Daily Dose: Single Pointed Focus Meditation 10 Min Relaxation Response

From Mind Body Space, it's RxChillPill, a show about science-backed resilience skills and powerful stress management tools to make you the boss of your own brain. I'm your host, Dr. Juna Bobby MD, a physician specializing in mind-body medicine and a mom of two amazing kids. There are three different kinds of episodes: one where I interview fascinating people and experts who share resilience tips for the mind, body, and space. Another where you'll find short meditations you can do anywhere, anytime, to get your daily dose of the relaxation response, the complete opposite of the stress response. In the third type, you'll get science-backed resilience boosters and antidotes to stress that really work, so you can tap into your own brain superpowers and apply liberally in your daily life.

This is a single-pointed meditation. Meditation to elicit your relaxation response, the opposite of the stress response. So find a quiet place, and if you can't, you can always have earphones on and a pair of sunglasses, so you can do this anywhere, anytime. So sit comfortably And take a deep breath in and exhale. Take another deep breath in and exhale. Now let your breath become natural. And as I mention the areas of your body, just bring your focus to that spot and see if you can release even the tiniest bit of tension from that area with each breath. Bring your attention to the top of your head, releasing your forehead, jaw, cheeks, mouth, jawline, and your whole entire face, just releasing even the tiniest bit. Now bring it over the top of the head and over the back of your head, down your neck, Even your ears. See if you can release anything at all, even the tiniest bit of tension. Now bring your focus over the left side of the neck, down your left shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, and your left hand, the palm of your left hand, and each fingertip. Thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, and fifth finger. And now down your right neck, right shoulder, right upper arm, elbow, and forearm, and your right fingertips— thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger— and the palm of your right hand. Now bring your focus over your chest and your abdomen, releasing even the tiniest bit. And now down the back of your neck and down along your spine, vertebra by vertebra by vertebra, all the way down, releasing any tension. Now over your left thigh and your knee, the back of your knee, calf, shin, top of your left foot, the bottom of your left foot, and all your toes. First, second, third, fourth, fifth. And now your right leg, your thigh and your knee and the back of your knee. Your calf, your shin, the top of your right foot and the bottom of your right foot, and all of your toes— first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. And now bring that attention again to the top of your head with your next inhale, and bring that focus scanning all the way down to the bottom of your feet. Releasing anything that you can. Now bring to mind a word on the in-breath and a word on the out-breath. It could be something simple as in and out, or calm on the inhale and ease on the exhale. Or just on the inhale and this on the exhale. Just focus on the in-breath, just, and then on the exhale, this. Whatever words serve you. Continue to focus on the word on the inhale. If it's just and on the exhale, this, or in and out, or calm and ease, whatever your choice was today. And if thoughts pass through, Just say, "Oh well," and come back to your word on the inhale and on the exhale. Whatever your experience in this moment is perfectly fine. There is no right or wrong way of doing this right now. So every time you wander, bring it back to your word on the in-breath, and on the out-breath, easy, gently coming back to your focus words. Gently coming back to the focus words as often as you need to. Allowing your breath to come and go naturally. And now gently release those words and the focus on the breath. Let it just slip away and allow yourself to just be. Whatever comes will come. Now allow some wishes to come for yourself. May I be well. May I be happy. And now bring to mind all those people that you'll encounter today. May you be well. May you be happy. Now start to take a deep inhale through your nose to the top of your head. And exhale through your nose. Now inhale, this time with an imaginary string pulling you up to the top of your head, from the crown of your head, making you taller. Inhale. And exhale. Next, bring your arms up overhead. Inhale, interlace your fingers and push your palms up into the air. And exhale, floating your arms down.

And on the next inhale, be very energetic and purposeful to grow your spine tall and long.

And on the exhale, release your neck and shoulders.

One more time, inhale. Feeling energetic and ready for the rest of your day. Do a few neck rolls if you need to, and some shoulder rolls.

Take another deep breath in, and if you haven't already, slowly open your eyes, coming back to your space.

Remembering that you can always come back to this anytime, anywhere by just simply coming back to your breath with your focus word on the inhale and the exhale. Thank you for your time with me, and remember that these few minutes that you spend throughout your days eliciting the relaxation response is healing you down to the cellular level. If you found this podcast helpful to you, please Subscribe, post ratings and reviews, and share it with everyone you know who wants to stress less and do more. This knowledge is really powerful and science-based. We need to share it with as many people as possible to help with this epidemic of stress and the stress-related diseases that we're seeing today. I know your time is gold, so thank you, and I want to hear from you. Go to mindbodyspace.com, subscribe, and ask me any questions and suggest any any topics that you'd like to hear in the future. You'll also find episode show notes and resources on the podcast page. While you're there, check out our online school for courses you can take, like Stress Less and Do More series for students and parents, Get Smarter Than Our Smartphones course, and the full-on SMART course. SMART stands for Stress Management and Resilience Training. It's a research-backed course designed by the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and I'm your certified provider. Until next time, this is Dr. Juna Bobby MD wishing you wellness.