STAT 3 Steps to De-Stress Meditation When You Need To Refocus

Hi, welcome to the relaxation portion of the Rx Chill Pill podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Juna Bobby MD. I'm a mom and physician specializing in mind-body medicine, and I'm here to bring you your daily dose of the relaxation response, the complete opposite of your stress response. Eliciting your relaxation response will immediately bring you to a state of calm and over time affect you down to cellular level. So we're going to do a short practice today, just 3 steps to destress. And because it's short, you can do this stat when you need it the most, right in the moment. This is the slowed-down version of what you can take with you. You can use it whenever you feel stressed, or just use it throughout your day because the effects will add up. So let's begin. Have a comfortable seat and take a look around you. Now find a focus spot directly in front of you, something a little higher than your eye level. So you're looking up a little bit. Just notice this thing. It could be a spot on the wall, maybe a clock or a photograph, picture. Just focus on this object. And if you don't have an object, you can even focus on the corner of a wall or where the ceiling meets the wall. Just take a few breaths here at your own pace. Now I invite you to lower your eyes. If you wish, you can even close them. Take a deep breath in. Breathe through your nose and notice the temperature of the breath. See if you can notice a difference between the inhale and the exhale. Maybe a slight difference in temperature. Good. And now check in. Notice if your thoughts are wandering and what the content of your thoughts are. Just noticing your physical sensations, your emotions, feeling and the thoughts that are coming through behind those emotions, behind those feelings. Just simply say, "Oh well," and let them go. Or if they stay, that's fine too. Oh well. Now take a deep breath again, noticing the air, the temperature and the quality coming in your nose. And this time on the exhale, release any muscle tension in your neck, and shoulders as much as you can, if you would like. Now just ask yourself this one simple but most important question, and ask yourself in the voice that you need the most. This one simple but powerful question: What do you need right now? Just let it come up for you. What do you need? Maybe you need a nap. Power nap, perhaps. Maybe you need a glass of water, cold or hot. Maybe you need some fresh air or some social connection. Maybe you need to just do that one task you've been putting off. Whatever it is, just let it come up for you. Now come back to your breath at your nose and open your eyes. Now this exercise only takes a breath or two, so you can take it with you throughout the day and use it whenever you need to take a little break from your everyday train of thought, your busyness, just checking in with yourself and giving yourself what you need to power through the day. And remember that all of this adds up. It's like muscle memory. So the more you do it, the more you're strengthening that muscle that counters your stress response. Have an awesome day.