Short Meditations for a Quick Relief (Easy How-to)

Sometimes we just need a few minutes of peace and quiet. Somedays just seem like they last forever. Somedays are so filled with stress and anxiety that we wonder how we are going to have the energy to face whatever comes next. Sometimes our life is just too depressing to think about and we feel the need to get away from it all even when we know we can't. That is when it’s time to grab a short meditation and get immediate relief.

Short meditations can last anywhere from one to five minutes and be done anywhere you’re comfortable giving it a try. No one even needs to know what you are doing and you get to reap all the benefits to make it through some rough spots in your day.

Visualization has many techniques that can be used for this process. It's been used to combat stress, tension, and anxiety. Visualization can speed up the healing process and reduce pain and can increase the ability to focus. It’s simple to use and doesn't cost anything. So let’s look at a couple of these techniques.

Picture Visualization: Hang a picture that makes you sigh in a place that you can look at often. Be sure to avoid negative or depressing pictures. When you feel stressed, spend a minute or two looking at the picture while you take a few deep breaths. Do not let your mind wander to whatever is causing you stress, if it does, acknowledge the thought and return your attention to the picture. It’s only a minute or two. You can do it.

Mental Visualization: Similar to the picture above, picture a place in your mind that you would rather be at. This place can be real or fictional as long as you can clearly picture it in your mind. You can close your eyes or leave them wide open depending on your ability to look within. For a few brief minutes, visit this place in your mind and do not allow yourself to think about the outside world.

The Balloon: Picture your problem in your mind, grab it, put it inside a balloon, tie it up, and release it into the wind. While it may not totally get rid of the problem in real life, it's liberating to think for a few minutes that you had control and could make it go away. It helps to make the problem regain its true perspective instead of the monster it may have started to become.

Burn it up: This trick has been used for many purposes, but it’s the visual aspect that helps us release the pent up stress over any situation. Write your problem on a piece of paper, take a flame to the paper and burn it up. This is best done outdoors where you can watch the ashes blow away too. Either way, the significance of the flame is that the fire is symbolic of anger and frustration and by burning up your listed problem, the fire goes out as the problem burns up.

Then there are the breathing techniques that work well for a short break from your routine that, again, can be done anywhere without interrupting the flow of what is going on around you and without anyone knowing what you are doing. The easiest is, again, the natural breathing technique where you simply count your breaths in and out (both equal) with a metered rhythm that forces you to focus on the counting. You can do this for however long it takes to soothe your troubled spirit and regain some peace.

You could try circle breathing where you breathe in through the nose deeply, feeling the breath travel deep within, and then slowly exhale through the mouth feeling the breath rise from deep within. You focus on the feeling where the breath inside your body is traveling and how it feels entering and exiting the body. Repeat until you feel calmer.

Even lighting a candle and simply staring into the flame for a few minutes and focusing on nothing but the flicker of that flame can be used as a short form of meditation. The goal of any short meditation process is to break your mind free from the stress you are struggling with so that you can go back to the issue with a clearer mind after your break. Use whichever method works best for you to achieve this result.