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The uninitiated might think meditation is all about ‘oms’ and incantations but, according to Warkworth yoga instructor Ingrid Le Prou, it’s a practical tool for de-stressing and strengthening the conscious mind.
At its essence, meditation is the practice of emptying the mind of all thought. However, Ingrid says for beginners it is easiest to focus on a single thought, such as noticing the sensation of breathing or repeating a set of words.
“I give people a word to repeat in their minds to focus on, because generally people sit there trying to clear their minds of thoughts, but it doesn’t work because the nature of the brain is to be active,” she says.
“If the mind wanders into thought, the key is to just gently bring it back. Even if it is constantly wandering and you keep bringing it back, that is some of the best meditation.”
Ingrid explains that meditation is like exercise for the conscious mind.
She says the stresses and constant stimuli of modern life keep people in a pattern of reacting rather than responding.
“We tend to live in the sympathetic nervous system, which is our flight or fight response. Meditation fires up the brain’s frontal lobe, which is responsible for self-control. It’s great for teenagers,” she says.
She adds that sometimes we have a thought and then immediately react, but meditation helps us to stop and assess that reaction first.
“It’s said that 80 to 90 per cent of our thoughts are repetitive unless we are conscious about what we are thinking, and unfortunately a lot of that can be negative and cause unnecessary worry.”
Ingrid says meditation for 20 minutes is an ideal length of time, but even meditating twice a day for five minutes will start to bring benefits to everyday life.
“It gives you the ability to focus under stress. With practice you can even go into the meditative mind when performing tasks and be less distracted.”
Ingrid periodically holds ‘breath work’ classes in her studio on Queen Street in Warkworth where she teaches people to train the vagus nerve.
“Vagal training is the new wellness trend that people are talking about. It’s called the wandering nerve because it spans the entire body.
“It is responsible for parasympathetic or unconscious control of functions from blinking to digestion and even your heartbeat.”
“In the workshop, we practice breathing technique to balance levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide to support function of the vagus nerve.”
Ingrid started her health training in the fitness industry, working in gyms and studying sport science before deciding to look at health more holistically.
She hosts daily yoga classes in Warkworth for all levels of experience.
