Meditation for Modern Living

Niamh Keane is one of Europe's leading female meditation teachers and a trained ICF Coach. Here we explore how meditation can help us to find balance in the digital age.

Welcome to the 21st century, where we are over-producing stress chemicals, under-producing endorphins, alert, always 'on' and easily triggered. Most people that come to see me are 'stressed', it's the new 'busy' and it is wreaking havoc with our nervous systems.

My observation having taught hundreds of people how to meditate, is that what people are craving now more than ever, is a greater sense of connection with themselves, in their relationships, their work and within their community. We live in a modern, highly digital world, where we are sometimes more connected to our devices than we are to each other.

The days of meditation being perceived as a practice for hippies, monks and those living in Ashrams are gone. Today the modern meditator is the local taxi driver, the global business leader, the stay at home mom, the CEO, the school child, the fund manager. It is for everyone and it is my job as a teacher to make it accessible but more importantly, to empower students to develop a self-sufficient practice.

The meditation practice I teach is an ancient, simple, effortless technique which is adapted to suit our modern way of living. The practice itself is twenty minutes, twice a day and is like a little vacation for your mind. Working at very deep physiological and neurological levels.

One of the most profound effects of meditation is that it can help to de-excite the nervous system, taking us out of our our fight or flight response and into a more balanced state. When this occurs, the nervous system can begin to rid itself of any pain and trauma that it may be carrying, resulting in you feeling much lighter, less stressed, connected and more balanced. It also develops a part of the brain called the neocortex, which is concerned with rational thought and which governs our creativity, efficiency and productivity. All of which are essential for our performance at work.

Deep meditative practices free up our subconscious mind and the result is that it creates the room and space for us to be free from overthinking, anxiety, emotional pain and to be better able to develop and nourish our relationships with ourselves and importantly, with others too.

In the short-term, meditation can of course be a quick-fix and can give you some respite from those stressful feelings. Rather than the 'band-aid' approach, developing a consistent practice, can truly create long-lasting and effective change. Incremental change applied consistently over time yields the best results.

Modern advances in technology have many benefits for us as a collective but if we can begin to take just a small amount of time each day to connect with ourselves rather than our wifi, the benefits for us at an individual level and also on a societal level will be immeasurable.

Niamh Keane

www.niamhkeane.com

Telephone: +44 79433 91677

Niamh Keane is one of Europe's leading female Meditation Teachers and a trained ICF Executive & Life coach, working 1-1 with private clients and working with corporates around workplace wellness, stress management and mental health. Niamh also hosts numerous retreats throughout the year, which offer people the opportunity for deep rest and to completely reset.