If after this election, you have bouts of panic or freak-out moments, this meditation is for you. If you feel stressed, on the verge of mental break, this meditation is for you. Even if your anxiety has nothing to do with the election, this meditation is for you. This will just take a few minutes and, trust me, it’s worth it. Deep breath.
-Find a quiet place. Sit if you can, but laying or standing is also okay. Try to have your back straight.
–Close your eyes. Feel that stress, acknowledge it.
-Now let that feeling go and focus on your present situation. Let’s try breathing. Instead of passive breathing, which we all do each day, let’s try the active breath. This means focusing on each inhale, each exhale and letting your attention focus just on this. You can start by just normal breathing, but pay attention to it.
-Now, let’s try another form of breathing. Count your breaths. What do I mean by this? Inhale to the count of four, exhale to the count of four. Do each count in your mind, inhale, one, two, three, four, exhale, one, two, three, four. Make each breath intentional. Let your mind be consumed by this. Do this for a few minutes if you can.
-Let’s transition to intention breaths. Breathe in something positive, something you are craving. For example, inhale, focusing on peace or joy. For your exhale, breathe out that negative emotion that’s plaguing you. It could be stress, anxiety, anger, etc. So, breathe in positive, breathe out negative. Do this until you feel full of positive emotion.
-Let’s end with some stress relief breaths. Take a big breath in. Let out, through your mouth and loudly, like a big sigh. Put all that negative emotion and let it out in these big breaths. Do it three times.
Feel better? We may be all about fitness, but that’s not just physical. Mental health is important and when you have a happy, fresh mind, you can do so much more. This meditation can just be a few minutes long. Do it to stay hungry and fit!
