Want to get the stress-busting benefits of meditation, even when time isn’t on your side?
A lot of people are put off by the idea of meditation because they believe that it’s too time-consuming or complicated and although it can sound counterintuitive when you are busy and have too much to do, slowing down really is the answer.
Take 5 with this short but effective stress busting technique.
Find somewhere comfortable, private and where you won’t be disturbed
Close your eyes and let your body begin to soften. Focus on softening and releasing the muscles around the face, neck, back and shoulders
Breathe deeply from your belly and focus on lengthening your exhalations
Each time you exhale, visualise that you are breathing out any tension. Feel it draining from your body
Keep a soft focus on the breath and start to recite this mantra with each inhalation and exhalation
As you inhale say to yourself, ‘Breathing in I am calm'
As you exhale, say 'Breathing out I am relaxing'
When a thought pops into your mind, acknowledge it and let it float off, before bringing your focus back to the breath and your mantra
It’s less about thinking of nothing and much more about returning your mind to the present each time.
Don’t get too hung up on whether it’s going “right” … just go with it.
This mini-meditation can help you to begin to manage stress in a healthier way and if practiced regularly, it will actually help to build resistant to everyday stresses.
Try it and see!
You can literally do this for a minute if you just use the mantra and breath. It can, therefore, be practiced anyway, in a queue, at your desk, in the toilet, the car and even before you go to sleep at night.
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