In the stillness and calm of quiet introspection, St. Louisans are using the ancient practice of meditation to journey away from stress to improved relaxation and awareness.
Selena Johnson rippled her inspirational good vibrations, which started long before her radio days as Selena J, into balance as a founder of the Meditation Lounge. She said talking to God, learning about spiritual wisdom and practicing meditation is what brought her inner peace and healing from anxiety and depression.
“You cannot compartmentalize yourself as a human being. You are mental, you are emotional, you are physical, and you are spiritual and there is no way of getting around that – that’s how we are created,” she said. “To ignore any aspect of ourselves is to our detriment.”
She said nurturing all aspects of your life brings clarity of thought and purpose.
“The other piece of this holistic makeup that we have is that we are connected in all of these ways, so when you do make improvements in your physical health and nutrition – then it bleeds over and affects you mentally to bring more mental clarity … then you feel higher, better, emotionally – more joy, more peace, more self-acceptance.”
Johnson assists clients through guided meditation.
“The type of meditation we do at the Meditation Lounge is journey meditation, which is guided imagery,” she explained. “It will help people with things they are dealing with – abandonment, insecurity, loss of faith or hope or courage or just a lack of self-love or a lack of knowledge of self. It is part of this journey to help people discover who they truly are.”
She said reliving the memory of traumatic things you have experienced produces the same emotional and chemical response in the body.
“You experience that trauma all over again,” she said. “”We see that not only in our personal lives, but in our society and our culture.”
She said every time there is an incident of police brutality or a movie to remind us of how evil our beginnings were here as African people in America, the psychological wounds are reopened and relived.
“What we have to do individually and collectively as a society is heal. The psychological wounds we have experienced, not just this generation, go back hundreds of years. We’ve got to heal if we want to see improvement or change in our society.”
The American Heart Association says taking time to relax a few minutes per day could help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Richard A. Stein of New York University’s Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease told the AHA to think of meditation as a “20 or 30 minute vacation from the stress in your life.”
Janae Johnson (no relation) followed Selena on social media. Earlier this year, when a friend was looking for a stress-relief outlet, they decided to try meditation, although she admits its simplicity made her question its ability to produce desired results.
“We felt better after the first class, even though we didn’t know why,” she said. “We felt lighter.”
They eventually became regularly attending members, and Janae meditates at home and during group classes.
“I feel like now I experience true happiness and gratefulness for all the little things we should be grateful for but take for granted,” she said. “I am living the same life, but now I am able to look at things differently now. I don’t have to react to things I would previously perceive as negative – now I don’t have to look at it as negative at all.
“My road rage even cleared up too.”
Because there are different types of meditation, read about and find the approach that suits you best, such as your favorite music, sound, touch, prayer, a single word to focus on, or positive affirmations.
Selena said she helps people discover who they are energetically.
“How do you help people heal? How do you impact this world through the vibrational offering that you are emitting? Are you joy? Are you peace? Are you happiness? Are you going into environments and uplifting the people?” she asked. “Or do you come in miserable, sad, lonely, pessimistic, or with fearful attitudes that brings the whole environment down?
“I try to teach people that everything that you think, do, feel, is affecting not just you – but your family, your community, your work environment – every place you go, because we are all connected energetically… everything is a vibration.”
A 2012 study said African Americans with heart disease who practiced transcendental meditation (a technique that relaxes and refreshes the mind and body through silent repetition of a mantra) regularly were 48 percent less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die compared to African Americans who attended a health education class over more than five years. Read the report at http://bit.ly/1RE4OaI.
The AHA reminds while meditation offers a technique for lowering stress, it does not replace the important lifestyle changes essential to wellness – eating healthier, reducing sodium in the diet, regular physical activity and weight management.
While meditation can complement your approaches with diet and exercise – do not stop taking prescribed medication without your doctor’s consent.
