How to Reduce Your Stress In One Minute

This is a short article I recently wrote --

The next time you're sitting in your car waiting for a red light, here's a quick stress relief technique that you can do for yourself in just that amount of time.

Before beginning, set the parking brake. (While this isn't really a relaxation technique per se, it does help reduce the stress of worrying that your car may roll away!) You can also choose to turn off your radio or cell phone so as not to be interrupted in this time you're giving yourself.

First, take your hands off of the steering wheel and rub them together vigorously for five to 10 seconds; this helps re-energize circulation and starts to soften tension. Then, let your hands rest in your lap, and notice your arms, shoulders, and upper back start to relax.

Let your eyes softly focus, perhaps on the signal light or on the hood of your car. Notice how nice it feels to give your eyes, forehead, and jaw a break -- this is when it's great to have your phone turned off.

Now, take three to five easy breaths. These needn't be big breaths; it's just helpful to bring your attention to your breath. Notice how nice it feels to take air into your body.

Now, assuming you've set the parking brake, wiggle the toes on both feet and rotate both of your ankles. Really focus on feeling each individual toe move inside your shoe; this again helps bring warmth and circulation to your feet and lower legs.

Finally, rock your hips from side to side. This helps relax your spine and lower back, and also brings circulation into those areas. You can play with direction and tempo -- if it helps, imagine you're doing a hoola-hoop or salsa dance right there in the driver's seat!

Now feeling refreshed all over your body, you can disengage the parking brake and prepare for the green light to "go" on feeling less stress in yourbody ... and it only took one minute!

-- let me know if you find this useful!