Enjoy this tool to help you with your stress levels

This week’s Mindful Moment is a reminder to take a pause when you feel yourself getting stressed out.

Know you can change the effects of stress; you do not have to be a victim.

Here is a simple but effective exercise to release stress:

• Close your eyes or choose a soft gaze and invite yourself to connect to your breath. 
• Take a couple of inhales and exhales.  Don’t change the flow of your breath; greet it right where it is and accept it as it is.
• Next, gently tune in to how your body feels.  Observe where you hold tension. 
• With the next breath, take a gentle but deep inhale, and as you exhale, imagine breathing into the muscles in that region of the body.  As you breathe into the muscles, invite them to release, invite a sensation of “Ahhhh.”  Imagine those muscles blossoming like a flower as it removes the tension that it carries.
• Try this for a minimum of 5 cycles (inhale and exhale is one cycle) of breath.  I like ten cycles of breath to invite deep relaxation in my body.

I encourage you to be aware of your stress levels this week.  When you find yourself stressed, take a quick but effective pause to regulate your levels. 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Nancy