Stress bust while you brush your teeth

This is from my book, Happy-Go-Yoga- a takes-no-time mindfulness and meditation practice you do at that same time you brush your teeth! It's from a chapter called Sunny Side Up...

...One of the most precious times for yogis is the morning, which gives us an opportunity to meditate in quiet, setting intentions and positive thoughts for the day, before life’s daily challenges start to test us. So, greet the light, and start the day right. Hey, I love a good cup of coffee, but these daily kick-starters are pretty eye opening too!

Brush and Breathe

You have a lot on your plate today, so you want to start off feeling on top of your game and balanced. Make Brush and Breathe part of your morning routine so that no matter what comes your way, you’ll set the tone of steadiness despite challenge. You can get there in the amount of time it takes to brush your teeth.

1. Load up your toothbrush with toothpaste. Inhale, and count to six (or eight), brushing at the same time (though you don't have to match the brush strokes to the count.

2. Exhale, and count to six (or eight), and continue to make brush strokes to the count.

3. As you move the brush around your mouth and across your teeth, repeat steps 2 & 3, keeping the count matching – either six or eight.

4. Continue to Brush and Breathe until you’ve finished brushing your teeth. 

*BONUS: If you can breathe a little deeper, go ahead and lengthen the count to ten or twelve; just keep the count even on inhales and exhales.

About Brush and Breathe

Happy-GO-Yoga’s Brush and Breathe is based on a tried-and-true pranayama (PRAH-nuh-YAH-muh), or yoga breathing, technique called Sama Vritti (SAH-muh VREE-tee) that is meant to calm, center, and balance the spirit. Brush and Breathe guides you to match brushing strokes with a breath count, so you train yourself to make inhale and exhale lengths more equal. You’ll support the nervous system in a way that balances the energy you need to do things with the calming feeling you need to reduce stress. You know that phrase “even keeled?” Count on Brush and Breathe to help you feel more even keeled, more often. You’ll probably end up with more evenly cleaned teeth, too.

Happy-Go-Yoga is available in most major bookstores, which includes the started-as-an-online-book-store-and-we-didn't-understand-why-that-was-a-good-idea-but-oh-well-I-guess-we-are-chained-to-prime, Amazon.com.