Climbing the steps to my third floor office sometimes takes my breath away. Not in a good way. Especially if I have been away for awhile. But I do love the commute...no traffic to deal with, no red lights or road rage.

There are so many stresses in our daily lives. Whether it is a big presentation at work or back to back meetings with no time for preparation. Sometimes just having people over can cause great stress especially if the house hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

I wonder lately if thinking about stress isn't an American luxury. Can you imagine someone in Africa going about their daily rounds and gathering drinking water for the day stopping to chat about how stressful their lives are?

After years of retraining my brain to think differently about many things now my levels of stress are under the microscope.

My niece advises to breathe God in and anxiety and worry out. She calls these "one minute meditations". In yoga this is called, "the breathe of the ocean" breathing deeply in through your nose then slowly exhaling out your nose  so that you hear the sound of the ocean in your ears.

Exercise can help, especially if we break a sweat, since it releases chemicals in our brains which helps induce a more relaxed state. Of course, if we are missing the workout because our mind is drilling us on the next thing we need to do it probably won't help as much. There is total truth in the importance of being in this moment. 

Just a few minutes of mediation daily will reroute the neural pathways in your brain making us more peaceful. Which doesn't mean lazy it means moving with grace and getting everything done one thing at a time.

The last thing to keep our attention on is what is really important? What is it that must be done? Do those things first. If exercise and meditation are real priorities then treat them like any other meeting, this one with your Self.

 Make an appointment with Spirit daily and keep it.

This is the way to stretch time and enjoy less stress.