Stress affects people in different ways. I personally feel very tired and lethargic during these periods and start to worry about things, like a future event.

Other people suffer from panic attacks, become very shaky and nervous, feel sick in the stomach, become sad and can begin to think in a very negative way.

Most of the conditions I have described above are actually a mental and not so much of a physical problem. This is why I believe meditation to be an excellent form of stress relief or stress management.

I know all about the benefits of meditation and stress. Stuttering ruined my early life and caused me to lose a lot of my self-confidence. I worked hard to stop stuttering and was eventually rewarded with fluency at the age of 21.

Stress and worry also affected my work life within the composite door company where I held quite a senior position. At time I would worry far too much about the trivialities of work.

Positive effects of meditation:

It can lower your heart rate

It relaxes your breathing and can even make it slower

It can lower blood pressure

It can increase your self-esteem by making you think in a more positive way

Helps you to think in a more logical and clear way

Helps you to reduce stress

Types of meditation:

Walking meditation

Mandala meditation

Yoga meditation

Sitting meditation

Prayer meditation

Visualisation meditation

I personally prefer the sitting meditation. I try to make time around three of four times a day when I will sit down to meditate. At the start I was quite unsure as to the whole aspect of meditation and whether it would prove to be beneficial. I must admit that I really found it hard to fully focus at this point. With practice and realising that I needed this to work for me, I managed to get enough concentration and focus to see the full benefits.

A lot of the people in my circle of friends think that I am a bit mad, including my best friends Dave and Pete who work in the DVD authoring sector. They can not believe that I actually just sit there and think. Meditation has had such a positive effect on my life and continues to do so, therefore my friends can mock as much as they like. I actually believe that some of them should try it themselves but they always laugh at the suggestion.

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