingness.

Everything breathes. People, animals, everything on earth has an inbreath and an outbreath. In a sense, even the earth has a breath. Think of the ocean tide coming in and out, like an inhalation and an exhalation. Or the cycle of a day from sunrise (inhale) to sunset (exhale).

These are all little inbreaths and outbreaths of life. We inhale when we are born and we exhale as we die. There are Great cycles and small cycles, like the cycle of a ten-minute meditation or the cycle of a life.

If you start thinking of things in cycles both large and small, you will start to feel a whole new correspondence and connectedness to the flow of life. There are cycles within cycles, from breath to breath, minute to minute. Minutes are parts of hour cycles, hours are part of day cycles, and so on. We have all kinds of cyclic markers arising out of our intention based on inbreaths and outbreaths of months, seasons, birthdays, holidays, etc. All of them little cycles, little breaths, with intentions planted inside them with little time-released seeds that will sprout in these cyclic incubators of intention.

Situations and events have a cycle and a rhythm too. For instance, how I start a project affects the outcome of the project. How I begin something makes an impression like a thumb pressing into soft clay that molds the shape of things to come. The intention I put into anything I put my mind to, affects its outcome.

Imagine the power of intending consciously into these cycles of experience. Think of planting a conscious seed into this next cycle, whether it is a project you are working on or the general flow of your day. Imagine purposefully intending into a cycle of a new moon to a full moon, or this birthday to the next one.

As we near the cycle of the New Year, we have a powerful and timely opportunity to practice this idea of rhythms and cycles. The group awareness of a single day has even more power when so many minds collectively are looking at the same subject similarly, and at the same time! The New Year is a powerful cycle of time for renewal and re-intention.

And our breath is our reminder in every moment of these cycles. The breath is the bridge between the soul and the self. It is nonphysical. It is the amorphous mist that bridges matter and spirit. As we inhale and exhale we are in relationship with our lives. We can be inspired ("in spirit") as we breathe spirit in, and as we exhale we share our spirit with the world.

Breathing is as constant as the ocean tides. We breathe in, we inspire, we breathe out, we expire, a little death and an end of a cycle. When we breathe in again we are reborn once more.

Think of your next breath like this.

"I take a breath and I am born anew.
I take a deep breath and I can begin again.
And with this breath I recognize this new cycle that I am beginning now."

Nature's Rhythm

2007-10-22T07:00:00Z

Wellness.com - Nature's Rhythm by Diana Lang

I was at the local grocery store today and noticed they were playing Christmas carols. Not every song, but mixed in. It kind of snuck up on me as I found myself humming along to "White Christmas." I'm thinking to myself, it's not even Halloween yet.

All of nature is winding down around us and we are speeding up. The leaves are falling from the trees, fruits and flowers are waning, while we are racing to 2016. The tractor beam of "the Holidays" pulls us headlong into what would be by nature's rhythm a quieting time. By the time the holidays get here, we're all exhausted.

This all reminds me to slow down. To remember to take my time and take a deep breath. To follow nature's lead. To exhale. To let my attention turn inward. To let my leaves fall.

The faster things are moving around us the more important it is to be centered. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane; everything is quiet. There is this great hush while all around you the world is whirling.

Meditation brings us to that calm center. Life goes on with all its horn-blowing and noise, but the quiet part of us, the part of us that "knows," is completely still. Always. And all we have to do is come to this place. Return to this place within us. Where that stillness abides. And remember who we are, and what we're doing, and why we are doing it. We can exhale.

Meditation is the fastest way I know to become centered. The faster things are moving around me, the more profoundly I can slow down time. It's more noticeable because of the speed. It also doesn't occur to me as naturally as when I am already in a relaxed place. When things are moving quickly, I have to remember.

And truly, I want to remember. By remembering I can save myself hours and hours of fixing and reworking. I can regroup. I can decide again about my autopilot responses and feel which way to go, using all my senses, not just my automatic reflexes. I can choose a higher way, a better way with a higher outcome than the first thing that comes to my mind.

Meditation is a tool. It gives us a choice when it feels like we don't have one. It gives us brakes when it feels like we're being swept along. Meditation gives us a cosmic PAUSE button and the power of will to make the highest choice for highest good for all concerned.

As life crashes and heaves forward we can tread softly and thoughtfully. We can look for the little glints of light that are hidden in our loved one's eyes or in the sparkle of a dewdrop on a flower's petal. We can feel the light and the love that is in every sacred moment.

And we can inhale again.

Can't Sleep? Meditation as an Antidote for Insomnia

2007-10-15T07:00:00Z

Wellness.com - Can't Sleep? Meditation as an Antidote for Insomnia by Diana Lang

One of my students called me the other day from Paris asking me to please send a copy of my meditation CD to her as quickly as possible. She asked if I would send it overnight or whatever way was fastest to get it to her seven-year-old son. It was an emergency, she told me. They had forgotten it at home here in Los Angeles and her son just doesn't go to sleep without it.

I mailed it out, smiling to myself. What a great honor, I thought, that this little guy uses my meditation to fall asleep with. He is tapping into one of my primary intentions when I originally designed the compilation. I wanted the listener to feel calm and to know he was loved and safe. I know, from thirty years of teaching meditation, in ten of thousands of classes, that in order to meditate we need to get the body and mind calmed down so that we can move into deeper places in ourselves. I made the CD with this in mind. Quiet the mind and the rest will follow, including sleep.

I have a feeling many of my students use my meditation to fall asleep. We are all running around pretty ragged these days, managing families and work, and all the rest. Our minds become overtaxed and overwrought with anxieties over our children, our finances, etc. Many of us are living in such a state of nervous anxiety, sometimes even chronically, that when we finally lay down from a long day, we still can't let go of our mental restlessness. We end up staring up at the ceiling, hoping desperately to fall asleep. Even the worry that we can't fall asleep just creates another anxiety, and the whole cycle of consternation is reignited again with yet another worry.

Studies out of Harvard Medical School led by Herbert Benson, MD's team who wrote "The Relaxation Response" show that relaxation techniques like deep breathing and meditation help to relieve the effects of chronic sleep-onset insomnia. We can take advantage of this in our lives right now by practicing deep breathing and by creating an inner stillness that is conducive to sleep.

Ironically, as life moves faster and faster there is a higher likelihood of insomnia. You'd think because we are doing more we'd be more tired at the end of the day. But it's not physical labor we are mostly engaged in as perhaps our forefathers were. We're not farming and working with our bodies as much as we are sitting in front of computers or in traffic. Life has become more a mental exertion than a physical one, so that means we need new tools to deal with this agitated and amplified mental whirling. We can find ourselves wondering after staring at a computer screen all day, how do we turn it off?

If we are worn out in the day from not sleeping at night we are going to find ourselves feeling weak and not our best selves out in the world. A kind of sleep-deprivation mode sets in. This can weaken our immune systems making us more susceptible to colds and the like. In this state our minds are not as focused or alert for the things we need to be "up" for. We can find ourselves constantly trying to keep up, catch up, and move up the rungs of a ladder that seem to climb upward to infinity.

The whole trick is to sloooow down. Somehow, someway, right in the middle of everything, take a deep breath. This will give you much-needed perspective. It will open your heart again and reconnect you with what is truly meaningful to you. And my little meditation can become like a lullaby reminding you that everything is okay right now and you can relax.

By meditating you can learn to go into deeper states of relaxation and even inspiration. You can create a state of relaxation that will help your body heal, or simply fall asleep. However you use meditation, it is a simple, drug-free and inexpensive alternative to insomnia.

BLUE DOTS . . . and Breathing

2007-10-10T07:00:00Z

Wellness.com - BLUE DOTS . . . and Breathing by Diana Lang

After I posted my last post "Take a Deep Breath", I received many responses from people saying that, while they realized the importance of conscious breathing in their daily lives, they were not sure how to remember to do it.

We would all like to remember to take deep, oxygen-filled breaths, hopefully many times in a day, but we are often so caught up in the moment-busy at work, busy with children, busy with life-that we just forget to. The big whirl of life is all-involving, all-consuming, and we barely can take time for dinner sometimes, let alone remember to take a deep breath. When we are stressed, it can almost seem ridiculous to take a deep breath compared to the magnitude of the situation we find ourselves in. Breathing doesn't seem like it can make much of a difference when we're up to our ears in worries.

But it does make a difference. Conscious and deep breathing has a very different impact on the body than unconscious and automatic breathing. When we breathe consciously a whole series of chemical, hormonal and physical reactions occur. Simply put, more oxygen in the body helps the body function better. Multiple studies have shown that oxygenation of the body calms the stress response. It lowers blood pressure, slows the heart rate and calms the mind. In this naturally improved state we can make better critical decisions and experience more organized brain function and a higher level of concentration.

Imagine you are late for a meeting and in the middle of a traffic jam. You know you are going to be late. There's really nothing you can do except get there safely. This is a good time to breathe. Just lighten your foot on the gas pedal, relax your shoulders and take a long, deep breath. Right away you will notice a change in your body and the way your hands are gripping the steering wheel. You realize that you'll get there when you get there and that tailgating or honking isn't going to make things any better or get you there any faster. You find yourself slowing down. Then you take another deep breath, and before you know it you realize that your mind has moved from racing to relaxing. This is the power of the breath. If you went into that meeting upset and late and jangled, your meeting could have a very different outcome than the one where you took a moment to collect yourself with your breath.

Here is my favorite tool to remember to breathe consciously.

Blue dots.

At the office supply store you can buy little sticky blue dots that are usually used for organizing files. Buy a sheet of them and put them all around your house, your office and your car.

Every time you see a blue dot it means: TAKE A DEEP BREATH.

Wherever I spend a lot of time I put a blue dot. I put them on my computer, my telephone, my bathroom mirror, on the rearview mirror in my car. People ask me about them sometimes. Why is there a blue dot on your iPhone? When I tell them about my "blue dot game" it becomes a reminder to me and them. Often they start putting blue dots on their things too and now their blue dots remind me to breathe!

Our breath is like the ocean. It moves in and out like the tides. It is as natural as nature. A conscious breath can change the whole outcome of your day. It is definitely worth remembering. Your deep cleansing breath is just one blue dot away!

Yoga, Meditation Shown to Help Breast Cancer Patients

2007-10-03T07:00:00Z

Wellness.com - Yoga, Meditation Shown to Help Breast Cancer Patients by Diana Lang

The breasts are symbolic of nurturing and love. As many of you know, October is breast cancer awareness month. This is an important time to support this vital cause. Many of us have been faced with this health challenge or know someone who has. I have had the privilege of walking with many women as they have moved through breast cancer. I have been given the gift of witnessing the hero's journey that these courageous women must embody to heal themselves. It is not for the faint of heart and is one of the most transformational journeys that I have ever witnessed. These women must learn to not just give love but to receive love, to truly love themselves.

One of the most valuable tools I can offer to help women through this challenging time is meditation. It is one of the most potent tools I know of that teaches us, directly and truly, self-love of the highest kind. It is this quality that we need to develop for optimum healing. We need to take care of ourselves. We need to love ourselves. We need to make ourselves a priority, not just while we are healing, but forever more.

Meditating gives us a place to return to, a home within ourselves where we can renew and rejuvenate. It helps us prioritize all the aspects of our lives and regroup, to strategically and lovingly re-aim our intention for a healthy, meaningful, love-filled life.

Over the 30 years that I have been teaching yoga and meditation I have noticed that many women are better givers than receivers. We need to practice receiving love too. Energy must flow both ways or there will be an imbalance, in and out, just like the breath. In yoga we learn self-awareness. We learn to listen to our bodies and our breath. Through physical movement, breathing and meditation techniques we learn to respect and nurture our bodies, physically, mentally and spiritually. If it should happen that you find yourself or a loved one with this health challenge, a yoga and meditation practice will help strengthen the body's ability to heal.

For instance, a study from the University of Texas at the Anderson Cancer Center showed that breast cancer patients who do yoga tend to enjoy better health, have less fatigue and experience less daytime sleepiness. Even a short yoga program including meditation, relaxation, breathing exercises, stretching, imagery and physical movements can be very useful at reducing the side effects that come with breast cancer treatment. What's more, there is also a direct link between yoga and meditation and improved self-esteem. This can be an important issue given the hair loss and other issues associated with undergoing chemotherapy.

This age-old practice really works. The physical and emotional health benefits of yoga and meditation have been known for thousands of years. This and other studies shed well-needed light on how lifestyle changes such as exercise and yoga help women with the emotional and physical challenges of breast cancer.

So during this month of October, in support of breast cancer awareness and in fellowship with women everywhere, I encourage you to take advantage of these ancients systems in order to gain a whole new perspective on health awareness, from the inside out.

And you can start right now. Just take a deep breath and feel the moment. The moment is now. And now is all there is.

"Everything you do right now ripples outward and affects everyone." - David Deida

Take a Deep Breath...

2007-10-01T07:00:00Z

Wellness.com - Take a Deep Breath... by Diana Lang

Hello everyone. My name is Diana Lang. I am a writer and a teacher of yoga and meditation since 1980 and have worked with thousands of people over the years to help them learn techniques and perspectives that help relax, rejuvenate and enlighten. This blog will offer tips and tools for stress reduction and deep relaxation in real life. I will present ideas and things you can apply immediately, on the job, in traffic and at home, even if you don't have 15 minutes to meditate. These are things you can do right now, right while you are reading this or in between patients that will center you and relax you and help you in more ways than you know. I like to start at the beginning of things and the breath is that. It's the first thing we do when we are born and it's the last thing we do as we die. It is the metronome of our lives. It is a physical manifestation of our energy and our life force. The breath indicates how much life force we will let ourselves take in, just enough, or deep, liberating, life-giving breaths. Much of the time we are holding our breaths. You might be right now. Notice if the breath is shallow or deep as you are reading this now. It wouldn't be surprising if it is shallow. Reading is a common time to hold your breath. When we concentrate, when we focus, the breath becomes more and more still. When we are excited or passionate, like when we are laughing or crying, the breath gets deeper and fuller. Our breath reflects our ability to take in life. The inhalation is our ability to let it in; our exhalation is our ability to let go. All of us have a propensity to do one segment of the breath better than the other. I have noticed that many health care professionals tend to be better exhalers than inhalers. We give it all away. We need to inhale more. But breathing in deeply can seem to mean taking on more responsibility, feeling more, and we may already be overwhelmed. But the breath that we are not taking is also the breath we are not getting, and the more you give, the more life force you need, the more breath you need. Some of us hold our breaths all the time. We take minimal breaths in and out, just enough to keep the body running. Others of us will be good inhalers. We take the breath in well but may have a harder time letting go. Of course the optimal breath is to breathe evenly in and out. And as we do more oxygen is moved through the body, our hormones and chemistry change, our organs can function better, from our lungs to our brain. A deep breath says I am here, I am awake, I am with myself fully. With a deep breath you can embrace the day and your patients, and not lose yourself. So take a deep breath now and see how you feel. Go out into your day with a big breath and feel yourself seize the day and add your beautiful and loving note to this world even more!