Destressing

There's one reason why I haven't attempted a vacation since college. They sort of scare me. I'm afraid I'm going to discover a really bad character defect that I'll need to change. I'm uncomfortable with stillness.

Here is a six-step, six-second relaxation technique that can temporarily bring your stress level down; if you use the technique throughout the day, it can help lower your baseline stress level.

It is in times of great stress when we are in survival mode, when it is most important to stop and be present in our lives and carve out some quality, self-nourishing time for silence and stillness.

Using the breath to support the healthy assimilation of undigested emotions moves us out of the stress response and into balanced living.

Wherever you are, no matter how important your ego might need you to be, you are not so big that the world cannot continue on its axis while you hop off the merry-go-round to reconnect with the essential.

instead of passing on your stressful reverberations to others -- causing mistakes, disagreements, miscommunications and grievances down the line -- I ask you to create some space, in the next moment, that is free of stress.