I hope you practiced the 5-minute meditation from last week. This week we’ll take a look at a breathing exercise that you can either use during meditation or to de-stress. Let’s learn how to breathe some calm into your day.

Because it’s a transition month, I thought a little breathing technique would be a good transition. It’s not so much about meditation, although you can take it in that direction, as it is about slowing down your breathing and calming yourself down. It’s a technique you can use at any time: When you first wake up, while you’re sitting in traffic, when a situation at work stresses you out, when you get mad, when you’re easing yourself back into sleep, or any time in which you feel a need to get a hold of yourself and ground yourself.

I love this breathing exercise because it always calms me and helps me to find my center. It’s my go-to throughout the day. Yes, I use it more than once a day. The best part about it is that you can do it anytime and in any place. You don’t have to be seated or lying down, although you could be.

Breath Focus

Start where you are. Standing, seated, or lying down.

Bring your attention to the tip of your nose and the feel of your breath as you inhale and exhale. Perhaps you can feel the coolness of your breath as you inhale and the warmth of your breath as you exhale. You will notice your thoughts, perhaps you even start thinking that what you’re doing is silly or stupid. When you notice that you’re following your thoughts down this path, acknowledge it and bring your attention back to the tip of your nose and to the feel of your breath.

Allow your breath to fill your lungs and feel your belly expand on each inhale. Follow your breath as it comes in through your nose and into your lungs. On the exhale feel your chest and belly go down, follow the breath as it moves out of your lungs and out through your nostrils.

You can do this for 5 breaths or more. Do it for a few seconds or for a whole meditation. Do it multiple times a day.

It really is as simple as that. Try it for a week and let me know how you feel.