Deal With Stress With This Brief Mindfulness Meditation

By Lisa Pronove on Mar 17, 2020 5:07:05 PM

Today's post is a bit different than usual, but with new circumstances, new approaches come up! And we are here with a quick and effective exercise to help you deal with difficult situations.

The teachers at Talaera are not only super talented professionals, but also exceptional human beings with eclectic backgrounds, and Lisa, one of our most popular Business English teachers, has a great routine for you to remain calm and reduce stress. In addition to instructing Business English, Lisa is a 500-hour certified yoga instructor trained in Hatha and Ashtanga yoga. She has experience teaching yoga all over the world and is currently centering her focus around Yin yoga, meditation, and pranayama breathing techniques. So here is her recommendation!

Brief Mindfulness Mediation

If you're feeling very anxious and stressed here's a brief mindfulness meditation you can try following! :-)

Sit up straight or lay down on your back.
Close the eyes, if possible (though this break can also be practiced with eyes open, if necessary.)
Starting with the feet and moving upward, briefly scan each section of the body—toes, feet, lower legs, upper legs, bottom, hips, stomach, chest, lower back, upper back, shoulders, upper arms, elbows, forearms, hands, fingers—noticing and relaxing any areas of tension.
Drop the shoulders, allow the arms to hang loosely, and soften the hands. Relax the jaw and tongue.
Unfurrow the brow and forehead.

Along the way, you might recognize other sensations or feelings not so easily mitigated, such as heaviness in the chest, nausea, aching muscles, headache, or stomachache. Simply notice and observe.

Now bring your attention to your breath. First merely, notice the flow of your breath. Is it short and shallow or longer and deeper? Not judging, just noticing.
Next, take a long inhalation through your nose bringing the breath down into your diaphragm, feeling your belly expand.
Then, take the same breath up into you lungs and watch as they slowly fill from bottom to top.
When you can't inhale anymore air, pause at the top of your breath holding the inhalation inside.
Then slowly begin exhaling through your nose. First the diaphragm empties, then the lungs.
Finally use a little effort to press all of the air out of your body through the nose. Continue these nice, slow breaths. Aim to inhale for a slow count of 1-2-3, then exhale for a slow count of 1-2-3-4.

Continue these slow breaths for 3-5 minutes or until you feel your anxiety has calmed down. We exhale longer than our inhalations in order to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which helps us turn on the "rest and relaxation" mode in our bodies.

Now, name three things you are grateful for in this moment.
Smile.

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