Your One Minute Mood Lift!

Next time you begin to feel stressed, (unless you are driving!) take one minute out of your hectic schedule to try this.

• Imagine you are making a scan of your body starting with your head right down to your toes. As you mentally travel down your body be aware where any tension is located and as ‘your scanner’ gets to it, exhale noisily and see the tension flowing away from you with the breath.
• Close your eyes and allow yourself to smile very slowly. Make sure that you don’t have a clamped jaw and a gritted teeth smile! Just allow a slow soft smile to form on your lips. You should feel your face muscles relaxing as you do this.

• Think up your own calming words. Words which help you slow down and repeat them slowly in your head. They might be: ‘soft’, ‘calm’, ‘soothe’,’ love’, ‘comfortable’, ‘release’, ‘warmth,’ or ‘relax’. Choose one that works for you.

When life gets a bit busy, give yourself just 60 seconds every day to try the one minute mood lift!

Do share any quick de-stressors you find helpful too!