If your mind is prone to fidgeting, start a meditation practice today. It might feel very uncomfortable in the beginning, or you feel unable to sit still and unwind. But don't give up, meditation doesn't have to be a one hour, sitting in lotus with your back straight up kind of practice. Meditation comes in many thousands of methods and form, if the one you tried didn't work, perhaps you just haven't found the type that works for you. 

For me finding a voice that I like, that I feel comfortable with has been the issue, hence I have starting making my own free meditation audio clips here, if you already come to class regularly, try them and see if we can trick your mind into relaxing.

Another nourishment sometimes we easily forget is food. In ancient ayurveda and Chinese medicine, food is sometimes referred to as food medicine. The kind of nourishment we absorb through our digestive system is incredibly important to our wellbeing - both mentally and physically.

Sit down and run a check list of what you eat on a good day, and what you eat on a bad day. And highlight any food/meal that includes:

1. Processed sugar
2. Refined carbohydrates (Plain white flour, pasta, pizza)
3. Processed foods (Canned, food from a pack, fast foods)
4. Large amount of red meat (More than 50% of the portion of your meal)

And run a list of what you can use as an internative to the identified less ideal food sources. For example, substituting your after dinner ice cream with frozen berries with cream; or perhaps instead of regular pasta substitute that with soya pasta, or zucchini pasta. Replace your processed sugar with natural sweetener like banana, agave. And instead of filling your belly with red meat and fast carbs, try to fill your belly with white meat, or vegetable protein. 

I'm going on a no processed sugar diet again from today (7.March) until the end of this year, and it does wonders for my body. It reduces my inflammation, my sluggishness. I invite you to join me. You don't have to start with a rest of the year commitment. In fact, if you have never done it before, I encourage you to start with a 1+2 weeks schedule. Start with cutting dessert and replacing it with healthier alternatives in the first week, and then commit to not having any processed sugar in your diet. Keep your progress in a journal, perhaps you are just writing them down, or perhaps you are joining me on instagram using #byesugar to post inspirations, meal prep for yourself and other people.

Feel it and notice the difference it makes in your body. 

Perhaps you are the kind of people who like to look up into the night sky and watch the stars. Perhaps it is on your commute to work, in the middle of a walk way, of a train platform. Perhaps it is in the morning, when you take your walk to where you need to go. 

Turn off your judgemental brain, turn off the need to process any information, turn off the action list. And let the surrounding steep into you. 

Create this space for yourself, if you mind fidgets, it itches, set a timer, make your mind have to stay away from any of these stimulations. Perhaps in the beginning you will need help from the music, perhaps in the beginning you can only stay away for a minute or two. But a daily practice of detaching and making space is going to translate, and it is going to decrease your anxiety, your stress level.

If you are having a hard time making a discipline of it, find and join a restorative yoga class. This is a type of yoga that has very little physical component, the practice is made for conditioning the mind into accepting and facing stillness. Perhaps you won't feel changed in one session but try it a few times and let your mind slowly adapt into the new mode and condition, and watch as that transforms your energy and stress level.

When you are having a particular bad day, where it is difficult to find stillness and move our consciousness from our head towards our lower extremities, try switching your perspective. 

It doesn't have to be a complicated posture, perhaps you just lean your buttock onto the wall and release your head and spine down. Notice how your breath changes immediately, notice how your body slows down immediately. Take deep breathes until you are ready to face your on-going activities again.

Decide on an object that is you, that belongs to you, an object that preferably fits neatly into the size of your palm and has a texture like you like. Whenever you feel unease, or feel a certain anxiety or difficulty coming up, hold onto your object. Focus your mind onto the sensation of holding it, the texture and the temperature instead. Experiment with this and notice if it makes any difference in your peace of mind.