The benefits of meditation are many and varied from reducing stress to increasing one’s cognition and creativity. Additionally, meditation heightens our concentration, allowing us to be more productive. This happens because when we meditate we stimulate the Green Zone (parasympathetic nervous system), which strengthens the frontal cortex of the brain. This part of the brain is key to memory, calmness in attitude, recuperation and overall health.

Meditation trains the brain to enter the Green Zone’s pause-plan response, which is the opposite of the stress response. Meditation is the exercise for the brain. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes of mindfulness exercise to create changes in the brain and your overall habit patterns. 

This meditation can help you quickly release any unwholesome emotion or stressful situation and bring yourself back into balance whether you are traveling, at work or at home. The key is to be mindfully aware of your breathing.

To do this you breathe in through your nose for a count of ten, hold for a moment, and then out through your mouth as if you are breathing through a straw, you can choose to count to ten during this exhalation; the important thing is to exhale slowly as this turns on the Green Zone. Set your timer for the amount of time that you want to do this exercise and then forget about the time. Keep following the routine until you feel comfortable just watching your breath.

When you first start this exercise your mind will race with a million thoughts and that is ok. Your job during meditation is not to shut off the thoughts; it’s to be mindful of the thoughts passing through. In other words just watch the thought without judgment and focus on the breath. If you find yourself caught up in a thought then simply repeat the ten count upon inhalation and visualize the straw as you breathe out.

It is important that you do not complicate the exercise. Mindfulness training is simply becoming the observer of your mind.