Relax in minutes — Calm the demons

After a long workday what should we do to freshen up?

Well The Dalai Lama shares a secret, sleep is the best meditation.

But mostly when we are stuck in the routine we haven’t enough time to have a sound sleep. Then there are many easy exercises and yoga techniques which can freshen you up in 10 to 15 minutes.

I like the Progressive Relaxation which says focus on relaxing each muscle from toe to your head. Start with the feet and toes, then move up to the knees, thighs, rear, chest, arms, hands, neck, jaw and eyes — all while maintaining deep, slow breaths. Breathe in through the nose, hold for a count of five while the muscles tense, and then breathe out through the mouth on release. It can be done anywhere anytime.

Then there is a simplest technique, Equal Breathing. Balance can do a body good, beginning with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of four, then exhale for a count of four — all through the nose, which adds a natural resistance to the breath. Once mastered the simple act, you can aim for six to eight counts per breath with the same goal in mind: calm the nervous system, increase focus and reduce stress.

These simple acts really helped me remain calm and clear about my assigned tasks. I was feeling fresh and interacted with others with more interest. These simple techniques can be used whenever you are in some nervous situation. Interview being the most nervous situation requires the good usage of these tricks. If one is nervous, he can’t communication freely with the interviewer so it’s a gamble. Using the equal breathing technique it’s very easy to gain the confidence. Just sit back and take equal breaths in and out and here you go. Your mind will be off the interview and you will be feeling easy.

Making a hobby of these relaxing exercises will be great. Once the body will know the trick it will be easy to remain calm in tough situations. If done for 10 to 15 minutes daily in the morning or in the evening will surely make you relax. It is more like meditation. It takes tension off your mind and you really go easy on yourself. After mastering the basic forms, it is better to go an extra mile and look for new exercises with more benefits.

The take out from doing these exercises is that it is very easy to get relaxed. One should be looking for ways to get freshen up. And to end this post I will say we tend to think of meditation in only one way. But life itself is a meditation.