Meditation Monday on your Lunch Break

Why You Should Take a Relaxing LUNCH BREAK...According to a new study, we concentrate better and feel less stressed when we purposefully detach from work and enjoy a real BREAK. I know the importance of BREAKS IN A WORKDAY. The science [http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_working_longer_wont_make_you_more_productive] clearly shows that taking a cognitive timeout helps us to work better and feel better, and personal experience confirms that. But, still…Like many Americans, I sometimes find myself working right through LUNCH. I get lost in my work, or I think, _Hey, if I just finish this project, it will be out of my hair and then I can relax._ But a newly published study [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28358570] suggests this is the wrong approach. It turns out that taking a deliberate break from work with a short walk in the park or a bit of mindful relaxation can have powerful effects on our end-of-day concentration, stress, and fatigue. In this study, participants in cognitively demanding fields—such as public administration, education, engineering, and finance—were randomly assigned to either take a slow, 15-minute stroll in a park (without much physical exertion) or do 15 minutes of mindful relaxation exercises during their LUNCH BREAKS EVERY WORKDAY FOR TWO WEEKS. The relaxation exercises consisted of progressive muscle relaxation [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_muscle_relaxation], deep breathing, and paying attention to thoughts and sensations in a non-judgmental way. Both groups were instructed beforehand on how and where to take their walk or mindfully relax. Come on over and let's meditate together!  Each class will utilize several different meditation techniques along with specific breathing patterns in order to get specific results. There are as many different meditations as there are exercises, you can work different parts of your subconscious doing different techniques, the same way you'd do different exercises to work different muscles.