If you don’t have time to meditate or be mindful in daily life, how about taking a couple of deep breathes in every couple of hours? When you are having stressed life or feeling overwhelmed with everyday tasks and work, it is essential to regulate the autonomic nervous system to relax and reset your body for the well-being.

Breathing is the only autonomic process we have some control over. Setting your cell phone’s alarm every couple hours, and take a couple deep breathes. So you can focus on the present moment and tasks, and don’t forget to take deep breaths.

Let’s take long deep breaths for a couple of times. Inhale deeply and exhale much deeper and longer. In your head, count 3 on inhalation, and count 5 on each exhalation.

Breathe from your nose deeply, and then slowly exhale with your lips pursed. Or inhale deeply, and then say, “Shhhhhh….” to exhale. You don’t have to put your finger to your mouth though. This makes physically harder to exhale, but it would promote more relaxation.

Deep breathing is beneficial to enhance creativity if you are required inspiration and creativity for your work. The deep breath would manipulate the states of consciousness and bring you a relaxation state. It would promote to clear your thoughts and emotions.

Thoughts and emotions are mostly conditioned by your past experiences. If you want very new ideas, take deep breaths and empty all your information in your head and mind. In those clear and empty spaces, new ideas and inspiration would be coming over.

As you are taking deep breaths and feeling relaxed, you might want to close your eyes for a while. You could imagine and visualize yourself being in a very special place…. Someplace you like to be in your imagination. It might be somewhere in full of nature, your hometown, or some special place that is beautiful and peaceful.

You might want to take some time and give yourself some time to enjoy being there. Enjoy the sounds, the smells, the temperature, and just feel what you are feeling…

What are you feeling in there? You might be feeling some calmness, safety, peace, or some connections… whatever you feel in your special place.

Please give yourself permission to connect with the feeling for a couple more minutes, and directly experience that quality in your mind and body.

You can remember and register the feelings of that quality in your mind and body. You can bring the quality into your daily life. And, you know that you can come back to your special place anytime.

When you open your eyes, you might feel refreshed and more clear in your head, mind, and body.

-Satoko