Along with nutritious food & regular activity, set up a moment every day to take a breather-literally. Deep breathing is calming, boosts your immunity, lowers stress levels, improves blood pressure & heart rates, inspires mindfulness & appreciation, & a sense of gratitude & well-being. These are feelings that truly affect your physical & metal strength & vitality & have lasting health rewards. Even if it’s just a 5-minute breather, pencil it in on a regular basis, so you can reap the benefits. Yoga, meditation, grounding in nature with a lovely walk, anything that encourages you to stop, take a deep breath, enjoy your surroundings & let the day’s tensions be swept away, leaving you relaxed & refreshed.
Stop, Breathe & think
Keep coming back to your initial inspiration. There was a reason that you wanted try meditation in
the first place. When you face challenges, come back to that initial inspiration, over and over again.
Schedule it in! Often the best way to make room for practice in our busy day is to put it on your
calendar.
Time each session. Decide ahead of time how much time you plan to spend in each session, and
use the timer in our app. This will help you stay focused and on track without having to monitor
the clock.
Choose a regular place to practice. It can help to set up a cushion or chair that is just used for
your meditation, which becomes a physical reminder of your intent to practice.
Broaden your view of practice. The truth is we spend most of waking hours dealing with the details
of daily life. If you are having trouble finding time to sit and practice, try relaxing your definition of
practice (ie sitting on a cushion) and bring it to everything you do with the simple Stop, Breathe &
Think Check in practice. Example: One participant invented a “drinking coffee meditation”. Instead
of watching the news or looking at her computer screen, she sat, mindfully drank her coffee, and
just tried to be present. She listened mindfully to sounds, felt the air, and just enjoyed the stillness.
Try small steps. Set your goal each day, even it’s it’s for a short period of time, or decide that you
are going to do a quick check-in every time the phone rings, or the signal turns red, or every time
somebody honks.
When dealing with the stress and busyness of daily life and trying to figure out how to make
quality time to practice, it helps to keep it simple. It can be as simple as starting with the goal
to take a few mindful breaths each day.
Be patient and open. Try to set realistic expectations, and always take a moment to appreciate
whatever benefits that come, however small.
Other participants have shared that activities like mindful walking outside, gardening, going for
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