Reclaim your calm – Tip 1

alarm clockYou know how it can be –

Rudely awakened by your alarm clock, you crawl out of bed, noticing how dark the mornings are, you rush through your morning rituals – juggling showers, breakfast, teeth brushing, making lunch, rallying children, walking dogs (delete as appropriate), and somehow it’s already time to leave the house. You hunt for your keys – what’s the weather doing today? Do you risk no coat?

And so it goes on….

Have you forgotten what calm feels like?

I’m going to share with you some practical, daily tips for reinstating a few moments of calm into your busy day using mindful awareness and meditative breathing techniques:

1) Take five!

Before you get out of bed in the morning, gently pause and take five deep and deliberate breaths. Breathing through your nose, really pay attention to your breath. Become aware of the rising and falling of your natural breath deep down in your abdomen. Simply focusing on your breathing in this way allows you to step out of the autopilot and ground yourself in the here and now. Take a few moments to notice how things are for you right now. What thoughts are going through your mind? What feelings? How does your body feel? Try to avoid becoming distracted by these thoughts, feelings or bodily sensations. Simply notice them. Acknowledge them. Become aware. You don’t try to change anything. All you do is pay attention and accept however things are for you right now, without judgement. What is, just is.

This simple exercise allows you to reconnect with your body and the present moment before stepping into your day.

If you want to learn more about how meditation and mindfulness can bring more calm to your life, why not sign up to one of the 8-week courses I teach. Check out my website for details about forthcoming dates.

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Be Zen. Be You.

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