A one-minute gift to yourself

by | Apr 30, 2013 | Meditation/Mindfulness

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Stop.

Just stop, right now.

I have a gift to share with you. It’s not a unique gift, or one that you haven’t received before – it’s called ‘this moment’. Corny, right?

Keep reading.

Right now, are you bouncing around between status updates, website links, and other distractions? On your phone? On your computer? Are you thinking about what you have to do in 20 minutes, about where you have to be, or about what happened to you this morning?

Stop racing, even just while you read these words. And take a deep breath in.

Go ahead; pull a whole bunch of air in from all around you until your lungs are full of it. And once you’ve breathed in all you can, breathe it all out, slowly. Feel your chest contract as it pushes the air out of your lungs, and then feel the air rushing up your throat and back into the world again.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Now try it one more time. Take a deep, deep breath in. And again, push the air out, slowly, and with concentration.

Doesn’t it feel great to remember to breathe every once in a while?

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Image source: PhotoLab XL

Written by Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey has written hundreds of articles on the subject of productivity and is the author of three books: How to Calm Your Mind, Hyperfocus, and The Productivity Project. His books have been published in more than 40 languages. Chris writes about productivity on this site and speaks to organizations around the globe on how they can become more productive without hating the process.

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