Explore routines.

Meditation in motion, slowing walking right down. About 15 minutes. Find a quiet path of 10–20 steps, indoors or outside, to walk up and down.

1. Stand · 60 seconds
2. Walk slowly · 5 minutes
3. Lift, move, place · 5 minutes
4. Natural pace · 3 minutes
5. Stand still · 60 seconds

Yogic sleep: deep rest lying down, guided by your own attention. About 15 minutes. Lie on your back with a blanket over you. The aim is to stay just on the edge of sleep.

1. Settle · 60 seconds
2. Set a sankalpa · 60 seconds
3. Rotate through the body · 5 minutes
4. Breath awareness · 3 minutes
5. Opposite sensations · 2 minutes
6. Visualise · 2 minutes
7. Repeat your sankalpa · 60 seconds

A classic 20-minute body scan, moving your attention slowly from your toes to the top of your head. Lie on your back. You're not trying to relax, just to notice. If you fall asleep, that's fine too.

1. Settle · 2 minutes
2. Feet · 2 minutes
3. Legs · 3 minutes
4. Hips and pelvis · 2 minutes
5. Belly and chest · 3 minutes
6. Back · 2 minutes
7. Hands and arms · 2 minutes
8. Neck, face and head · 3 minutes
9. Whole body · 2 minutes
10. Close · 60 seconds

Scramble a racing mind with random, unconnected images, the kind of drifting thought that comes just before sleep. About 10 minutes. Pick a word with no repeated letters, like BLANKET.

1. First letter · 2 minutes
2. Second letter · 2 minutes
3. Third letter · 2 minutes
4. Fourth letter · 2 minutes
5. Keep going · 3 minutes

The relaxation drill made famous as a military method for falling asleep anywhere. It takes practice: give it a few weeks.

1. Relax your face · 20 seconds
2. Drop your shoulders · 20 seconds
3. Relax your chest · 20 seconds
4. Relax your legs · 20 seconds
5. Clear your mind · 40 seconds

Five minutes before you open your inbox, to start the day on purpose.

1. Arrive · 30 seconds
2. Count ten breaths · 2 minutes
3. Choose one priority · 60 seconds
4. Picture the first step · 60 seconds
5. Begin

Use your senses to come back to the present moment when anxiety spirals. About 4 minutes. Say each thing out loud or in your head. There are no wrong answers.

1. Five things you can see · 45 seconds
2. Four things you can feel · 45 seconds
3. Three things you can hear · 45 seconds
4. Two things you can smell · 30 seconds
5. One thing you can taste · 30 seconds
6. Settle · 30 seconds

Skull-shining breath: short, sharp exhales to energise you, for 3 rounds. Sit tall on an empty stomach. Stop if you feel dizzy, and skip it if you're pregnant or have high blood pressure.

1. Pump the breath · 30 seconds
2. Breathe naturally · 30 seconds
3. Deep breath and hold · 15 seconds
4. Rest · 30 seconds

Repeats for 3 rounds

The physiological sigh, repeated: two inhales and one long exhale, for 20 rounds, about 3 minutes. A single sigh is the fastest way to take the edge off in a stressful moment. A few minutes of them works even better.

1. Inhale · 2 seconds
2. Top up · 1 second
3. Long exhale · 6 seconds

Repeats for 20 rounds

Nadi shodhana, a balancing yogic breath, for 8 rounds. Rest your right thumb by your right nostril and your ring finger by your left, closing one side at a time. Skip this if your nose is blocked.

1. Inhale left · 4 seconds
2. Exhale right · 6 seconds
3. Inhale right · 4 seconds
4. Exhale left · 6 seconds

Repeats for 8 rounds

Calm down in four even counts, for 3 rounds. Inhale for 4s Hold for 4s Exhale for 4s Hold for 4s

1. Inhale · 4 seconds
2. Hold · 4 seconds
3. Exhale · 4 seconds
4. Hold · 4 seconds

Repeats for 3 rounds

A 10 minute reset for a busy day: breathe, relax the body, then a short visualisation. 🎥 Video: Reset Your Mind | 10 Min Guided Meditation for Calm, Inner Peace & Stress Relief by Sarah Wes

1. Breathwork and settling in · 2.3 minutes
2. Body relaxation · 3 minutes
3. Visualization and affirmations · 3 minutes
4. Closing · 1.2 minutes

A two-minute scan for the places that tense up while you work, done in your chair.

1. Jaw · 20 seconds
2. Eyes and forehead · 20 seconds
3. Shoulders · 20 seconds
4. Hands · 20 seconds
5. Belly · 20 seconds
6. Feet · 20 seconds

Turn a cup of tea into a ten-minute meditation, inspired by the Japanese tea ceremony. No phone, no book: just you and the cup.

1. Prepare
2. Look · 60 seconds
3. Smell · 30 seconds
4. First sip · 60 seconds
5. Drink slowly · 6 minutes
6. Reflect · 30 seconds

A 25-minute bedtime routine to tell your brain the day is over. Start about half an hour before you want to be asleep.

1. Screens off
2. Brain dump · 3 minutes
3. Three good things · 2 minutes
4. Gentle stretch · 5 minutes
5. Read · 15 minutes
6. Lights out