Increase your in the zone time
Being in the zone is the greatest feeling a Martial Artist can experience, the problem for most people however is the duration of their focus is fleeting at best. Below are seven techniques that if practiced, will increase your “in the zone” time and turn you into a fierce, disciplined contender in the game of life. Use these techniques to gain the edge at school, at work, and at play.
Slow down your thought stream
Your brain stores every single second, of every single day, of your entire life. Think hard about that (wait don’t we’re tuning-out the busy thoughts) and you will understand the benefits that clearing your thought cache will have on your performance. Sit down for 5 minutes a day and out of those messily 5 minutes, try to have no thoughts for 30 seconds. “I can do that!” You say, oh yea? Try it.
Pretty difficult isn’t it? Your lucky I’m here to give you these easy steps to eliminate that clutter that fills your mind throughout the day, and experience the bliss of bei
ng nothing (Don’t worry you will become something again when your done, promise.) :
Candle Meditation Technique
- Grab a candle.
- Place the candle next to the spot you will be sitting at, or on the table in front of the place you will be clearing your mind.
- Get comfortable, be naked if you have too, bottom line is you have to be relaxed.
- Make sure candle doesn’t tip over accidently. (Your gonna be focused, you may not notice your house burning down.)
- Observe the serenading dance the fire is preforming as your drift into the realm of nothingness.
- If thoughts begin to creep in, let them pass through your mind and imagine them floating outward into the universe.
- When you feel that you’ve had enough, begin to focus on the center of your solar plexus and begin to feel yourself becoming more alert, refreshed, and energized.
- Get up, shake yourself out, and continue the day with love, positivity, and charity in your heart. You reap what you sow, be a good farmer and plan your crops early.
Are You Breathing Wrong?
Want to have more energy, more vitality, and a longer life? I don’t either, that’s why I make it a strict rule in my house that everyone keeps their shoulders tight and their stomach sucked in at all times! Just kidding, but seriously, this technique has to be one of the most effective exercises on this list, and one of the most beneficial things you can do for your health, yet most people don’t even know about it!
Correcting your breathing will take many months to many years of practice but in the end you can expect to obtain a higher IQ, lower blood pressure, and of course greater focus. Please practice the steps below daily for best results:
Warning: If you feel light headed during any of these exercises please, slow down and go at your own pace. Some people experience light headedness due to low red blood cell count / lack of iron, or they are capable of absorbing oxygen faster. In any case just go at your own pace but try to stick to the guidelines!
- Sit with your back straight, imagine an iron rod that extends through your spinal column into the ceiling, don’t let your posture slip as best you can.
- As you breathe, notice which part of your body you are breathing with, if your shoulders are moving you are most likely breathing with your upper respiratory system. You need to try and breath through your belly button so to speak so that you can fill your diaphragm full of air.
- Inhale through your nose for 8 seconds. (The duration of the inhale should equal 8 seconds)
- Exhale out of your mouth for 10 seconds.
photo credit: confusedvision
Turn Off The TV
“Do you know we are ruled by TV?”
–from the poem An American Prayer by Jim Morrison
You know it I know it, we watch way to much television. Don’t get me wrong, I know that with TV you can explore distant galaxies, experience things that you would have never dreamed possible, and learn about the weirdest food people can eat… But hey, you can take a break for just a couple of hours right?
Most people can’t actually, the way TV works is through a loop hole in your mind that means pain if you don’t tune in every evening. As your watching TV your mind is secreating an entire cocktail of chemicals into your blood stream constantly, it’s the same as someone who has a drug or alcohol addiction.
Every time you get your “fix” the pattern is re-affirmed as being necessary to your survival therefore you are more apt to not want to go without watching and you associate pain to the whole process of turning off the TV.
Try to turn off the tube for a few days at first, studies show that withdrawl symptoms from TV are similar to drug habits and you might go towards other negative habits to cope with the loss of television. Be vigilant in your attempt to limit your watching habits.
Related posts:
- Tranquility Tested: Meditation in the 21st Century “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” - Siddhartha Gautama, aka The Buddha...
