Daily meditation is a great way of keeping on top of the winter blues. The short days and the lack of sun have been proven to affect many people’s mental health and at the extreme, individuals can suffer Seasonal Affected Disorder (ironically known as SAD). Spending some time to remain present in the moment and focus on deep, slow breathing can help with these feelings of flatness.

An app which Rachel recommends is One Giant Mind. “Having struggled with mediation for years, I found the soothing tones of Johnny immediately helped me to relax. And the daily sessions are achievable; you can do as little as 10 minutes to achieve a great effect! You simply plug your headphones in and away you go. There is a 12-day course, teaching you the mediation basics and then a 30-day challenge. By the time you reach day 30, the daily mediation habit is established”.

If you struggle with formal mediation practice, try and at least prioritise regular times throughout the day where you just focus on deep breathing. Try this simple process of breathing at the rate of 6 breaths per minute (which has been proven to be the optimum breathing rate to elicit relaxation) for two minutes.

How do you feel?

Much better we’re sure, and in such a quick period of time.