In all of the busy-ness and chaos of our daily lives, sometimes it’s very hard to just stop, breathe, and take a second to relax. That makes it difficult to be in the moment and really be open to the goodness that surrounds you everywhere. Losing touch with stillness and the “now” of things can make us really unbalanced and I think we miss so much of the good in our own lives just because we’re missing this moment as it passes us by.

So, how can you stop the frantic world we live in and become more in the moment? I like to use a short, simple meditation that I found in a great book called Ten Zen Seconds by Eric Maisel. Very easily, I close my eyes and repeat the following while I am deep breathing:

(Deep 5 second breath in) “I am completely”
(Slow 5 second breath out) “Stopping”

Believe it or not, this simple little ten second exercise and meditation really calms things down and re-centers you here and now, in the moment. I’ve used this while working, cycling, running, and especially at home to just slow things down for a moment to allow me to focus on the goodness that is happening right now. It can mean the difference in noticing the good ideas of my colleagues, the beauty of the mountains that I cycle and run in, or the laughter and happiness of my children. It doesn’t take long meditations and lots of time to relax and be present in your life. The next time you’re feeling frantic or disconnected, breathe in, breathe out and try completely stopping for ten seconds.