Relax and focus in three steps. About five minutes.
Your head runs all day whether you steer it or not. These three steps are how you steer it: one for the body, one for attention, one for the next thing you have to do.
Get the printable worksheet, plus a free account with every step built in.
No password, no card. Unsubscribe any time.
The 3 steps
1.Breathe deeply
- Sit or lie down. One hand on your belly, one on your chest.
- Breathe in through your nose into your belly first, then your ribs, then your chest.
- Breathe out slowly through pursed lips, chest first, belly last, until it's all out.
- One breath counts. A minute is better.
Why: Slow breathing shifts the body toward its calming side, visible in heart-rate measures (Zaccaro and colleagues, 2018).
2.Be mindful
- Keep breathing slowly and put your full attention on one sensation: the breath, or a sip of coffee.
- When a thought pulls you away, notice it without judging it: "I'm aware of…"
- Bring your attention back. The coming back is the rep.
Why: Attention is trainable. Counting breaths is a practice researchers have validated as a measure of mindful attention (Levinson and colleagues, 2014).
3.Imagine vividly
- Close your eyes and picture the next important thing you have to do today.
- Run it start to finish: where you are, what you say, what your hands do.
- Add the senses, then the feeling of finishing it well.
Why: Rehearsing a task in your head improved real performance across dozens of studies, with a modest effect (Driskell and colleagues, 1994).
A study finding a benefit in the people it tested is not a promise of that result for you. All the sources.
Fix one thing, or fix all of it
This guide is the starter version of one part of your health. If one thing is the problem, the 12-week Focus & Brain Power or Be More Present Program trains it properly. If it's never just one thing, All-Access puts every Program and practice into one routine that fits your day.
Sources
Zaccaro et al. (2018). How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing.
Levinson, Stoll, Kindy, Merry, & Davidson (2014). A mind you can count on: validating breath counting as a behavioral measure of mindfulness.
Driskell, Copper, Moran (1994). Does mental practice enhance performance? A meta-analysis.
Pham & Taylor (1999). From thought to action: Effects of process- versus outcome-based mental simulations on performance.
Toth, McNeill, Hayes, Moran, Campbell (2020). Does mental practice still enhance performance? A 24 Year follow-up and meta-analytic replication and extension.