Concentrate for a moment on something stressful or challenging in your life. Can you notice your body getting tense? Feel your muscles tightening? Check your breathing and notice what's happening. Did you STOP breathing? Or is it rapid and shallow – higher in your chest? Okay, now you have a baseline.
- Check the time and make a mental note of the minutes.
- *Cross one ankle over another. Notice which leg is on top. Either will do.
- *Next, extend your arms just below shoulder height, with the backs of your hands touching each other.
- *Take one hand (same side as top foot) and cross the wrist over the other hand so that your palms now touch.
- *Interlace your fingers.
- *Swing your hands down, then in (inside) and up onto your chest. Relax your shoulders.
- *Sit like that for two or three minutes and you’ll feel your breathing shift lower and slower in your chest, your muscles relaxing and your mind clearing. Keep your head upright.