Now that you've got off to a great start with your day, here's what you must make a habit to do every couple of hours. Three things:
One, get up and get out of whatever is keeping you busy and walk to someplace, you can get yourself a refill of water. Drink half the glass and keep the rest with you to consume over the next 2-hour spell. Active hydration in this way is the most natural form of nourishing yourself. Ideally, add a dash of lemon to the water. One lemon squeezed into a one litre jug is a good proportion. You would consume 2 to 3 such jugs during the day and top up your body with all the good vitamins and minerals it needs.
Two, take thirty seconds to reset your posture. While out of your chair, stretch your arms and back. Clasp your fingers together and push the arms outwards, palms facing away from you. Increasing the stretch outwards, raise your palms upwards so that your clasp moves over your head. And release. Do this 3 to 4 times. Twist your torso sideways. Bend forwards and backwards, breathing in while stretching and out while releasing. Give your neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles a shake. Imagine any stored tension in those joints leaving your body. Relax. Feel a sense of relaxation.
Now get back on your chair. You want to sit with your feet planted flat on the ground. Imagine roots growing out of the soles of your feet and connecting you to the centre of the earth. That's about 3000 kilometres deep, so you can safely practice this even when you're in a plane (which flies only 10 km up). Next, bring your attention to your spine. It must be vertical to the ground, which means you would not be touching the back of the chair. Imagine a third root growing out from your tailbone, giving you the stability of a tripod. Lightly place your hands in your lap or on your knees. They would be relaxed, as would be the rest of your body. Especially check for stiffness in the neck and shoulders and move them into relaxation. Bend your head a little, so your chin points towards your chest. And take your attention to your nostrils as you breathe in.
This is the third thing. Breathing in and out consciously for 3 breaths. Breathe into a count of 5-powers. 1-power. 2-power. 3-power. 4-power. 5-power. And then breath out to 5-powers. That will be 10 seconds in all. 30 seconds for 3 full breaths. Relax again. Feel the calm, peace, and lightness that surrounds you as you finish with this 2-minute break. You will be recharged and refreshed.
It is important to observe your belly during this process. It must come out when you inhale. And when you exhale, you must push your belly inwards, to expel all the air in the lungs. In case you observe the opposite pattern, that is a symptom of stress. Please reverse it for these 3 breaths. And practice maintaining that change.
The way you are naturally designed – the way you would see a baby do this – is that you breathe in and fill your lungs. Since they expand, they press the diaphragm down, and the stomach rises. If it doesn't, you are not filling your lungs fully. And that is a stress-response you have cultivated. Change it. You can!
For the analytically-minded, this set of routines is a deliberate attempt to cut the stagnation of energy in the body and mind periodically. Such stagnation can lead to energetic cesspools, which manifest as irritations and fears at a mental level or aches and ulcers at the physical level. Left unattended, it can only go downwards towards depressions and cancers from there.
So let's do this third part together and have you experience the shift of energy within the next one minute.
How was that? Don't you feel the shift? Keep doing it. And while you're at it, let's add another routine to your two-minute breaks in the next lesson.
