Article by Francoise Bonhoure

As stress management tools easy meditation techniques are some of the most rewarding for stress relief as they re-balance body and mind, providing one does some form of exercise also as part of the process, which most of the methods include.

Taking a break in a spiritual retreat, just for a few days, can change one’s mental routine, turn our life around and improve the physical side-effects of stress and anxiety. Such places may be called ‘ashrams’, places where one spends a minimum of three hours a day in meditation or prayer.

On the other hand, if you cannot either afford the time or the money to go away on a retreat, you can introduce meditation into your life for stress management quite easily as there are some free guided meditations available online to start us on the way.

Particularly easy meditation techniques for a beginner would be methods that involve moving the body first, maybe by putting on music and dancing freely for a little while or just shaking, in order to melt any tensions one might have that bring a feeling of discomfort and that might prevent the person from settling and being able to enjoy a quietening of the mind.

Then the person preparing to meditate should seek a quiet location without distractions. Specific comfortable postures, a focus of attention and an open attitude are general elements of the practice.I recently read about the chocolate meditation, a weekly relaxing ritual one can start just by oneself, providing one has chocolate to start with!The process is about staying present more and more in the present moment by focusing on the feeling of every step: of tasting it in your mouth, swallowing, feeling the emptiness of the mouth after, the sensations in the mouth etc.

It requires you to deep-breathe first, then relax and take a small bite of your chocolate, letting it sit on your tongue and melt in your mouth (just like in the ads!).Keep your attention on the flavors of the chocolate, becoming completely absorbed in what you’re experiencing right now. Continue your deep breathing, and concentrate on the sensations in your mouth. Staying focused on the feeling and the sensations in order to remain in the present moment, including more of the body sensations in the arms and the whole body in the process.It sounds like a wonderful and easy way of stress management. The only difficulty being to stay in the moment – but that is what the practice and learning is about, not eating tons of chocolate!

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