Oxfordshire Limited Edition – August 2019

146 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|August 2019

EmmaStowell-Cortenlooksathowanancientpracticecouldtransform

yourlife,takingyoufromstressedtostrongandsharp

FIND THAT SPACE

M

odernlifecantake

itstoll.Fromschool

runstocareers,there

isalwayssomethingto

thinkabout,something

todoandsomewhere

tobe–andsometimes,itcanallgetabit

much.

However,thereissomethingouttherethat

isbecomingmorepopularlyrecognisedas

beingagreatlifehack,enablingyoutodoit

allwhilekeepingyourmentalhealthintact.

Whatisthismagicalcure?Well,it’s

nothingnew–it’smeditation,andaccording

tocelebritiessuchasGwynethPaltrow,Liv

TylerandKatyPerry,it’sthebestthingyou

couldbedoingrightnow.Inthewordsof

Oprah:“Onlyfromthatspacecanyoucreate

yourbestworkandyourbestlife.”

Ok,here’salittlehistory.Meditationis

anancientpractice,originating(historians

believe)fromIndiaaround 3000 BCE.

Between 600 - 500 BCEthedevelopmentof

otherformsofmediationwasrecordedin

TaoistChinaandBuddhistIndia,however

itwasn’tuntil 653 thataJapanesemonk,

Dosho,discoveredZenonavisittoChina.

HetookthepracticebacktoJapanopening

thefirsthallofmeditation,afterwhichthe

practicegrewsignificantly.

Today,meditationhasgrowninpopularity

hugely,asweallreachtofindmorebalance

andpeacefulnessinourbusylives.ActressLiv

Tyler,whoisanadvocatefortranscendental

meditationsaidofthepractice:“Meditation

isanincrediblewayofcenteringmyself,of

calmingmyself,andreallygettingperspective

onwhereIam.ThebestthingaboutTM

meditationisthatit’ssuchapersonalthing.I

feltlikereachingoutandsearchingforways

tosoothemyselfandtohelpmyself.”

Regularmeditatorsreportfeelingmore

alive,moreenergetic,andmostimportantly

feelingliketheycanachievemorethanever

before.“WhenIdoit,Iliterallycanfeelthe

neuropathwaysinmymindopeningup,”

saysKatyPerry.“It’salmostlikeahalois

createdaroundmyheadandthingsjuststart

vibratingagain.”

‘It’snotjustfor

cheesecloth-wearing

incenseburners–it’s

foryou–anditwill

transformyourworld’