The Happiness Movement!

Mindfulness Techniques for Anxiety!

We have already covered some mindfulness techniques for dealing with social anxiety disorder as well as the anxiety that often accompanies borderline personality disorder, but the techniques can also aid the undiagnosed individual who suffers from occasional (or not-so-occasional) anxiety.

A meta-analysis was conducted in 2010 that provided evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness exercises on anxiety and depression.  The researchers found that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for treating anxiety and improving mood and that the effects lasted beyond the initial improvements (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010).

To begin applying mindfulness to your anxiety, or that of your clients,  Mindful.orghas provided a short description of 10 attitudes that will help build the foundation for successfully addressing anxiety:

• Volition or intention
  This is the building block of all other attitudes. First, you must bring your focus to the intention of working with your anxiety.
• Beginner’s mind
  This refers to a mindset that is ready to see from a new perspective and consider new ideas in regards to dealing with anxiety.
• Patience
  This is a very important attitude to cultivate since it can broaden your perspective and help you persevere when you run into obstacles on your journey.
• Acknowledgment
  Having the mindset of acknowledgment means that you take each experience for what it is; you accept what is happening and be secure in the knowledge that it, like the weather it will pass.
• Nonjudgment
  This attitude involves experiencing your present moment without evaluating and judging it.  It means you let go of value judgments about yourself and how you are feeling and allows you to begin your work from a more balanced starting block.
• Non-striving
  This attitude refers to the willingness to accept a situation or experience as it is, without trying to change it.  To combat your anxiety, you must first be present with it and accept your current state.
• Self-reliance
  The mindset of self-reliance is characterized by trusting yourself and your ability to handle your feelings.  Cultivating your self-reliance will allow you to more easily acknowledge, experience, and let go of your anxiety.
• Letting be or allowing
  Similar to the attitude of non-striving, letting be or allowing refers to the mindset of allowing yourself to feel anxiety.  Often it is more effective to work with your anxiety than expend energy trying to fight against it.
• Self-compassion
  As mentioned earlier, showing yourself compassion is an important part of mindfulness.  Being kind to yourself, as you would be kind to a dear friend or family member, can help you to decrease your anxiety by being a support for yourself.
• Balance and equanimity
  These are attitudes that allow wisdom to develop through a broadening of perspective and an understanding that your whole experience is so much more than your current feelings, whether positive or negative.

To practice each of these mindsets, first read the full description of eachmindsetthen try to embody each mindset or attitude. Take note of how you feel. Afterward, reflect on your experience and describe it, with a special focus on your feelings during the process.

For a rather more simple method of applying mindfulness to anxiety, you can try this quick exercise:

• focus on the sensations that arise in your body when you are anxious.  
• be present and in the moment,
• allow yourself to think the anxious and distressing thoughts, don’t fight them.

By recognizing these thoughts for what they are, you may come to realize that they are not true, and consequently be able to let them go (Hofmann, 2013). If you are interested in trying other mindfulness exercises to address anxiety, you can use this free short document or this extensive workbook (PDF).

If you would like more information on anxiety, and how to approach dealing with it through mindfulness you can also take a listen to Dr. Kim Taylor Show as she clarifies the signs, symptoms of anxiety and suggests viable techniques, resources which can aid the treatment and management of anxiety. Take a listen:

5 Simple Mindfulness Exercises from Dialectical Behavioural Therapy!

5 Simple Mindfulness Exercises from Dialectical Behavioural Therapy

In addition to the DBT mindfulness techniques used in clinical research, there are many informal mindfulnesstechniques and exercises shared online for anyone to try.

One such source comes is DrivingPeace.com, which offers five DBT-based mindfulness practices that can help with anxiety, especially anxiety resulting from borderline personality disorder, however, could be beneficial to a number of different clients. These five exercises are quick and easy and can be put into practice every day:

1. Observe a leaf for five minutes

This exercise calls for nothing but a leaf and your attention. Pick up a leaf, hold it in your hand, and give it your full attention for five minutes.  Notice the colors, the shape, the texture, and the patterns. This will bring you into the present and align your thoughts with your current experience.

2. Mindful eating for four minutes

As with the raisin exercise described above, this exercise calls for mindful eating.

Pay attention to what you are holding (preferably not something messy!), notice the feeling of it in your hands.  Once you have noticed the texture, the weight, the color, etc., move on to bringing your awareness to the smell.

Finally, move on to eating, but do so slowly and with concentrated attention. Notice the taste and its texture against your tongue.  This exercise may help you discover new experiences with familiar foods.

3. Observe your thoughts for fifteen minutes

Tenhance your awareness of your own thoughts.

This exercise is a staple of mindfulness, designed to simply 

o begin, sit or lie down in a comfortable position and try to let all tension in your body dissipate. Focus on your breathing first, then move your awareness to what it feels like to be in your body, and finally move on to your thoughts.

Be aware of what comes into your head, but resist the urge to label or judge these thoughts. Think of them as a passing cloud in the sky of your mind.

If your mind wanders to chase a thought, acknowledge whatever it was that took your attention and gently guide your attention back to your thoughts.

4. Mindfulness bell exercise for five minutes

In this exercise, you begin by closing your eyes and listening for the cue. When you hear it, your aim is to focus your attention on the sound and continue your concentration until it fades completely. This exercise helps you to keep yourself firmly grounded in the present. You can use the audio below:

5. Stare at the center

The goal is simple: to focus your attention on the center of the shifting pattern of color. You can let your mind wander freely, noticing whatever thoughts come into your head but staying in the present.

This experience is similar to the well-known phenomenon of the quiet fixation that results from staring at a candle flame or a campfire.

The same focus and deep thought can be brought on by this exercise, but be careful not to lose yourself in thought, and instead stay present in the moment and let your thoughts pass by. This exercise requires a video to practice, you can use the one below:

Yoga easy steps feeling relief stress!

Take a deep breath, expanding your belly. Pause. Exhale slowly to the count of five. Repeat four times.

Congratulations. You’ve just calmed your nervous system.

Controlled breathing, like what you just practiced, has been shown to reduce stress, increase alertness and boost your immune system. For centuries yogis have used breath control, or pranayama, to promote concentration and improve vitality. Buddha advocated breath-meditation as a way to reach enlightenment.

Science is just beginning to provide evidence that the benefits of this ancient practice are real. Studies have found, for example, that breathing.

How controlled breathing may promote healing remains a source of scientific study. One theory is that controlled breathing can change the response of the body’s autonomic nervous system, which controls unconscious processes such as heart rate and digestion as well as the body’s stress response, says Dr. Richard Brown, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and co-author of “The Healing Power of the Breath.”

Consciously changing the way you breathe appears to send a signal to the brain to adjust the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system, which can slow heart rate and digestion and promote feelings of calm as well as the sympathetic system, which controls the release of stress hormones likecortisol.

Many maladies, such as anxiety and depression, are aggravated or triggered by stress. “I have seen patients transformed by adopting regular breathing practices,” says Dr. Brown, who has a private practice in Manhattan and teaches breathing workshops around the world.

When you take slow, steady breaths, your brain gets the message that all is well and activates the parasympathetic response, said Dr. Brown. When you take shall  rapid breaths or hold your breath, the sympathetic response is activated. “If you breathe correctly, your mind will calm down,” said Dr. Patricia Gerbarg, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College and Dr. Brown’s co-author

Dr. Chris Streeter, an associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at Boston University, recently completed a small study in which she measured the effect of daily yoga and breathing on people with diagnoses of major depressive disorder

Stress Relief

When your mind is racing or you feel keyed up, try Rock and Roll breathing, which has the added benefit of strengthening your core.

1. Sit up straight on the floor or the edge of a chair.

2. Place your hands on your belly.

3. As you inhale, lean forward and expand your belly.

 breath out and curl forward while leaning backward; exhale until you’re completely empty of breath.
4.Repeat 20 miuntes

Breathing Exercise to Relax in 10 Minutes or Less!

Overworked, underslept and feeling the pressure? There are plenty of ways to find calm, without investing in a four-hand spa massage. All you need is a pair of lungs, your breath and 10 minutes or less. Don’t wait until fight or flight kicks in before minding your breath. Controlled breathing not only keeps the mind and body functioning at their best, it can also lower blood pressure, promote feelings of calm and relaxation and help us de-stress.
While the effects of breathing techniques on anxiety haven’t yet been studied at length (at least not in a controlled clinical setting), many experts encourage using the breath as a means of increasing awareness, mindfulness or, for the yogis among us, finding that elusive state of Zen. To get to the bottom of the breath work, Greatist spoke to breathing expert Dr. Alison McConnell, yoga instructor Rebecca Pacheco and psychologist Dr. Ellen Langer. But follow closely: breathing easy isn’t quite as easy as it sounds.
From the confines of a bed, a desk or anyplace where negativity finds its way, consider these six breathing techniques to help keep calm and carry on.
1. Sama Vritti or “Equal Breathing”:-

How it’s done: Balance can do a body good, beginning with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of four, then exhale for a count of four — all through the nose, which adds a natural resistance to the breath. Got the basic pranayama down? More advanced yogis can aim for six to eight counts per breath with the same goal in mind: calm the nervous system, increase focus and reduce stress, Pacheco says.
When it works best: Anytime, anyplace — but this is one technique that’s especially effective before bed. “Similar to counting sheep,” Pacheco says, “if you’re having trouble falling asleep, this breath can help take your mind off the racing thoughts, or whatever might be distracting you from sleep.”
Level of difficulty: Beginner
2. Abdominal Breathing Technique:-
How it’s done: With one hand on the chest and the other on the belly, take a deep breath in through the nose, ensuring the diaphragm (not the chest) inflates with enough air to create a stretch in the lungs. The goal: Six to 10 deep, slow breaths per minute for 10 minutes each day to experience immediate reductions to heart rate and blood pressure, McConnell says. Keep at it for six to eight weeks, and those benefits might stick around even longer.
When it works best: Before an exam, or any stressful event. But keep in mind, “Those who operate in a stressed state all the time might be a little shocked how hard it is to control the breath,” Pacheco says. To help train the breath, consider biofeedback tools such as McConnell’s Breathe Strong app, which can help users pace their breathing wherever they are.
Level of difficulty: Beginner
3. Nadi Shodhana or “Alternate Nostril Breathing”:-
How it’s done: A yogi’s best friend, this breath is said to bring calm and balance, and unite the right and left sides of the brain. Starting in a comfortable meditative pose, hold the right thumb over the right nostril and inhale deeply through the left nostril. At the peak of inhalation, close off the left nostril with the ring finger, then exhale through the right nostril. Continue the pattern, inhaling through the right nostril, closing it off with the right thumb and exhaling through the left nostril.
When it works best: Crunch time, or whenever it’s time to focus or energize. Just don’t try this one before bed: Nadi shodhana is said to “clear the channels” and make people feel more awake. “It’s almost like a cup of coffee,” Pacheco says.
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
4. Kapalabhati or “Skull Shining Breath”:-
How it’s done: Ready to brighten up your day from the inside out? This one begins with a long, slow inhale, followed by a quick, powerful exhale generated from the lower belly. Once comfortable with the contraction, up the pace to one inhale-exhale (all through the nose) every one to two seconds, for a total of 10 breaths.
When it works best: When it’s time to wake up, warm up or start looking on the brighter side of things. “It’s pretty abdominal-intensive,” Pacheco says, “but it will warm up the body, shake off stale energy and wake up the brain.” If alternate nostril breathing is like coffee, consider this a shot of espresso, she says.
Level of difficulty: Advanced
5. Progressive Relaxation:-
How it’s done: To nix tension from head to toe, close the eyes and focus on tensing and relaxing each muscle group for two to three seconds each. Start with the feet and toes, then move up to the knees, thighs, rear, chest, arms, hands, neck, jaw and eyes — all while maintaining deep, slow breaths. Having trouble staying on track? Anxiety and panic specialist Dr. Patricia Farrell suggests we breathe in through the nose, hold for a count of five while the muscles tense, then breathe out through the mouth on release.
When it works best: At home, at a desk or even on the road. One word of caution: Dizziness is never the goal. If holding the breath ever feels uncomfortable, tone it down to just a few seconds at most.
Level of difficulty: Beginner
6. Guided Visualization:-
How it’s done: Head straight for that “happy place,” no questions asked. With a coach, therapist or helpful recording as your guide, breathe deeply while focusing on pleasant, positive images to replace any negative thoughts. Psychologist Dr. Ellen Langer explains that while it’s just one means of achieving mindfulness, “Guided visualization helps puts you in the place you want to be, rather than letting your mind go to the internal dialogue that is stressful.”

5 Simple Deep Breathing Exercises To Reduce Stress Level!

Stress is detrimental to our health, and the cause of innumerous health problems. Worryingly, 47% of Americans report feeling stressed. Whether it’s work, family issues or simply having too much on our plates, stress is something we need to combat if we are to lead healthy, happy lives.

What Are the Signs of Stress?

Short-term stress and anxiety are part of being human, but when we remain on ‘high alert’ in the long-term, can manifest in physical and psychological ways like increased heartbeat, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath.
Poor handling of anxiety and stress can lead to adrenal fatigue, whose symptoms may include morning lethargy, memory loss, lowered immune system function and an inability to focus on daily tasks. Many adults and teenagers exhibit impulsive behavior while some people partake in addictive practices like smoking, excessive drinking and overeating (especially salty foods).

How Do Deep Breathing Exercises Combat Adrenal Fatigue?

By learning how to deep breathe properly, you will help to lower stress levels and ward off adrenal fatigue. All of these breathing methods can be practiced at home or in the office, and take only a few minutes each day. They’re also excellent techniques to incorporate into meditation.

Belly Breathing

The first technique you need to learn to do is what’s called “belly breathing”. This is the most basic of the breathing methods we have at our disposal, and therefore is the one you should master before trying out the others. It’s very simple, and requires just a few steps:

1. Sit down comfortably, or lay down on a yoga mat, depending on personal preference.
2. Place one hand on your stomach, just below your ribcage. Place the second hand on the center of your chest.
3. Breathe in deeply through your nostrils and let your first hand be pushed out by your stomach. Your chest should remain stationary.
4. Breathe out through your lips, pursing them as if you were about to whistle. Gently guide the hand on your stomach inwards, helping to press out the breath.
5. Slowly repeat between 3 and 10 times.

Continue for as long as you feel necessary. After you have mastered this breathing exercise, there are four additional methods for you to try, ranging in difficulty.

The “4-7-8” Breathing Technique

The method which we call “4-7-8 breathing” also requires you to be sitting or lying down comfortably. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Get into the belly breathing exercise position, with one hand on your stomach and one on your chest.
2. Breathe in slowly but deeply. Take 4 seconds to breathe in, feeling your stomach move in the process.
3. Hold your breath for 7 seconds.
4. Breathe out for 8 seconds, as silently as you can manage. Once you reach a count of 8, you should have completely emptied your lungs of air.
5. Repeat as many times as you need, making sure to stick to the 4-7-8 pattern.

Roll Breathing

This method is great for those looking for a relaxation breathing exercise that can be done comfortably while sitting. Its aim is not just to relax, but also to encourage the full use of your lung capacity.
Beginners are advised to lie down, but after your first time, you should find these steps just as easy to complete this exercise while sitting:

1. Get into the belly breathing position, with your left hand on your stomach, and right hand over your chest.
2. Take a deep, slow breath from your lower lungs, ensuring that the hand over your chest doesn’t move as you take the breath. Use your nose to breathe in, and exhale using your mouth.
3. Repeat this diaphragmatic breathing up to 8 times. On the ninth repetition – once you have filled your lower lungs – take a breath that will move your chest up, as you would normally breathe. This will fill your entire lung capacity.
4. Gently exhale through your mouth, being sure to completely empty your lungs. While you exhale, make a small “whooshing” noise. You should notice that both of your hands move back towards your body as both your stomach and chest fall.
5. Practice this method for between 4 and 5 minutes. With each exhalation, you should be able to feel a marked difference in your stress levels.

Morning Breathing

While the above three exercises can be completed whenever necessary, the next method is called ‘Morning Breathing’ and, as the name suggests, should be practiced once you have woken up.
This breathing exercise aims to stretch relax your muscles after a good night’s sleep. The following steps will help to minimize tension for the remainder of the day:

1. Stand up straight and, with your knees slightly bent, bend your torso forward from the waist. Your arms should be limply hanging next to you, toward the floor.
2. Take a breath in slowly and return to your original standing position. To do so, pretend that you are ‘zipping’ yourself up from the waist to the top of your neck. Your head should be the last thing to straighten.
3. Slowly exhale, and return to the bent position forward by the end of your breath. When you have finished, stand up straight and stretch your muscles as required.

Deep Muscle Relaxation with Belly Breathing

This progressive muscle relaxation technique is more involved than the others in this list, but is one of the best breathing exercises for anxiety and extreme fatigue.
This exercise requires tensing specific muscle groups for 5-10 seconds, though never to the point of pain or cramping. Release the tension and observe the feelings of relaxation that radiate. Be sure to pay the most attention to muscles causing discomfort or ache.
Be sure to conduct this stretch with belly breathing, which will help you attain the relaxation response.
To start, sit down in a comfortable position and focus on your belly breathing, closing your eyes if need be. When you have found a rhythm:

1. Starting with your face, knit your eyebrows together and purse your lips. Try to pull your facial muscles toward your nose for 15-20 seconds and release.
2. Your jaw holds a great deal of pressure. To relieve some of it, clench your jaw for five seconds and release, letting the stress dissipate.
3. For your neck and shoulders, shrug your shoulders in the direction of your ears and hold, concentrating on the tension. Let it dissolve. Spend 15 seconds recovering before tilting your chin to your chest for another 5-10 seconds.
4. Pull your forearms towards your shoulders while flexing your upper arm muscles. Hold for five seconds and release, while imagining the stress melting away.
5. Move your focus to your abdomen by squeezing your stomach muscles. Hold for five seconds and relax. Repeat while paying special attention to your chest.
6. To destress your legs, first tense the muscles in your thighs and buttocks. Relax and recover. Next, your lower legs can be stretched, point your toes downward and holding for five seconds.

Combined with the correct breathing technique, progressive muscle relaxation is a wonderful exercise to fully relax the body, and is fantastic  to conduct before bedtime.

Regular meditation more beneficial than vacation!

As mindfulness meditation and yoga have become mainstream and more extensively studied, growing evidence suggests multiple psychological and physical benefits of these mindfulness exercises, as well as for similar practices like tai chi and qi gong.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses analyzing hundreds of research studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions help decrease anxiety, depression, stress, and pain, and help improve general health, mental health, and quality of life. These practices also appear to reduce inflammation and increase immune response.

You say vacation, I say meditation…

As much as this intuitively makes sense, I’ve often wondered if simple rest and relaxation could be just as good for you. The few studies conducted suggest that vacation does result in real, albeit temporary, positive effects on health and well-being.
So when the editors at Harvard Health Publications suggested I take a look at a recent study comparing a mindfulness meditation and yoga retreat to regular vacation in terms of mental health as well as physical health outcomes, I agreed. This is interesting stuff.
The study was conducted at a resort in Southern California with 91 female volunteers who had no major health problems, were not pregnant, nor taking hormones or antidepressants. The mindfulness intervention was an established meditation and yoga retreat consisting of 12 hours of meditation, nine hours of yoga, and self-reflective exercises over a week. The participants were divided into three groups of about 30 each: experienced meditators, women who had never meditated, and a group who simply “went on vacation.” The 30 “vacation participants” listened to health lectures and then did fun outdoor things for a week.
At the end, all three groups (vacation, novice, and regular meditators) showed statistically significant improvements in scores of stress and depression, which were measured using well-established and commonly used questionnaires. If we stop there, it seems that vacation is just as good as mindfulness exercises for stress reduction and mood lifting.
But what’s really striking are the result from 10 months later: the regular meditators still showed significant improvements on these scores, the novice meditators even more so. However, the vacationers were back to baseline. The researchers had ensured that all three groups were equal in average age, education level, employment status, and body mass index. This finding is in keeping with prior research showing that vacation has beneficial but very temporary effects, and that mindfulness therapies have sustained beneficial effects.

What about long-term physical benefits of meditation?

These researchers also took blood samples just before and after the week long study period. All three groups showed significant positive changes in the markers of immune function. However, regular meditators also showed additional, more interesting changes. I got in touch with study author Eric Schadt, Ph.D., director of the Icahn Institute at Mount Sinai, who offered this interpretation of the data:
“Regular meditators showed both the same types of ‘improvements’ at the molecular level as the others, but on top of that exhibited changes that were also associated with some aging/disease processes that also correlated with biomarkers of aging in a favorable direction. I think there is some suggestion there of improved healthy aging, so hopefully that motivates further study in this direction.”
He went on to explain that other factors that often go hand in hand with meditation (for example, exercise, diet, even exposure to incense) could help explain these improvements. “So that as well remains to be more fully resolved in future studies.”
The vacation study was fairly small and included only women, and the authors point out that more research in this area is needed. But the evidence that mindfulness exercises can result in long-lasting positive psychological effects, especially for people new to these experiences, is compelling. In addition, meditation and yoga can boost immunity, and regular practice seems to promote more complex genetic effects related to healthier aging.

Yoga and meditation offer health care savings and you can do them at home

A new research study shows that a little yoga or meditation a day might just keep the doctor away.
Stress-related health problems are responsible for up to 80% of visits to the doctor and account for the third highest health care expenditures, behind only heart disease and cancer. But as few as 3% of doctors actually talk to patients about how to reduce stress.
Mind-body practices like yoga and meditation have been shown to reduce your body’s stress response by strengthening your relaxation response and lowering stress hormones like cortisol. Yoga has been shown to have many health benefits, including improving heart health and helping relieve depression and anxiety.

But the cost-effectiveness of these therapies has been less well demonstrated — until now.

The study

Dr. James E. Stahl and his team of Harvard researchers studied a mind-body relaxation program offered through the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. The 8-week program taught participants several different mind-body approaches, including meditation, yoga, mindfulness, cognitive behavioral skills, and positive psychology. The study volunteers participated in weekly sessions and practiced at home as well.
The researchers found that people in the relaxation program used 43% fewer medical services than they did the previous year, saving on average $2,360 per person in emergency room visits alone. This means that such yoga and meditation programs could translate into health care savings of anywhere from $640 to as much as $25,500 per patient each year.
“There are many ways to get to the well state — many gates to wellness, but not every gate is open to every person. One of the strengths of the program is that it draws upon many different tools that reinforce each other and allow many gates to be opened to a wide array of people,” says principal investigator Dr. Stahl, who is now section chief of general internal medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Yoga and meditation are soaring in popularity — but will insurance pay?

Yoga and meditation programs are gaining wide appeal. Nearly one in 10 Americans practices yoga, and 45% of adults who don’t practice yoga say they are interested in trying it. Americans are also using other forms of complementary health therapies, such as meditation (8%) and deep breathing (11%).
Many health care plans do not cover yoga or meditation, although some provide discounts for fitness programs including yoga or tai chi. States like Washington require private health insurers to cover licensed complementary health care providers, but the majority of states do not. However, that may soon change.
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review recommends that health insurers cover wellness and prevention-oriented therapies that are both low-cost and evidence-based, as both yoga and meditation are. The article discusses a study of Aetna employees who participated in the company’s mindfulness program and enjoyed a 28% reduction in stress, 20% better sleep, and 19% less pain, as well as an increase in worker productivity worth an estimated $3,000 per employee per year. The company offers free yoga and meditation programs to its employees.
“There are a lot of great studies on the biologic side, just not enough on the economics,” notes Dr. Stahl, who is looking to change that with his ongoing research. As the evidence for the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of yoga and meditation programs continues to grow, we can expect to see more interest from health care insurers.
“If I have a tool that works in clinical medicine that has very little side effects and considerable benefit, why would I not use the tool?”

Insomnia Improves Sleep!

Mindfulness meditation helps fight insomnia, improves sleep:- 

If you’ve ever crawled under the covers worrying about a problem or a long to-do list, you know those racing thoughts may rob you of a good night’s sleep. Sleep disturbances, like having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep, affect millions of Americans.

The daytime sleepiness that follows can leave you feeling lousy and sap your productivity, and it may even harm your health. Now, a small study suggests that mindfulness meditation — a mind-calming practice that focuses on breathing and awareness of the present moment — can help.
The study, which appears in this week’s JAMA Internal Medicine, included 49 middle-aged and older adults who had trouble sleeping. Half completed a mindfulness awareness program that taught them meditation and other exercises designed to help them focus on “moment-by-moment experiences, thoughts, and emotions.” The other half completed a sleep education class that taught them ways to improve their sleep habits.
Both groups met six times, once a week for two hours. Compared with the people in the sleep education group, those in the mindfulness group had less insomnia, fatigue, and depression at the end of the six sessions.
The findings come as no surprise to Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. “Mindfulness meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques that evoke the relaxation response,” says Dr. Benson.
The relaxation response, a term he coined in the 1970s, is a deep physiological shift in the body that’s the opposite of the stress response. The relaxation response can help ease many stress-related ailments, including depression, pain, and high blood pressure. For many people, sleep disorders are closely tied to stress, says Dr. Benson.
Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future. It helps you break the train of your everyday thoughts to evoke the relaxation response, using whatever technique feels right to you.
Dr. Benson recommends practicing mindfulness during the day, ideally for 20 minutes, the same amount suggested in the new study. “The idea is to create a reflex to more easily bring forth a sense of relaxation,” he says. That way, it’s easier to evoke the relaxation response at night when you can’t sleep. In fact, the relaxation response is so, well, relaxing that your daytime practice should be done sitting up or moving (as in yoga or tai chi) so as to avoid nodding off.

To elicit the relaxation response, try these two simple steps:

Step 1: Choose a calming focus.:-
Good examples are your breath, a sound (“Om”), a short prayer, a positive word (such as “relax” or “peace”), or a phrase (“breathing in calm, breathing out tension”; “I am relaxed”). If you choose a sound, repeat it aloud or silently as you inhale or exhale.
Step 2: Let go and relax:-
 Don’t worry about how you’re doing. When you notice your mind has wandered, simply take a deep breath or say to yourself “thinking, thinking” and gently return your attention to your chosen focus.

The Power of Meditation!

Last month, I read a study showing that just eight weeks of daily meditation leads to increased grey matter densities in areas of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress-regulation. I shared this with some friends, and we immediately formed a meditation group, committed to meditating for eight weeks straight in order to duplicate the results.

In just one day of meditation I saw improvements, but I feared writing about them due to possible placebo effects. But now, I’m becoming more and more confident in the power of meditation. I’m four weeks into the program, and here’s what I’ve noticed:

1. I’ve obliterated arbitrary rules from my life:-
I used to fall into routines, such as needing to sleep at a certain hour or eating meals at a certain time. Meditation has made me appreciate the pacing and natural flow of my emotions and thoughts, and I’ve come to believe that we go through multi-day cycles of needing attention to one dimension of our life more than others. My new state of mind reminds me of a talk at Stanford, where a businesswoman said, “Forget trying to achieve balance. Living life is more of a real-time readiness to pivot as your life demands. If you haven’t been spending enough time with your kids, go home. If you haven’t been spending enough time at work, stay longer. There is no perfect set amount or schedule that will keep you happy all the time.”

2. The time I spend worrying about small personal problems has shrunk from one week to one day:-
Minor negative events, like seeing my bank account lower than expected or noticing that a relationship hasn’t progressed like I’ve wanted it to, used to bog me down for whole weeks. I’d see my Mint.com account balance summary on Sunday, then fret about my financial situation Monday through Wednesday, then Thursday through Friday analyze the heck out of my responses, and on Saturday, maybe come up with a plan to remedy the situation or realize I got over-worked for no reason. Now, with daily meditation, I have an opportunity every day to reset. Meditation separates you so far from your present struggles that you are hit with a reminder of Life Before The Worry, which then reminds you that your life goes on just fine without you being so focused on a singular issue.

3. As a consequence of having only daylong issues, I feel like I’m better equipped to live out the motto “Carpe Diem.” Having the security that comes from believing that all the crap that’s bothering you today, won’t bother you tomorrow, is liberating, and frees you up to smell the roses. The past four weeks have been some of the most fun times of my life. I’ve been going out a lot more, but oddly enough, also working harder and more passionately.

4. Larger personal problems, while not instantly solved by mindfulness, have been transformed into more manageable games and projects.
For example, I’ve had some long-standing personal problems when it comes to relationships, and while I don’t think these have been solved, I feel more centered in my approach to them. I feel like meditation puts me at the top of a mountain so I can see all my thoughts below, rather than being consumed by the pedestrian hubbub at ground level. Whereas before, I approached my relationship issues from only a couple discrete perspectives (i.e. “I need to work on commitment issues” or “I need to work on self-confidence”), I approach them now from a continuous synthesis of maybe hundreds of perspectives, like little dots forming a Pointillist painting.

5. The new pictures formed of my personal problems include newfound, significant amounts of self-acceptance. You know the old adage, “To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Well, I’m a problem-solver, and so everything tends to look like a problem that I can solve with just the sheer will of my introspection. Meditation, by distancing me from my problems, has turned everything from nails into more unique and nuanced objects. I now see many alternatives to problem solving, including letting go, coping, seeking support, relaxing, or simply embracing my flaws.

6. I waste less time on mind-rotting activities, like surfing reddit:-
Meditation reminds me every day of what a sane, mindful mind feels like. By having that as a daily reference, I can more clearly see how “insane” a lot of my former activities were. I noticed this right after my first meditation session. I was about to go to reddit, and then I cringed at the thought of flooding my mind with random information highs and funny pictures. After abandoning reddit, I was about to check out news sites, including the Drudge Report and the Huffington Post, and again, I cringed. The thought of those large, bold headlines hitting me with inflammatory content seemed insane. I’ve now come to believe that meditation is one of the best responses to modern information overload. I keep reminding myself of this quote from David Foster Wallace, “There are four trillion bits coming at you, 99% of them are shit, and it’s too much work to do triage to decide. So it’s very clear, very soon there’s gonna be an economic niche opening up for gatekeepers… Because otherwise we’re gonna spend 95% of our time body-surfing through shit.” Why can’t that gatekeeper be you?

7. I feel more emotionally intelligent, and I’m able to catch myself more quickly in social situations:-
Meditation sort of puts your ear to the ground, and lets you hear the low-volume murmurs that are going on inside you. Once you have a daily reminder of their existence, it’s hard not to hear them during the rest of the day. For example, I listen better to others now, because when I’m going off on some rant, I can hear a little voice inside warning me about my ego, and I’m able to dial myself down. Whereas before, I’d usually be consumed by the volume of my own speech or the emotional bursts that come from self-expression.

8. I feel mentally and physically sharper:-
Reducing anxiety and stress removes a major energy drain from your life. I feel like there are all these endorphins swirling around me that I didn’t have before, and as a result I feel healthier and more alert. I also feel like I’ve learned how to snap out of hangovers, by simply removing all the noise that’s pounding my head the morning after.

To Release Self-Neglect and Love Yourself in Action !

Shift Your Self-Perception:-

Feeling worthy requires you to see yourself with fresh eyes of self-awareness and love. Acceptance and love must come from within.
You don’t have to be different to be worthy. Your worth is in your true nature, a core of love and inner goodness. You are a beautiful light. You are love. We can bury our magnificence, but it’s impossible to destroy.
Loving ourselves isn’t a one time event. It’s an endless, ongoing process.
It begins with you, enfolding yourself in your own affection and appreciation.
Read on for steps to discover your worth and enfold yourself in affection and appreciation.

1. Begin your day with love:-

Remind yourself of your worthiness before getting out of bed. Breathe in love and breathe out love. Enfold yourself in light. Saturate your being in love.

2. Take time to meditate and journal:-

Spend time focusing inward daily. Begin with five minutes of meditation and five minutes of journaling each morning. Gradually increase this time.

3. Talk yourself happy.

Use affirmations to train your mind to become more positive. Put a wrist band on your right wrist. When you’re participating in self-criticism, move the band to your left wrist.

4. Get emotionally honest.

Let go of numbing your feelings. Shopping, eating, and drinking are examples of avoiding discomfort, sadness, and pain. Mindfully breathe your way through your feelings and emotions.

5. Expand your interests.

Try something new. Learn a language. Go places you’ve never been. Do things you haven’t done before. You have a right to an awesome life.

6. Enjoy life enhancing activities.

Find exercise you like. Discover healthy foods that are good for you. Turn off technology for a day and spend time doing things that make you feel alive.

7. Become willing to surrender.

Breathe, relax, and let go. You can never see the whole picture. You don’t know what anything is for. Stop fighting against yourself by thinking and desiring people and events in your life should be different. Your plan may be different from your soul’s intentions.

8. Work on personal and spiritual development.

Be willing to surrender and grow. Life is a journey. We are here to learn and love on a deeper level. Take penguin steps and life becomes difficult. One step at a time is enough to proceed forward.

9. Own your potential.

Love yourself enough to believe in the limitless opportunities available to you. Take action and create a beautiful life for yourself.

10. Be patient with yourself.

Let go of urgency and fear. Relax and transform striving into thriving. Trust in yourself, do good work, and you will see results.

11. Live in appreciation.

Train your mind to be grateful. Appreciate your talents, beauty, and brilliance. Love your imperfectly perfect self.

12. Be guided by your intuition.

All answers come from within. Look for signs and pay attention to your gut feelings. You’ll hear two inner voices when you need to make a decision. The quiet voice is your higher self; the loud voice is your ego. Always go with the quieter voice.

13. Do what honors and respects you.

Don’t participate in activities that bring you down. Don’t allow toxic people in your life. Love everyone, but be discerning on who you allow into your life.

14. Accept uncertainty.

Suffering comes from living in the pain of the past or the fear of the future. Put your attention on the present moment and be at peace.

15. Forgive yourself.

Learn from your mistakes and go forward. Use this affirmation, “I forgive myself for judging myself for __________ (fill in the blank i.e.: for getting sick, for acting out, for not doing your best).

16. Discover the power of fun.

Self-love requires time to relax, play, and create face-to-face interaction with others. Our fast-paced world creates a goal setting, competitive craziness that doesn’t leave room for play. Dr. Stuart Brow says, “The opposite of play isn’t work, it is depression.”

17. Be real.

Speak up and speak out. Allow yourself to be seen, known, and heard. Get comfortable with intimacy (in-to-me-see).

18. Focus on the positive.

Go to your heart and dwell on and praise yourself for what you get right in all areas.

19. Become aware of self neglect and rejection.

Become conscious of your choices. Ask yourself several times throughout the day, “Does this choice honor me?”

20. Imagine what your life would look like if you believed in your worth.

Dedicate your life to loving you. Make it your main event.

21. Seek professional help.

Self-rejection and neglect is painful. You deserve to be happy. You have a right to be accepted and loved. If necessary, seek help from a support group, counselor, or coach. It’s the best investment you can make.
Because we are all interconnected, when I love me, I also love you. Together through our love, we can heal ourselves, each other, and the world. Love is our purpose, our true calling. It begins with and within each of us.

Break Out of Frustrating Relationship Routines!

The person you imagine your beloved to be as you are falling in love is just that — an imagined perfect partner you've conjure up in your head. Being human, we can only live up to someone else's "superhero fantasy" for a limited amount of time before the mask falls off, and we reveal just how human we really are. The habits you were able to ignore in the beginning of your relationship — toothpaste cap off; dirty dishes in the sink; nail biting; always needing to be right; always needing to be early, etc. — begin to get on your nerves, and the quirkiness you once found adorable now becomes abominable.

Here are five suggestions for helping to begin the process: 1. Offer empathy to your partner:-
 If you were fortunate to grow up in an environment in which your needs were cheerfully and reliably met, remember that not everyone enjoyed that same luxury.
2. Help your partner understand where you are coming from when you ask for things to be different. 
 Knowing "why” makes doing the “how” a lot easier to handle.
3. Let your partner know how you’d like to see them behave differently:-
 If you just tell someone, “Don’t do that anymore,” without offering an alternative, it might feel like a guessing game, and no one ever wins those.
4. Remember that our behaviors are shaped over decades"-
Learning how to relate in new ways might be a trial-and-error experience. Be patient and always bring realistic expectations to any relationship.

Expectations…Do They Help or Hurt You?

We all have expectations. In my experience I have found expectations to be happiness killers. The times in my life where I just followed my heart, doing what I was good at, everything turned out great. It was only when I started having grand expectations of myself with what I wanted that life started throwing me a curve ball. Expectations can really hurt us, because we can’t predict an outcome. All we can do is do our best, living in the now and staying present.
What is it that we expect from ourselves, and others?  Expecting too much sets us up for disappointment.  So many relationships fail because of expectations we put on the other person and ourselves. When we learn to accept and be grateful for what we have and who we are, we let go of our expectations. Living in the now let’s us be more aware of the present moment, experiencing the event.

Don’t you think it would be better to just live your life, experiencing it as it happens? By taking this action, you really don’t have expectations; you’re just experiencing something as it unfolds.
I have started living my life in the NOW. I must tell you that when I started letting go of all these high expectations I put on myself, everything became lighter for me. I even received a phone call from an old friend saying: “Wow. I don’t know what you are doing right now, but you seem very grounded and peaceful.” He is right. I am! It was all because of letting go of expectations.
Live for today! YES, you should still set goals for yourself. Those are healthy. It’s the expectations that aren’t. Let them go to see if you feel better, lighter and more peaceful, and you’ll find out if these expectations help or hurt you. The best part? I bet you’ll feel freer having let go of your expectations. See what happens when you try!

Relaxation Techniques!

When stress overwhelms your nervous system, your body is flooded with chemicals that prepare you for "fight or flight." This stress response can be lifesaving in emergency situations where you need to act quickly. But when it’s constantly activated by the stresses of everyday life, it can wear your body down and take a toll on your emotional health.
No one can avoid all stress, but you can counteract its detrimental effects by learning how to produce the relaxation response, a state of deep rest that is the polar opposite of the stress response. The relaxation response puts the brakes on stress and brings your body and mind back into a state of equilibrium.
When the relaxation response is activated, your:

• heart rate slows down
• breathing becomes slower and deeper
• blood pressure drops or stabilizes
• muscles relax
• blood flow to the brain increases

In addition to its calming physical effects, the relaxation response also increases energy and focus, combats illness, relieves aches and pains, heightens problem-solving abilities, and boosts motivation and productivity. Best of all, anyone can reap these benefits with regular practice.

Deep Breathing:-

With its focus on full, cleansing breaths, deep breathing is a simple yet powerful relaxation technique. It’s easy to learn, can be practiced almost anywhere, and provides a quick way to get your stress levels in check. Deep breathing is the cornerstone of many other relaxation practices, too, and can be combined with other relaxing elements such as aromatherapy and music. All you really need is a few minutes and a place to stretch out.

How to practice deep breathing

The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel.

• Sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
• Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
• Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
• Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.

If you find it difficult breathing from your abdomen while sitting up, try lying down. Put a small book on your stomach, and breathe so that the book rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale.

The Positive Psychological Effects Of Prayer!

Prayer is the practice of connecting to something deeper and more meaningful in life. It is rooted in a sense of spirituality. Prayer has two dimensions, one internal in the form of self-reflection and self-awareness, and the other external in a sense of connection with a depth, something bigger than the self and an inner dependency with all the other creation. Prayer, when done with the right awareness and intention and in moderation, can be beneficial in a number of ways:

1. It can give people a moderate sense of optimism and a healthy dose of hope. Optimism that there is more than the tip of the iceberg to life, and hope that when things do not go the way one wants despite reasonable effort, that there are other options.

2. It can help people cultivate a sense of gratitude. Prayer gives the person a quiet moment to use the time to appreciate the positive in life and to remember that at any moment, there is so much more positive than negative to life. And that sometimes, what seems negative may be otherwise.

3. It can help people delay gratification and control impulsive actions. By using this time to calm your mind, you can evaluate situations to see if it would create any harm and if it does, to stop yourself from doing it.

4. It can give people time to be able to see things from a broader perspective and that by itself can help with obsessive acts and compulsive thought or limited thinking.

5. It can help people find commonality and beauty in diversity. By reflecting on what Carl Jung calls the collective unconscious, people realize that they are sharing many of the same needs, desires, essence and beliefs as others, at the root.

6. It can help people focus and concentrate. By taking a break from the daily activities and doing a quiet time, one is able to use it to train his brain to be focused on the here and now.

7. It can help people forgive easier, and detach from the past and move forward.

8. It can give people a sense of security that they are connected to a depth in life.

9. It can give people a sense of comfort, being at ease and being protected, therefore decreasing too much anxiety and irrational fear.

10. It can be used as a time to cultivate rational thinking.

11. It can give people new and creative ways to solve their problems.

12. It can help people unleash.

13. It can be used as a time to learn how to connect better to others and to increase one’s emotional/social maturity.

14. It can be used as a time of self-affirmation to increase one’s confidence.

And remember, by repeating a series of meaningful, positive, lifting, and thankful phrases, you can retrain your brain to be more positive, be aware, be able to focus and concentrate and to let go of unwanted thoughts.

Benefits of Prayer!

According to a 2013 Pew Research Poll, over half of Americans pray every day. A 2012 poll found that over 75 percent of Americans believe that prayer is an important part of daily life. Other polls indicate that even some atheists and religiouslyunaffiliated individuals admit that they sometimes pray.

Our species has probably been praying for as long as we have been able to contemplate our existence. And though we may never be able to establish evidence that a deity or spiritual force actually hears our prayers, in recent years, scientists have begun to consider the potential tangible (i.e., measurable) effects of prayer. And this research suggests that prayer may be very beneficial.

So here are five scientifically-supported benefits of prayer:

1. Prayer improves self-control

Studies have demonstrated that self-control is like a muscle. That is, it gets fatigued. You can only do so many push-ups before your muscles give out. Similarly, activities that require self-control are fatiguing, making it more difficult to make good choices the more you have to use your "self-controlmuscle." Think about it. You are more likely to lose your cool or engage in mindless eating when you are mentally exhausted. 

Recent research indicates that prayer can help you get more out of your "self-control muscle." Research participants who said a prayer prior to a mentally exhausting task were better able to exercise self-control following that task. In addition, other studies demonstrate the prayer reduces alcohol consumption, which may reflect the exercise of self-control. Findings such as these suggest that prayer has an energizing effect.

2. Prayer makes you nicer

Researchers found that having people pray for those in need reduced the amount of aggression they expressed following an anger-inducing experience. In other words, prayer helps you not lose your cool.

3. Prayer makes you more forgiving

Researchers found that having people pray for a romantic partner or friend made them more willing to forgive those individuals.  

4. Prayer increases trust

Recent studies found that having people pray together with a close friend increased feelings of unity and trust. This finding is interesting because it suggests that praying with others can be an experience that brings people closer together. Social prayer may thus help build close relationships.

5. Prayer offsets the negative health effects of stress

Researchers found that people who prayed for others were less vulnerable to the negative physical health effects associated with financial stress. Also, it was the focus on others that seemed to be contributing to the stress-buffering effects of prayer. Praying for material gain did not counter the effects of stress. So thinking about the welfare of others may be a crucial component of receiving personal benefits from prayer.

To Give Your Brain The Sleep It Needs!

While sleep researchers are constantly learning more about why we need sleep, one thing has been clear since the beginning of time: If we don’t get enough of it, we falter. Sleep deprivation has been identified as a factor in countless tragedies including friendly fire incidents in the military, train accidents, plane crashes, industrial and automobile accidents, and medical misjudgments.

Some of us have personally experienced the agony of sleep deprivation when pulling all-nighters in school, taking care of a newborn baby, doing shiftwork, driving for long periods of time, or trying to meet a looming deadline. The effects of sleep deprivation may be subtle at first: our thinking may be a bit more sluggish, our memory not quite as precise, and our movements a bit slower. However, the impact often quickly accelerates, and before we know it we may feel like we are moving through the world in a slow-motion state of clumsiness and increasing confusion.

What is less obvious is that sleep deprivation actually impairs our ability to process and store the memories that we form during our waking hours. Furthermore, if sleep deprivation is chronic (occurring over months or years), it may also be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

Just this summer, researchers at Washington University found that disrupted sleep led to increased levels of two proteins associated with Alzheimer’s – beta amyloid and tau. In the study, beta amyloid levels increased after just one night of sleep deprivation, and tau levels increased after one week of sleep deprivation. Although it is likely that the brain has a mechanism for correcting for such effects of short-term sleep deprivation, this finding may provide a possible explanation for the link between chronic sleep deprivation and Alzheimer’s. 

Related findings in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s showed that not only was beta amyloid significantly higher in mice who were sleep deprived, but the rate at which beta amyloid was cleared from the brain doubled during sleep. Although this brain-cleaning mechanism has not yet been observed in humans, it is interesting to note that beta amyloid levels in humans increase throughout the day, but decrease during sleep. These results – when combined with data showing that sleep is necessary to successfully remember information – provide growing support for the link between sleep and brain health.  

Because sleep is often the first casualty of an overextended schedule, many of us do not feel well rested and refreshed on a regular basis. So, how do we give our brain the sleep it needs to function at optimal levels?

article continues after advertisement

1. Figure out how much sleep you need to feel well rested. Although the average person requires 7-9 hours of sleep, many individuals need more or less time. How do you know how much is optimal for you? If you feel refreshed, awaken without an alarm clock, feel alert throughout the day (without excessive use of caffeine), and do not fall asleep immediately after your head hits the pillow, chances are you are getting enough sleep. If you are not getting enough sleep, gradually increase the amount of time you sleep until you feel well rested, and prioritize getting that amount on a regular basis.

2. Schedule in “down-time” prior to bedtime. Engaging in a relaxing pre-bedtime ritual helps signal the body of the upcoming transition to sleep, and improves sleep quality. Calming activities might include dimming the lights, reading, and listening to soft music. Also consider turning off blue-light devices about an hour before bedtime (e.g. televisions, cell phones, tablets), given that blue light has been shown to interfere with melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone.

3. If you can’t fall asleep after 10 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. When we lie in bed and think about things for long periods of time before falling asleep, our brain unwittingly links lying in bed with thinking. As a result, we may automatically go into “thinking” mode rather than “sleeping” mode when we lie down the next time. To teach your brain to pair lying in bed with sleeping, if you cannot fall asleep after 10 minutes, get up and do something calming such as reading or meditating. Then return to bed when you feel groggy. Repeat this as many times as necessary in a given night. This recommendation may seem paradoxical, but it really works! Over time, your brain will more readily go into sleeping mode rather than thinking mode when you lie down.

Prioritizing optimal sleep helps your brain function faster, remember better, and just may help to minimize the risk of Alzheimer’s. Optimal sleep also helps reduce the risk of accidents, and maximizes mood, quality of life, and immune functioning. With all of these benefits, it’s time to prioritize getting some Zz’s!

Slow Breathing To Decrease Anxity With Slow Anxiety and Panic!

• Many anxiety sufferers breathe too fast and shallow. When confronted with a feared scenario  they breathe rapidly which leads to increased shortness of breath and further hyperventilation. 
  Some Symptoms hyperventilation 
  1:-Dizziness
  

  2:-Light headedness 

  3:Lump in the throat

  4:-Fatigue

  5:-Poor concentration

  6:-Choking  sensatio

  7:-Difficulty swallowing

  8:-Racing heart

  9:-Shaking

  10:-Blurred vision

  11:-Shortness of breath

  12:-Chest pain

  13:-Disorientation

  14:-Tingly sensations  or numbness in the hands, feet and mouth.

People who chronically breathe too fast tend to sigh often, take deep breaths and feel short of breath.

Slow breathing can relieve anxiety and prevent you from having a panic attack, if you do it as soon as you notice yourself over breathing or becoming anxious. Socially phobic and panicky people are advised to slow their breathing before tackling a feared situation or at any time they feel anxious.

When you are first learning this breathing relaxation exercise you may find it easiest to practice  lying flat on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor and eight inches apart. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your abdomen.
Hold your breath and count to 10
Then breathe out and think’ relax’ to yourself

Then inhale slowly through your nose for 3 seconds. The hand on your abdomen should rise whilst the hand on your chest should stay relatively still.

Then exhale through your mouth for three seconds, making a whooshing noise as you breathe out. Think “RELAX” as you exhale. The hand on your abdomen should fall as you exhale.

After a minute of breathing in and out in a six second cycle, hold your breath again for 10 seconds
Keep repeating this process for 5 minutes.

Once you feel you have mastered the technique lying down, then start practicing slow breathing whilst sitting or standing. Then you will be able to do slow breathing to relax yourself wherever you are in public.
Do this deep breathing for 20 minutes a day and any time when you feel yourself becoming anxious. Depending upon your commitments you might need to break up your 20 minutes during the day into 4 x 5 minutes relaxation segments or 2 x 10 minute relaxation segments.