Have you paid attention to your stress level recently?

Are you having problems to get some rest?

Do you know that when you are too tired your body releases in your blood system a stress hormone called cortisol that makes it hard to fall (and stay) asleep, even tough you are exhausted?

A high level of stress can leads to heart problems and stroke. The reason is because your body is so full of all this hormone that your whole system is not capable to relax and give you a rest, making you wake up so tired in the morning. Besides that, your immune system begins to fail and you become sick more easily.

The best way to handle an stressful life is to get some time to breathe and meditate. No, meditation is not a religion or something that only the gurus from India and Nepal are capable of.

Meditation is a way to give your body a break and allow it to works even better.

Most people thinks that it takes a lot of time to get in a meditation and because that is impossible to squeeze a break in their hectic schedule.

Actually only one minute meditation is good enough to decrease your stress level.

First you need to know the difference between meditation and awareness:

Stop and sit for one minute. Do not try to alter your thoughts or control your mind in any way. You can,if you wish, time yourself on a watch or clock.

What happened to your mind during that minute?

How many thoughts did you have?

Where did they come from?

How many times did you change of subject?

Were you completely aware of your thoughts as they were happening, or was there a running commentary somewhere in the back of your mind that you could tune into or tune out of?

This is your state of awareness.

Sit again for one minute. Close your eyes. Allow your tongue to relax. Focus only in relaxing your tongue-nothing else. As you relax your tongue , you may feel it shorten and thicken. Exaggerate the relaxation of your tongue..Allow your chin to drop,your jaw to loosen,and your mouth to open slightly

Each time you exhale,allow your tongue and the whole mouth area to relax even more. Do this for one minute.

Did a minute seem slower or faster than the first time?

How many thoughts did you have?

What was the content of your mind this time?How many times did you change the subject?

This is your state of meditation.

That's incredible isn't? Since you concentrate in something else and focus in your breathe you stop thinking! And that is what you need: Stop Thinking!

With a little practice you don't need to close your eyes to get in a quickly relaxation and you can do it several times a day. You can use this method when you have a problem or when you are angry or upset. You will see a great improvement in all aspects of your life.

Good Luck!

NOTE: The "one minute meditation" exercise was extracted from the book : The High Performance Mind by Anna Wise