WHY YSK- Many people practice mindfulness and meditation as part of their lives, and some would like to but feel like they don’t have time to sit down and meditate properly. Once you’ve gotten used to doing it as a part of your daily activities, it becomes easy to simply take a few breaths and gain some peace from your everyday existence. You don’t need to wait for a time when you can sit and clear your mind completely. It’s a nice bonus, but not necessary for living a mindful life.
i’ve been using a simple “box breathing” technique when i start to feel the anxiety begin to creep… it’s really effective for me…
breathing is a four stage process: inhale - hold - exhale - hold (edit: and repeat as necessary)
you force each stage to last 3-4 seconds… it’s hard to hold your lungs empty when you’re stressed, so forcing yourself to do this can sort of forcibly lower your anxiety level… it can be really effective, very quickly…
and as a breathing technique, it sort of qualifies as fundamental meditation as well