Is your busy lifestyle getting you down again?
Is your stress level going up and up and up?
Do you not have a morning routine?
Guess what—you need one. This relaxation technique can bring you back into balance in six minutes or less in six easy steps that you can do every day.
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To start: Do each of these items for a minute each.
- Sit upright and stretch as needed. Then, with your legs crossed, close your eyes. Don't try to manage your thoughts; just let them float through. Breathe deeply and slowly, much like you would if you were meditating.
- Give yourself a pep talk: read or repeat your favorite affirmations while looking in the mirror.
- Visualize how your day will go. For an even greater effect, open a window or go outside to take in the sky and the sights around you, imagining all the things you want to do and accomplish for the day.
- Choose an exercise and do one set of it but no more than that. Your goal should be whatever number of repetitions you can do in that one set. For instance, I like push-ups. Some days I do 20. Other days 50. Adapt this to how you feel physically and emotionally.
- Read one page from any book you want. You aren't trying to cross items off your reading list. You're just looking for a piece of insight to carry with you throughout the day. It can be profound or mundane, but it all has meaning.
- Journaling can be an overcomplicated undertaking. Simplify it by writing in a one-sentence journal. The premise here is that you cannot write anything down without learning something—even if it's that you don't love that brand of pen you're using or that you love the smell of a fresh notebook. To make it even easier, choose a question to answer each day. It can be any from, "How am I feeling today?" to "What do I think about the new paint color in the office?"
You'll notice after doing this for a while that your days will flow better and you'll be gaining insight into yourself and the world around you.
