Strong EnCore® Meditation Technique
There are 5 basic steps to the Strong EnCore® Meditation technique. The entire practice should take you only about 20 minutes and it requires no equipment, just your body, your mind and your breath.
Ideally, you can watch the videos, and once you are familiar with the steps, try and do the practice by yourself. Do not worry about getting it perfect - just start and stay consistent. Make it your own!
Video 1 - Intro to Strong EnCore Meditation technique
In a nutshell, here are the steps:
Move your body - stretch, clear the energy flow through the body.
Rapid relaxation exercise: 3-part breath
Stillness and meditation practice
Alternate nostril + humming breath
Expression of gratitude
1. Movement - setting the stage for stillness. Most basic step in a Qi gong practice - allowing energy pathways called meridians to be open and freely allow energy to flow through.
2. Vagal toning breath - rapid relaxation of body and mind
The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve of the brain (Cn10). It starts in the brainstem, just behind the ears. It travels down each side of the neck, across the chest and down through the abdomen. Breath can stimulate your vagus nerve, which can reduce stress, anxiety, anger, and inflammation by activation the “relaxation response” of your parasympathetic nervous system.
Diaphragmatic breathing (also referred to as "slow abdominal breathing") is something you can do anytime and anywhere to instantly stimulate your vagus nerve and lower stress responses associated with "fight-or-flight" mechanisms. Deep breathing improves heart rate variability and diaphragmatic breathing is part of a feedback loop that improves vagal tone by stimulating the relaxation response of the parasympathetic nervous system.
3. Stillness & Meditation practice (set a timer for 10 minutes)
We begin by using the senses as a portal to meditation. In connecting to your senses, you are stimulating the cranial nerves, which are integral for optimizing your every experience.
Sound: CN 8
Sight - CN 2,3,4,6
Touch - CN 5
Smell - CN 1
Taste - CN 9
(Note: An increased production of watery saliva in the mouth is an indication that your body is activating the parasympathetic nervous system.)
Awareness, without attachment to the practice of categorically labelling the senses, is the key to this stage of the exercise.
After this, simply allow your body to be still and notice any sensations you might feel on your body. Notice any thoughts that might arise. Be effortlessly curious, and enjoy simply noticing where your mind goes before gently guiding your attention back to your breath. This is the act of meditation!
4. Alternate nostril breathing - this simple practice is shown to improve neural impulses between left and right sides of the brain across the corpus colosseum (the ridge between the two hemispheres of the brain). This is important because it allows you to access wisdom of past experiences or recall facts that are relevant to the present moment situation which you are in.
Humming breath for nitric oxide - The production of nitric oxide in the nasal sinuses can be increased by simply humming. Drs. Weitzberg and Lundberg published an article in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine describing how humming increased nitric oxide up to fifteen-fold in comparison with silent exhalation. They concluded that humming (using the Bhramari technique from yoga, which involves humming on the exhale) causes dramatic increase in sinus ventilation and nasal nitric oxide release.
Nitric oxide plays an important role in vasoregulation (the opening and closing of blood vessels), neurotransmission, immune defense and homeostasis (preventing high blood pressure etc.)
5. Gratitude - Research shows that simply asking yourself what you are thankful for reduces stress, increases optimism, lowers levels of cellular inflammation and facilitates better sleep.
Emmons & Mishra (2011) explored many of the above benefits in “Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know.”
Gratitude buffers people from stress and depression (Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley, & Joseph, 2008).
Practice saying “thank you” in a real and meaningful way. Be specific. For example, “Thank you for taking the time to read this article and leave a comment. I enjoy reading your contributions because they broaden my understanding of this subject.”
SOURCES:
The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown
The Warrior’s Meditation by Richard L. Haight
Stress Less, Accomplish More by Emily Fletcher
All information has been fact-checked by physicians to ensure the practices outlined in this exercise are safe and not harmful for any healthy individual. Obviously, if you have specific health conditions, please check with your personal physician, or reach out to us so we can try and direct you with appropriate modifications for this exercise.