Fast-paced technology, busy schedules and maintaining health and relationships can lead to stressful, hectic lives. For those looking for a moment to pause and catch their breath, meditation could be the answer.
This week, the Richmond Addiction Services Society is hosting a workshop on meditation as part of its new series on aging well. Ravi Pathak, the workshop’s facilitator, has been guiding seniors on how to implement mindfulness into their lives through the Minoru Place Seniors’ Centre for more than a year. On Wednesday, Pathak will partner with RASS to offer an introductory explanation.
“In the modern day and age we have this addiction to speed,” Pathak told Richmond News. “We have to get everything done yesterday. That’s the result of technology’s evolution. Unfortunately, the brain has not evolved as much.”
Pathak explained that the body’s sympathetic nervous system is responsible for stimulating fight or flight responses. Typically, this has helped humans avoid threats and stay on guard. However, when it’s over-stimulated, this can lead to feelings of anxiety and nervousness.
“When this system is on all the time, it does affect one’s health,” Pathak said.
On the flip side, the parasympathetic nervous system helps the body rest and digest. In other words, while the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for immediate action, the parasympathetic nervous system relaxes the body and slows it down.
“When you activate the parasympathetic system, then you start bringing balance into your life,” Pathak said. “So that’s meditation and breath work.”
For Pathak, understanding these connections between the brain and meditation is key. In his workshops, Pathak uses breathing exercises to engage the parasympathetic system which helps slow the body and mind down. He then encourages workshop participants to spend some time in silence.
“The way that I do these workshops, it’s like neuroscience and yoga coming together,” he said. “There’s a scientific basis for it.”
According to Pathak, these practices have had significant success.
“Ninety-nine per cent of (participants) were saying that they were sleeping better, they had less anxiety,” he said. “With the sleep and feeling more relaxed and feeling not so stressed, less anxiety, those are the most important things.”
For more information on Wednesday’s workshop, visit RASS’s website.
