Five Minute Stress Reduction Exercise
In our busy world, making a commitment to a practice of meditation is a goal bigger than most of us feel we can handle.
I like to do a brief exercise with my patients and ask them to repeat it repeatedly over the course of the next several weeks.
I call it the “Water Wheel” exercise.
In case you’re not sure what a water wheel is, here’s a picture:
I like to do a brief exercise with my patients and ask them to repeat it repeatedly over the course of the next several weeks.
I call it the “Water Wheel” exercise.
In case you’re not sure what a water wheel is, here’s a picture:
The first step in this process is to learn about breath. So, pay attention to your breathing for a moment. Imagine it divided into 4 parts: 1. Inhale 2. Pause at the top of the inhale 3. Exhale 4. Pause at the bottom of the exhale. As you are mindful of your breath, allow each of these parts to become equal to each other, forming a smooth rhythm.
Now, visualize a water wheel which moves in a smooth circular motion. Imagine your breath coming over the top of the wheel and as the drops of water would splash over you, the breath falls into you. Then comes the pause at the bottom of the wheel as you prepare for the exhale. The bottom of the wheel is where the water hits the wheel and pushes it. And so your breath should push the bottom of the wheel along its circular journey in your imagination. As the wheel lifts up on the other side of the wheel, you experience the pause before the inhale.
As you imagine your breath keeping time with the wheel it can help if you close your eyes. I even instruct my patients to move their head and upper body in a circular motion to experience the visualization more fully. Do at least 5 breaths along this
visualization.
As you can probably tell, this takes LESS than 5 minutes. I call it 5 minutes because I assign this exercise to be done each and every time you…..go to the restroom. Yep. You usually take a potty break multiple times a day. If you commit to do the breathing at every visit to the restroom, you will have many practice attempts. After you’ve done this a while, you will begin to have the same relaxation response immediately upon dropping into the visualization. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Now, visualize a water wheel which moves in a smooth circular motion. Imagine your breath coming over the top of the wheel and as the drops of water would splash over you, the breath falls into you. Then comes the pause at the bottom of the wheel as you prepare for the exhale. The bottom of the wheel is where the water hits the wheel and pushes it. And so your breath should push the bottom of the wheel along its circular journey in your imagination. As the wheel lifts up on the other side of the wheel, you experience the pause before the inhale.
As you imagine your breath keeping time with the wheel it can help if you close your eyes. I even instruct my patients to move their head and upper body in a circular motion to experience the visualization more fully. Do at least 5 breaths along this
visualization.
As you can probably tell, this takes LESS than 5 minutes. I call it 5 minutes because I assign this exercise to be done each and every time you…..go to the restroom. Yep. You usually take a potty break multiple times a day. If you commit to do the breathing at every visit to the restroom, you will have many practice attempts. After you’ve done this a while, you will begin to have the same relaxation response immediately upon dropping into the visualization. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!