Holiday Calm in 5 minutes

Feeling stressed and worn out with all the preparations for the upcoming festivities?  Why not take 5 minutes to yourself to sit and focus on your breath.

Lay down on the floor, place your hand onto your stomach and breath in, pushing your tummy out.  As you inhale, draw your navel back towards your spine.  Continue to breathe this way for a few more breaths, then deepen your breath by placing your hands onto your rib cage and expanding your diaphragm, pushing your ribs out to the side.  As you exhale, relax the ribs first then draw navel to spine.  On your next inhale breathe into your stomach first, then ribs and lastly raise your shoulders slightly to breath into your collar bones.  Exhale from the collar bones, ribs and then navel to spine.  Continue to take full, deep breaths using the full capacity of your lungs.

As you breath more deeply, you use the full extent of your lungs, flushing your system with oxygen and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.  Basically you calm your body and mind through slow, deep, mindful breathing.