How to Rest Your Mind & Body – 5 x 1 Minute Practical Ideas

Perfect for the Xmas season and/or if you are prone to rumination.

Things you can do in 1 Minute to give your brain & body a break from overthinking and stress.

1.

Pick 1 daily activity that you plan to do mindfully (with your full attention).

For example, kiss your child mindfully when they are leaving for school.

2.

One minute of paying attention to something relaxing.

e.g., looking out the window at the movement of leaves in the wind.

3.

One minute of mindful single-tasking on whatever you are doing right now. Each time your mind wanders to the past or future during the one minute, gently bring your attention back to your single task.

For example,

- If you are walking, then walking mindfully for 1 minute. Pay attention to how your body feels walking, the air on your skin etc.

- If you are eating a chocolate, pay full attention to the sensory experiences – the weight of it in your hand, the feeling of it against your lips, the smells etc.

4.

One minute of mindful breathing. Drop your shoulders then just slow breathing. Approx 3 seconds in, 3 seconds out for a total of 10 breaths in 1 Minute.

5.

One minute of mindful lying down. On your back. Let your feel fall away from each other (fall outwards). Stretch your arms out palms up. If you are at the computer a lot this will give your pecs a nice stretch. You can use bolsters like in this pic.

I recommend just doing this on the floor. If you do it on your bed you might start to feel sleepy.

Or, any other “Restorative Yoga” pose for 1 minute. Restorative Yoga is yoga that gives your body a break from holding itself up. You can just google restorative yoga poses and will find heaps of info. If you find a pose, try it, and like it – I would love it if you would tweet me or put a link to the pose on the blog’s Facebook wall. It’s helpful for me to know what poses people like and find easy to do, so I can recommend to others.