Three Ways To Beat Holiday Stress
• Three Minute Meditation: Sit down, close your eyes and breathe out, saying “whew.” Concentrate on your breathing and when your mind wanders (and it will) fetch it back and focus on your breathing. Intrusive thoughts are a sort of mental housework apparently, and this isn’t the time to do it.
• Power Nap: Also known as “take five.” Sit down and close your eyes for five minutes and let your mind drift. No, don’t drop off. That’s not the idea. A siesta of 15 minutes keeps you going for longer. It increases alertness, productivity, creativity and problem-solving later in the day. But don’t nap for longer than 20 minutes because after that you go into deep sleep, and being woken from that will leave you groggy, muddled and even less alert than before.
• Slump: Let your chin fall towards your chest occasionally when sitting down for any length of time. Feel the stretch along your spine, breathe slowly, then sit up.
