‘Smile, breathe and go slowly’   Thich Nhat Hanh

Meditation simply means ‘thinking about’. You are meditating all the time during your work. Quietening the chattering mind is a highly valued skill to allow yourself to retain energy otherwise wasted and  think more clearly Intention
Here are a few tips to help you develop mindfulness skills wherever you happen to be!

• Recognise brain chatter
• Notice it , watch your thoughts as you would the shifting of the clouds,  then  let them go
• Understand how your body responds in different situations.
• Is your breathing different?
• Posture – Observe your posture, change it and notice the impact
• Deliberately lift the spine and let your head balance,  develop a meditation position
• Tension gathers often unconsciously in the body and mind.
• Tense all your muscles, hold for the count of 3 and then release. Do this 3 times
• Breathing –the most important skill is to learn breathing techniques.
• Observe your breathing, is it fast or slow, deep or shallow, regular or irregular. Notice the touch of your breath on the tip of your nose, cool in breath and warm outbreath. Say to yourself to your body’s natural breathing rhythm  ‘I breathe in…I breathe out…’
• Time –Take time, you will be more effective if you do? With deliberate intention, relax and rest in the present moment, you will feel refreshed and renewed.
• Take 3-5 minutes a day to practice your mindfulness
• Exercise – exercise is essential to your good health so do some whatever it is you like at the very least walk.
• Take at least 5 minutes to walk outside, look at the sky, notice the seasons.
• Enjoy – everything you do add conscious breathing, being in the moment.
• Notice the soap as you wash up, the bubbles and colour, feel the touch of the bubbles on your skin, notice the smell
• Relax-into the moment, let your mind wander to simple natural things.
• Read some uplifting quotes, a poem or prose, listen to some music.

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

‘Strive to be happy’      Max Ehrmann

Penny Moon has run ‘A Quiet Place’  for many years and has helped hundreds of schools up and down the UK to de stress with proven relaxation techniques.  She has inspired business people to be all they can and achieve so much more, and is a social entrepreneur using holistic approaches.

To find the best relaxation techniques contact: A Quiet Place

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