Ep. 12 Meditate to Release Weight - Part 1 & 2 (11 min Meditation)
If you have been listening each week you will have noticed that a couple of weeks have passed with no episode. Well, quite simply I started out with the best intentions of posting once a week, but it’s been a bit of a best intentions, human results kind of scenario.
And right now as I record this, it’s Sunday afternoon and we are all still physically distancing as we together try to slow the rate of COVID-19. It’s been just over seven weeks or so now and I’ve noticed some trends out there that feel familiar like starting off with big goals for what you will accomplish during this time of quarantine. I felt like that. I’m really fortunate in that I have a partner, and all my basic needs met so I have the luxury of thinking of how to best utilize this change.
If you are similar and have made big goals for yourself but when reflecting on your progress feel somewhat disappointed - like maybe you’ve made some progress but not as much as you’d like. Or maybe you’re just not feeling productive and all that motivated. I want to validate what you’re feeling. Whether it’s due to what’s happening in the world, or you’ve got other stresses going on. Whatever is happening in your external space that’s influencing you right now, just know that you are a human and it’s normal. Nothing is going wrong and it will get better.
Something that has drained a lot of my vitality has been the desire and expectation to be productive.
And when my body or mind isn’t willing or capable, there’s a lot of mind drama around that. There was a lot of mind drama around it just getting this podcast together!
So if you can relate I want to offer that it’s not always that we need to do more but that we need to focus on less. So with that in mind I really want to bring you this episode I’ve been working on for the last few weeks on meditation.
I know it can be a difficult habit for a lot of people. It has surprised me just how difficult it’s been for me to make it a habit, but I think that out of everything you could be trying to do during this time, above all else, this might be the most beneficial thing you can do for your mental, emotional and physical well being. AND I have a special treat for you at the very end of this episode that gives me a tingly sensation just thinking about it. So super excited to share that with you. But for now. Relax. Settle in to learn just how amazing simple mediation actually is.
I have been meditating on and off (mostly off) for the last 15 years or so. There have been times when I absolutely loved it and even looked forward to it, and other times when it just felt like it was yet another thing on my to do list. Which caused feelings of guilt. Maybe this sounds familiar.
You know you SHOULD be doing it for your health and well being but you kind of forget what it’s actually doing or maybe you’ve never been clear. You’re just not that motivated, you don’t feel a desire and it’s hard to find the time. So my hope is that after learning all of the research here you will be inspired to use meditation and make it a habit.
First, take a second to reflect on your preconceived notions about meditation.
That it’s a spiritual practice?
That you can do it right, or do it wrong?
Maybe you’ve tried it in the past and thought it didn’t do anything.
That it helps to calm you down or reduce anxiety?
What if you thought about it as a performance tool?
For both your body and your mind. That’s where I want to go today. I want to convince you that it’s more than a relaxation tool, it’s in fact a performance tool.
We’ll start with the physical benefits then the mental/emotional ones and I’ll also detail how it will help you release extra weight and stop overeating so your brain can’t tell you you’re confused about this.
Here’s what the research tell us about the Physical benefits:
It actually lengthens your life.
When researchers measured telomeres (the little shoestrings on the end of DNA that tell us our biological age) and they asked people to meditate 5 days a week for 60 days. After the 60 days, they measured again to find 74 percent of the people had actually lengthened their telomeres. They literally changed their DNA. And not the literally that we use now that means the opposite. 40% had a significant change. This is like adding months or years to your life just by meditating.
Meditation helps with a stronger immune system.
In terms of weight loss this is good. Getting a cold or flu is going to take you out of the game in terms of fitness and when you’re sick, you’re actually also mildly depressed, which can lead to more thoughts of food for comfort.
Decreases cortisol production.
Cortisol is known as the stress hormone because of its role in the body’s stress response. Research recently showed that cortisol production decreased significantly in the brains of subjects who participated in a mindfulness program like a regular meditation practice.
General signs and symptoms of too much cortisol include:
weight gain, mostly around the midsection and upper back
weight gain and rounding of the face
What’s really interesting is that if you measured your cortisol levels after your morning meditation and then again just before lunch, you would see that they would still be at a lower level then if you hadn’t meditated at all. So cortisol levels remain lowered even hours after your meditation session has ended.
I think this is maybe the most important of all the physical benefits. So often we’re eating out of low levels of chronic anxiety and we’re in the habit of turning to food to buffer it. So anything we can do to reduce our anxiety levels is going to go a long way toward our eating habits. Even if it’s simply taking a full minute of conscious breathing. Our breath is always there as a tool, so use it often. Stop, take a deep breath.
4. Improves Sleep.
For many of us a big culprit for sleep deprivation is work stress. In fact 85% of Americans report having lost sleep because of job-related stress.
I have definitely tossed and turned both in especially stressful periods at work and also sometimes just on a typical Sunday night before the work week starts.
Studies show that people who practice daily meditation sleep better and longer than people who don’t and that even ten minutes of guided meditation a day for just two weeks led to an enhanced quality and duration of sleep.
5. Helps with PMS.
God knows I need help with this. PMS ranges quite a bit among women, but most likely you’ve experienced both physical and emotional changes especially that week before your period starts, considered Week 4. Often this wonderful week brings bouts of irritability, difficulty concentrating and appetite changes to full-blown depression, fatigue and anxiety. A study from the University of North Carolina showed that women who completed a mindfulness-based stress reduction course reported better pain tolerance and emotional resilience.
Okay, so that’s the physical: lowers your biological age, supports your immune system, lowers stress response, helps sleep and reduces PMS.
So let’s chat about meditation in terms of a performance tool for your brain. For your inner world. Emotional eaters out there, listen up.
In general, the research seems to suggest that women who practice mindfulness are more aware and accepting of their bodies.
Why would this be?
Well, it connects us with ourselves right? Our inner worlds, our authentic self. It can be a space where we find clarity about what’s going on inside. A safe place for emotions and thoughts to rise up and be noticed without judgement. Remember, you cannot change what’s outside of your awareness.
When we get quiet, we give ourselves the opportunity to listen for what’s really going on for us, inside.
It’s not just checking out intellectually. It’s impossible to empty the mind. So what comes up? Anxiety, anger, sadness, self-pity. When that comes up it provides you an opportunity to identify your feelings and question the associated thoughts. There will be “good” feeling experiences and “bad” experiences when you meditate (feeling relaxed, serene or your back hurts, your mind is racing).
As a coaching student, you’ll begin to notice that that’s simply your mind labeling objective reality. It’s creating a story about your neutral circumstance. So how is this useful? Whatever we practice, we get good at. So if on a daily basis you are practicing watching your thoughts come in and watching the labeling process happening, you begin to deeply understand the distinction between objective, neutral circumstances and your thoughts ABOUT those circumstances.
This is like warrior ninja training for cravings.
The better you become at being in your body and watching your thoughts, the easier it will be to allow your cravings to pass through you instead of complying to them.
Through the witnessing of your thoughts you can see that they are not you. They can be chosen and you don’t have to believe the thoughts your brain is offering up in the moment.
This can be a tool for overcoming your primitive brain - your impatience, your impulse to bolt, your impulse to avoid discomfort.
There’s even evidence to support that meditation is literally building new neurological pathways.
This is why it gets easier. Your brain will always defer to the easiest, most familiar thought pattern. It’s programmed for efficiency.
And for so many of us who are not happy with our weight, it’s not easy being in our bodies. If we’re carrying extra weight, and especially if we’ve recently gained weight, it might be really uncomfortable both physically and emotionally to feel that.
So this is training you toward reconnecting with your body when your impulse might be to disconnect. This is what is meant by “listening to your body.” Which truly confused me for so many years. I thought, if I listen to my body I will literally eat cereal and Twizzlers for every meal. And to be fair, for many years my body was used to eating that way so it would be misguided into craving those foods. Over time though, as I’ve developed healthier habits and become better at listening, to my complete surprise actually, my body doesn’t want that.
My body wants to be healthy. It wants to be in optimal health. It wants vitality. If you are not there yet. Don’t worry. If the idea of your body craving vegetables, whole grains and lean protein seems like a pipe dream, completely out there, I totally understand. But trust me, it IS possible. And as you coach yourself towards a healthier lifestyle, it will inevitably become just how you live.
So if you’ll indulge me, let’s just do a quick exercise to show you what I mean. I’ll do it with you. Right now, no matter what you’re doing. Whether we’re cleaning, doing food prep or I’m with you on your commute, draw your attention to your right hand. Try to feel it from the inside.
What is the sensation? If you can sustain your attention on a part of your body for a length of time, you’ll often notice a tingling sensation. Our bodies love this. They thrive on attention.
Taking a few minutes out of your day to focus on your breath and your body is just a small thing you can do but if you’re consistent, it’s benefits will really add up over time. And also, your brain will be able to see the evidence of self care.
By that I mean, you will start to see yourself differently. You’ll see someone who takes really good care of themselves. And when that happens, your actions will naturally sync up with this new self concept. This is how people get into a momentum.
Meditation helps you be better at life.
It’s not about being better about meditation. Do you think you have to hustle, no pain, no gain to get to your goal. Going within is a far more efficient method of accessing your intuition.
What do you want?
There are different parts of your brain that want different things. The subliminal brain vs the logical and their not aligned. Intuition comes from our subliminal brain.
Language comes from our logical brain. When we apply language to intuition, we get insight. This alignment is the path to the future. It guides you . With insight we can take inspired action and change our life.
So just to wrap up here, meditation, or a mindfulness practice is the key to developing mastery over our minds.
It lengthens your life, supports our immune system, decreases cortisol, improves our quality of sleep, reduces PMS, trains our minds to tune into our bodies, connects us with our authentic self and builds a positive self concept.
To help support you in building a meditation practice, There will be a part 2 to this episode which is a 10 minute body scan meditation delivered by my dear friend and owner of Rena’s Method, Rena Chadwick (see below). I know you will love her soothing voice and beautiful energy. And I’ve put it on it’s own episode so that you can easily go back to it again and again. I’ll also put Rena’s contact info in the show notes for you too.
I hope I’ve given you enough reason to try a meditation practice. I know it can feel tough to squeeze it in, but do 5 minutes if that’s all you can do. It’s more about getting into the habit of taking care of yourself and making it a part of your routine. And if some days it looks like a few deep breaths throughout the day, that’s great too. We are in the business of self care, not in the business of guilting ourselves. Do what works for you.