Face Yoga - Toning Up the Digastric Muscle Under the Chin

         Toning Muscles Under the Chin & Minimizing the Fatty Deposits in the Area 

1) 

Dragon breath - look up, raising your chin to the sky, inhale through the nose with  lips closed, then exhale with the mouth wide open. Repeat 5 times.

2) 

Suck your cheeks in, make a pout with your lips, and move the jaw up and down 10 times while keeping the cheeks sucked in.

3) 

Gently bite your tongue, raise the chin to the sky (head back), hold as long as you can.

4)

Gently crinkle your nose, look up diagonally (first left, then right) as you move your jaw up and down.

5)

Make your widest open-mouthed smile, raise the chin to the sky (head back), move the jaw up and down while keeping the smile.

6)

Shift the jaw from side to side.

7)

Fill your mouth with air, look up diagonally, move the jaw up and down.

20 Phrases for Every Day that Relieve Chronic Depression

 20 Phrases To Repeat Every Day That Relieve Chronic Depression ( published by Power of Positivity)

1. “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WE HAVE KNOWN ARE THOSE WHO HAVE KNOWN DEFEAT, KNOWN SUFFERING, KNOWN STRUGGLE, KNOWN LOSS, AND HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY OUT OF THE DEPTHS.” – ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS

While experiencing these situations and feelings is never desired, try to stay positive. Remind yourself that many great and successful people in the world have been through it before. They pulled through and forged ahead, and you can, too.

2. “YOU ARE NOT YOUR ILLNESS. YOU HAVE AN INDIVIDUAL STORY TO TELL. YOU HAVE A NAME, A HISTORY, A PERSONALITY. STAYING YOURSELF IS PART OF BATTLE.” – JULIAN SEIFTER

While you may have been diagnosed with chronic depression, it doesn’t define who you are. You are still the same person with the same history and personality, so make sure to stay true to yourself. Don’t lose yourself in an attempt to get through the illness, but instead, embrace the things that make you unique.

3. “FORGET PAST MISTAKES. FORGET FAILURES. FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO NOW—AND DO IT.” – WILLIAM DURANT

Everyone makes mistakes, but you have to forgive yourself for them and forget about them. Forget about all the things that hold you back or make you doubt yourself. If you can let go of those things, you will have an easier time relieving chronic depression.

4. “IF YOU WANT THE LIGHT TO COME INTO YOUR LIFE, YOU NEED TO STAND WHERE IT IS SHINING.” – GUY FINLEY

Look for the things that make you feel good and happy. Find what makes you feel better and a little brighter, and then focus on that. If you want to feel better and relieve your depression, you must find the things that inspire or comfort you.

5. “IF YOU DON’T THINK YOUR ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, SADNESS, AND STRESS IMPACT YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH, THINK AGAIN. ALL OF THESE EMOTIONS TRIGGER CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN YOUR BODY, WHICH CAN LEAD TO INFLAMMATION AND A WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM. LEARN HOW TO COPE, SWEET FRIEND. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DARK DAYS.” – KRIS CARR

All of these negative emotions can impact your physical health, too. This gives you even more of a reason to work on relieving your chronic depression. Find ways to cope, even on the hardest days, so that you can live a healthy life.

6. “BELIEVE THAT LIFE IS WORTH LIVING AND YOUR BELIEF WILL HELP CREATE THE FACT.” – WILLIAM JAMES

If you believe that life is worth it, you will notice the depression lifts a bit. Try using positive affirmations for depression to reaffirm your belief. As you speak the words out loud to yourself, you are more likely to believe them and live by them.

7. “NEVER CONFUSE A SINGLE DEFEAT WITH A FINAL DEFEAT.” – F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

Just because you have been defeated once doesn’t mean that everything is over. You can be defeated and still move forward, and you should strive to do so.

If you can accept defeat and keep trying anyway, you will find that your depression lifts. Don’t let your mental health hold you back and make you feel like you can’t do more or keep trying.

8. “SOMETIMES, LIFE WILL KICK YOU AROUND, BUT SOONER OR LATER, YOU REALIZE YOU’RE NOT JUST A SURVIVOR. YOU’RE A WARRIOR, AND YOU’RE STRONGER THAN ANYTHING LIFE THROWS YOUR WAY.” – BROOKE DAVIS

As you endure all of the hardships and obstacles in life, you will become a survivor. You have survived everything so far and gotten stronger with each step.

9. “DEPRESSION, SUFFERING, AND ANGER ARE ALL PART OF BEING HUMAN.” – JANET FITCH

You are not weird or messed up for being depressed. These emotions are part of being human, and everyone has their own mental issues to deal with. Keep pushing through, and don’t give yourself a hard time because of your situation.

10. “ON PARTICULARLY ROUGH DAYS WHEN I’M SURE I CAN’T POSSIBLY ENDURE, I LIKE TO REMIND MYSELF THAT MY TRACK RECORD FOR GETTING THROUGH BAD DAYS SO FAR IS 100%, AND THAT’S PRETTY GOOD.” – UNKNOWN

You have gotten through all hardships, obstacles, and bad days in the past. Remember that you made it through all of those times, and you will make it through this one, too. Recall this inspiring quote anytime you feel like you can’t go on, and you will remember the reason you can.

10. “ON PARTICULARLY ROUGH DAYS WHEN I’M SURE I CAN’T POSSIBLY ENDURE, I LIKE TO REMIND MYSELF THAT MY TRACK RECORD FOR GETTING THROUGH BAD DAYS SO FAR IS 100%, AND THAT’S PRETTY GOOD.” – UNKNOWN

You have gotten through all hardships, obstacles, and bad days in the past. Remember that you made it through all of those times, and you will make it through this one, too. Recall this inspiring quote anytime you feel like you can’t go on, and you will remember the reason you can.

If you believe that life is worth it, you will notice the depression lifts a bit. Try using positive affirmations for depression to reaffirm your belief. As you speak the words out loud to yourself, you are more likely to believe them and live by them.

11. “EACH MORNING, WE ARE BORN AGAIN. WHAT WE DO TODAY IS WHAT MATTERS MOST.” – BUDDHA

Every day is a new chance to try again. Don’t worry or obsess over what happened yesterday or any other day in the past. Focus on today, and you will find that your depression is much easier to overcome and handle.

12. “THE ONLY CURE I HAVE EVER KNOWN FOR FEAR AND DOUBT AND LONELINESS IS AN IMMENSE LOVE OF SELF.” – ALISON MALEE

Depression can cause all of these negative feelings that Malee describes. If you can love yourself, though, you can push the feelings of depression, fear, doubt, and loneliness away. Practice self-love always and see where it leads you.

13. “DON’T LET LIFE DISCOURAGE YOU; EVERYONE WHO GOT WHERE HE IS HAD TO BEGIN WHERE HE/SHE WAS.” – RICHARD L. EVANS

Life will bring you down sometimes, but don’t let it discourage you. All of the successful and happy people in the world struggled to get to where they are, too.

14. “YOU SAY YOU’RE ‘DEPRESSED’ – ALL I SEE IS RESILIENCE. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO FEEL MESSED UP AND INSIDE OUT. IT DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE DEFECTIVE – IT JUST MEANS YOU’RE HUMAN.” – DAVID MITCHELL

Instead of saying that you are depressed, try saying that you are resilient. Intense emotions happen, as do mental health conditions, but you are allowed to feel depressed. There is nothing wrong with it, despite anything you have heard, because being human is hard.

As you fight through your depression, remember how resilient you are. No one can get through life unscathed, and everyone has different issues to deal with. Give yourself credit for pushing forward and continuing to live life even as you work to relieve your depression.

15. “BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND ALL THAT YOU ARE. KNOW THAT THERE IS SOMETHING INSIDE OF YOU THAT IS GREATER THAN ANY OBSTACLE.” – CHRISTIAN D. LARSON

When you can believe in yourself, you can do anything you set your mind to, including relieving chronic depression. You are stronger and more resilient than anything that will come your way.

16. “I’M NOT GRATEFUL FOR DEPRESSION, BUT IT HONESTLY MADE ME WORK HARDER AND GAVE ME THE DRIVE THAT I HAVE TO SUCCEED AND TO MAKE IT WORK.” – LILI REINHART

While depression is never a good thing, you can find positivity in your situation as Reinhart did. Your depression could push you to work harder, be determined, and stay focused as you accomplish your goals. Use it as a tool to motivate yourself instead of letting it hold you back.

17. “START BY DOING WHAT’S NECESSARY; THEN DO WHAT’S POSSIBLE; AND SUDDENLY YOU ARE DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE.” – ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

You can apply this inspiring quote to many instances in life, including relieving chronic depression. When you are depressed, you will likely experience a lack of motivation or a belief that you can’t get anything done. To relieve depression, though, you must find a way to get started and move forward in life.

As you move forward, you will notice that the intense feelings of depression ease a little more all the time. Begin with the things that require immediate attention, and then you will find that you can do even more. Please don’t overdo it, but move forward a little more each time you accomplish something, no matter how small.

18. “KEEP YOURSELF BUSY IF YOU WANT TO AVOID DEPRESSION. FOR ME, INACTIVITY IS THE ENEMY.” – MATT LUCAS

When your depression seems to be overtaking you, find something to do. Staying busy is one of the best ways to relieve chronic depression because you will be busy. Your mind and body will both be focused on something else instead.

19. “ACCEPT CHALLENGES, SO THAT YOU MAY FEEL THE EXHILARATION OF VICTORY.” – GEORGE S. PATTON

With depression, you might not feel like doing anything, much less something challenging. Fight through the urge to turn down challenges. The feeling that comes with completing a challenge will surely relieve your depression.

20. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU JUST HAVE TO STOP LETTING THEM CONTROL YOU.” – DAN MILLMAN

When you have negative throughs, try pushing them away and focus on positive thinking. If that doesn’t work, decide not to let your thoughts control you. Be your voice of reason, and tell yourself that life is worth so much more than your negative thoughts.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON INSPIRING QUOTES TO HELP RELIEVE CHRONIC DEPRESSION

You can’t let chronic depression control your life. Finding a way to relieve the feelings is essential if you want to keep moving forward and reaching your goals.

When you need some help, come back and re-read these inspiring quotes to help relieve chronic depression. Remember to share them with other people in your life who may be suffering, as well.

If it seems like there is no way to overcome your depression, remember these inspiring quotes. They will help you remember that you are not alone in this and that you can get through it.

Eight Destructive Habits to Stop ASAP

Power of Positivity

EIGHT DESTRUCTIVE HABITS YOU MUST STOP

If you have habits that are hurting more than helping you, then it’s time to quit. How does one stop “cold turkey” when they’ve developed a practice that’s lasted for months, years, or decades? You can only overcome things with the power of positivity and a drive to do and be your best.

Here are eight everyday destructive habits that you need to stop right now, and there are a few tips on achieving these goals.

1. USING NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

Quit talking down to yourself. So, you’ve made a few mistakes along the way; you must remember that you’re only human. There is no perfect person on this planet, and the mistakes give you plenty of opportunities to learn. It’s very derogatory to say things to yourself like: I look fat in this outfit. my hair is ugly because it’s so thin. I will never amount to anything. I’m a loser. I am unlucky in love and life. why am I such a failure?

When you use such negative talk to speak to and about yourself, you’re beating yourself down little by little. Stop looking at yourself as a failure, and you won’t fail. It would help if you started using your words to pick yourself up and claim victory rather than defeat.

•HOW TO FIX THIS:

Fixing this negative mindset isn’t going to happen overnight. You will need to practice. Start by rebutting all these negative thoughts that pop into your head. When you look at yourself in the mirror and think you look fat, try saying something like: “I may not be at my goal weight, but I am worth working on getting where I need to be.”

2. SURROUNDING YOURSELF WITH NEGATIVITY

You’re known by the company you keep, and how many times did your parents tell you that birds of the same feather always flock together? If you’re around people that are always negative and looking at life as if the glass is half empty, then you will develop this negative mindset, too.

HOW TO FIX THIS:

You can fix this by making new friends. Your friendships should enhance or add something to your life and not take away from it. Rather than living in a bubble with such pessimistic folks, it would be better to be surrounded by positivity. No one wants to be friends with people who are melancholy all the time anyway. So be the kind of person that people love to be around.

3. LIMITING YOURSELF

Why do you put limits on yourself and think that you can’t do something? Suppose you have a degree as well as anyone else in your office. A new position opens on the job board you’re qualified for, but you don’t think you can do it. You have the qualifications and the training, so why do you put yourself down and act like you’re no better than the other folks? Your imagination is the only thing that limits you.

•HOW TO FIX THIS:

Start validating the years of college and other work that you’ve done. You’ve been trained and have experience, so why can’t you go for that new job that will give you more money? Start using the facts to combat the limitations that come to your mind. Anxiety will do nothing but keep you from being all you can be.

4. CARING TOO MUCH WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK

Why is it that society, in general, cares so much about what others are thinking? You love this shirt that you got on vacation, but you won’t wear it because of the vivid pattern. You’re so afraid of what others might say about it that you let it collect dust. Who cares what other people think! If you love the shirt, if it fits and looks good on your body, then that’s all that matters. It would help if you never lived your life in the hopes of pleasing someone else, as it will only make you miserable.

•HOW TO FIX THIS:

Each time these thoughts come into your mind that tells you that someone won’t like this or make an individual mad, you need to combat it with a dose of truth. Tell yourself that it doesn’t matter what Tom, Joe, or Karen thinks about you, your family, clothes, or where you live. It’s your life to live, and if you’re happy, then that’s all that matters.

5. BINGE EATING

Are you a stress eater who loves to gorge when your nerves get the best of you? You can’t maintain a healthy weight and overall good health when you’re letting your stress level guide your gut. The obesity rate is out of control in this country, and according to the National Library of Medicine, more than 1.2 percent of the population has this problem.

•HOW TO FIX THIS:

If you have binge eating troubles, then you need to get help. Counseling is an excellent place to start to learn practical coping skills for this common problem. Other methods can help you eat less, but developing new ways to deal with stress is the key to success.

6. ABUSING DRUGS OR ALCOHOL

Many people self-medicate because they want the pain to go away. It’s effortless to find alcohol as it’s sold in every supermarket and convenience store across the country. Illegal drugs and even those prescribed can also easily be abused. Do you know how many people started out taking a little shot of whiskey to get them to fall asleep or turn off their minds? However, the song “The Whiskey Isn’t Working Anymore” comes from a place of truth. Once you indulge in this habit regularly, you will need more to get the same effect; this is how addiction is born. Abusing any drug or alcohol can have serious consequences.

HOW TO FIX THIS:

You must seek help for any addiction. If you need alcohol or drugs to get to sleep or function during the day, you have a problem that needs to be addressed quickly. The longer you allow this addiction to go on, the more damage it can do to your body.

7. NOT SPEAKING UP FOR YOURSELF

Do you let people walk all over you? Have you become a doormat with a sign on your head that says, “please step on me?” Why don’t you stand up for yourself and stop letting people take advantage of your kindness? If you give some people an inch, they will take a mile. Your time and money are just as valuable as theirs, so don’t let these folks tread on you.

•HOW TO FIX THIS:

It would help if you learned how to say no. People will use you as long as you allow them to. When you start telling people how you want to be treated, then it’s a game-changer. Healthy boundaries are good for you and others per the National Institute of Medicine, and they’re essential in a professional setting.

8. COMPARING YOURSELF WITH OTHERS

Why do you constantly compare yourself to someone else? You compare your home, car, job, and income levels to that of other people. This kind of mindset will drive you mad. Sure, the neighbor down the street may have paid $300,000 for his home, but your home that cost $120,000 is just as good.

Maybe you don’t need all the bells and whistles in your life, and you can be happy with the simple things. Comparing yourself to others shows low self-esteem and a deflated self-worth, and it’s one of the worst destructive habits.

•HOW TO FIX THIS:

Learning to be thankful for what you have is a great place to start. When you begin to feel the pangs of jealousy over your neighbors’ big house, then you need to remind yourself to be thankful that you have a home to live in. The same goes for a car or job. Be grateful for what you do have so that the Universe will entrust you with more.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON STOPPING SELF DESTRUCTIVE HABITS

These are just eight of the everyday destructive habits that people engage in; however, there are many more. The key is to start taking accountability for your words and actions. Don’t beat yourself up all the time when you make a mistake.  Instead, look at these mistakes as ways to learn a lesson that will help you grow and flourish. What can you do today to get your self-destructive habits under control so that you can live a better life?

You Truly Are What You Eat - a new brain study

 Mediterranean diet may prevent memory loss and dementia, study finds

by Sandee LaMotte, CNN

Meals inspired by traditional foods from the sunny Mediterranean, a new study found, may lower your risk for dementia by interfering with the buildup of two proteins, amyloid and tau, into the plaques and tangles that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. "The mountain of evidence continues to build that you are what you eat when it comes to brain health," said Dr. Richard Isaacson, who directs the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

"In this important study, researchers showed that it's possible to not only improve cognitive function -- most specifically memory -- but also reduce risk for Alzheimer's disease pathology," said Isaacson, who was not involved in the study. "For every point of higher compliance with the diet, people had one extra year less of brain aging. That is striking," Isaacson added. "Most people are unaware that it's possible to take control of your brain health, yet this study shows us just that.”

What is the Mediterranean diet?

The true diet is simple, plant-based cooking, with the majority of each meal focused on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds, with a few nuts and a heavy emphasis on extra-virgin olive oil. Fats other than olive oil, such as butter, are consumed rarely, if at all. And say goodbye to refined sugar or flour.

Meat can make a rare appearance, but usually only to flavor a dish. Instead, meals may include eggs, dairy and poultry, but in much smaller portions than in the traditional Western diet. However, fish, which are full of brain-boosting omega-3's, are a staple.

This isn't the first research to find a link between brain health and the Mediterranean diet or one of its plant-based cousins.

A study of nearly 6,000 healthy older Americans with an average age of 68 found those who followed the Mediterranean or the similar MIND diet lowered their risk of dementia by a third.

Short for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, MIND focuses on eating at least six servings a week of green leafy vegetables such as spinach or kale, and at least one serving a day of another vegetable.

"Eating a healthy plant-based diet is associated with better cognitive function and around 30% to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment during aging," lead author Claire McEvoy, assistant professor at Queen's University Belfast, said when the story was published.

"In this study, while the Mediterranean diet overall decreased risk, the strongest factor to really move the needle was regular fish consumption," Isaacson said.

The more people stayed on those diets, McEvoy said, the better they functioned cognitively.

Those who marginally followed the diet also benefited, but by a much smaller margin. These study participants were 18% less likely to exhibit signs of cognitive impairment.

How to start the Mediterranean diet

Want to jump on the Mediterranean diet bandwagon and protect your brain as well as your eyes? Experts say the easiest way to start is to replace one thing at a time. For example, replace refined grains with whole grains by choosing whole wheat bread and pasta and swapping white rice with brown or wild rice. Cook one meal each week based on beans, whole grains and vegetables, using herbs and spices to add punch. No meat allowed. When one night a week is a breeze, add two, and build your non-meat meals from there.

On the Mediterranean diet, cheese and yogurt show up daily to weekly, in moderate portions; chicken and eggs are OK on occasion, but the use of other meats and sweets is very limited.

When you eat meat, have small amounts. For a main course, that means no more than 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat. Better yet: Use small pieces of chicken or slices of lean meat to flavor a veggie-based meal, such as a stir-fry.

Fish is king in the Mediterranean diet, and is eaten at least twice a week. "Fatty fish like wild salmon, sardines, albacore tuna, lake trout and mackerel are loaded with brain-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which nourish the brain cells," Isaacson said.

Focus on fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds. Add whole grains and fruit to every meal, but use nuts and seeds as a garnish or small snack due to their high calorie and fat content. Eat a lot of veggies and use all kinds and colors to get the broadest range of nutrients, phytochemicals and fiber. Cook, roast or garnish them with herbs and a bit of extra-virgin olive oil.

If fish is the king, olive oil is the queen in the Mediterranean diet -- stay away from coconut and palm oil, experts say. Even though they are plant-based, those oils are high in saturated fats that will raise bad cholesterol.

Adopting the fare of the sunny region will also help with healthy weight loss, while reducing the risk for diabetes, depression, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

Easing into the Mediterranean diet means all those benefits and a healthier mind, too? That's definitely a no-brainer!

Coping with Sleeplessness

 Addressing Sleep Disorders

All of us will go through a bout of sleeplessness once in a while and we recover from it the next night. Problems arise when the “occasional” bout becomes a string of nights with no sleep or interrupted sleep - a troubled sleep pattern can actually affect our physical and mental health. 

Sleep plays a vital role in numerous physiological processes, including the regulation of metabolic, hormonal, and immune function, all of which are essential for cardiometabolic health. Numerous studies have linked disorders and disturbances of sleep to cardiometabolic outcomes, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Disturbances in sleep also contribute to other adverse outcomes such as falls, disability, and chronic pain.  Adverse mental outcomes can include chronic fatigue, depression, and cognitive decline. So what can we yoga practitioners do when we encounter prolonged sleeplessness in ourselves or in a loved one?

As with any problem, approach this puzzle methodically to find a solution. 

First, we build up the awareness of why our sleep is compromised.  Observe yourself and your environment - the most common causes of sleeplessness are noisy environment, poor air quality, sleeping during the day, too much stimulation before bedtime (bad news on TV, upsetting movies or phone calls), stress/depression/anxiety (hello COVID), lack of exposure to sunlight, consuming too much caffeine, sleep apnea, or maybe even the restless leg syndrome. 

Once we identify  the root cause of our sleep disturbance, we set out to remove it one by one. 

Noisy environment? If you can’t remove the noise, get a white-noise machine, they really work.

Poor air quality? Consider placing an air-purifier in your bedroom.

Healthy eating habits - eat the physician-recommended mediterranean diet, limit your caffeine to 2 cups per day, don’t eat dinner past 7-8 pm at night to give your digestive system a good rest.  

Napping during the day?  Stop; take a relaxing walk in a park instead.

Too much screen time right before bedtime with noisy shows or upsetting news? Read a calming book instead.

Stress, depression, anxiety? 

Meditate before bedtime (if your don’t know how, plenty of meditation apps are available, such as  Insight Timer or Calm).

Engage in 10-15 minutes of pranayama (breath control) techniques before sleep: box breath and dirgha pranayama (3-part breath) are recommended since they are simple and highly effective and can be used while in a supine position.  

Reflect on your day - consider keeping a gratitude journal. 

Move - spend at least 20 minutes in a simple yoga practice daily, with the basic stretches being the cornerstone of your daily routine. 

Evaluate your  light needs  -  are you are spending enough time outdoors? Like all living organisms, we need sunlight to support our vital functions. A prolonged light deprivation will affect both our physical and mental health adversely.

If your mental anguish does not respond to these simple techniques, consider finding a mental health provider for professional help. Maintaining our mind health is just as important  as maintaining our physical health. Consider them intertwined an in constant need of your attention.

Other causes - some sleep disruptors such as sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome require a doctor’s visit. 

Practicing Box Breath for Stress Reduction and Lung Health

(Adapted from the WELL + GOOD magazine)

Box breathing is rooted in an Ayurvedic form of breathwork called pranayama that originated in India and is practiced in yoga, explains Tal Rabinowitz, founder and CEO of The DENMeditation in Los Angeles. “It has incredibly ancient roots, with different techniques for calming, bringing in energy, refining focus, and relaxing the nervous system; however, the military popularized it and brought it mainstream,” she says. “Mark Divine, a former Navy SEAL who is also an experienced martial artist, introduced it to the special operations community in the military, showing the world that by simply breathing, you can achieve the desired calming effects in just moments.”

On the civilian side, box breathing’s received some pretty high-profile praise from health and wellness pros. Among them is Patrick K. Porter, PhD, neuroscientist, author, and creator of the meditation app, BrainTap, who says it’s a useful way to reboot your brain after a year’s worth of pandemic stress.

The practice itself, which gets its name because there are four equal parts to it, is super simple. It works on the principle that slowing down your breathing helps you to relax, increases your oxygen intake, releases tension, and stimulates the vagus nerve, which is the longest nerve in your body and starts in the brain. One of its main functions is to slow the sympathetic stress response, says Erika Polsinelli, a Kundalini yoga teacher and founder of Evolve by Erika, a virtual wellness center. She points out that some pilot research published in the journal, Brain Stimulation,shows that stimulating it may improve anxiety.

And the more you do box breathing on a regular basis, the more you will notice stress doesn’t affect you the same way, says Rabinowitz. “So absolutely use it when needed, but don’t just wait for a stressful moment,” she suggests. “Find five minutes wherever you can, and watch the way you react to life start to change.”

How to do box breathing:

Set a timer for five minutes. 

Sit with a straight spine on the floor or in a chair with your feet flat. 

Close your eyes and inhale for a count of four. 

Hold your breath for a count of four. 

Exhale for a count of four. 

Hold for a count of four. 

Repeat until the alarm sounds. 

Handling Uncertainty - a Philosophical Approach

Preparing Your Mind for Uncertain Times

What ancient philosophers can teach us about embracing the unknown

Reprented from The Atlantic, 8/25/2020, written by Eric Weiner

This is a time of questions without answers. Will I get infected? When will there be a vaccine? Is my job secure? When will life be normal again? The experts may have guesses, or estimates, for some of these quandaries but there is no certainty, and this drives us nuts.

Humans abhor uncertainty, and will do just about anything to avoid it, even choosing a known bad outcome over an unknown but possibly good one. In one British study participants experienced greater stress when they had a 50 percent chance of receiving an electric shock than when they had a 100 percent chance. Intolerance for uncertainty puts people at greater risk for ailments such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

We take it as a given that uncertainty is always bad and, conversely, that certitude is always good. Yet ancient philosophy, as well as a growing body of scientific evidence, suggests otherwise. Uncertainty need not hobble us, and “in the right form and in the right amount, it’s actually a great pleasure,” says Daniel Gilbert, a psychology professor at Harvard.

We engage in certain activities—such as watching thrillers or reading mysteries—precisely because the outcome is uncertain. Or, say you receive a note from a secret admirer. The mystery of who sent it, Gilbert says, yields “the kind of uncertainty you would find delicious and delightful.” Yet we remain largely oblivious to our own love of pleasant—call it benign—uncertainty. Gilbert and his colleagues have found that even though uncertainty about a positive event prolongs people’s pleasure, we’re generally convinced that we’ll be happiest when all uncertainty is eliminated.

What about the darker kind of uncertainty, the kind many of us are facing now? Not only the immediate suffering of illness and job loss caused by the pandemic, but its open-ended nature. We don’t know when it will end. You might have noticed that this kind of uncertainty—let’s call it malign uncertainty—tends to make bad moods worse. But, again, this is only a tendency, not a foregone conclusion. We are not fated to suffer when faced with malign uncertainty. We have a choice.

In my experience, there are two ways to solve the “problem” of the unknown: by decreasing the amount of perceived risk or by increasing our tolerance for uncertainty. Most of us focus almost exclusively on the former. Many philosophers think this is a mistake.

Philosophers have wrestled with uncertainty and impermanence since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. Stoicism, a philosophy that flourished in the third century B.C. in Athens, is especially well suited for helping people cope with uncertainty. And for good reason: The Stoics lived during particularly unsettled times. Athens had lost much of its independence as a city-state, and the death of Alexander the Great several years earlier had left a power vacuum in the region. The old order had collapsed and a new one had yet to take its place.

Much of life lies beyond our control, Stoics believe, but we do control what matters most: our opinions, impulses, desires, and aversions. Our mental and emotional states. “Change what you can, accept what you cannot” sums up the Stoic creed. Master this skill, they say, and you will be “invincible.” This isn’t easy, the Stoics concede, but it is possible. Accepting the uncertainty inherent in life—particularly pandemic life—is better than fighting a constant battle against it, one we are bound to lose, the Stoics would say.

There’s a scene in the movie Lawrence of Arabia where Lawrence, played by Peter O’Toole, calmly extinguishes a match between his thumb and his forefinger. A fellow officer tries it himself, and squeals in pain.

“Oh! It damn well hurts,” he says.

“Certainly it hurts,” Lawrence replies.

“Well, what’s the trick, then?”

“The trick,” Lawrence says, “is not minding that it hurts.”

Lawrence’s response is pure Stoic. Sure, he felt the pain, yet it remained a sensation, a reflex. It never metastasized into panic. Lawrence didn’t mind the pain, in the literal sense of the word: He didn’t allow his mind to dwell on, and amplify, what his body had felt.

Likewise, the pandemic has hijacked the circumstances of our lives—that’s the reality we can’t avoid. But our minds and our reactions are still our own.

To show the power of mindset, Stoics use the metaphor of a cylinder rolling down a hill. Gravity ensures the cylinder will start rolling, but its shape determines how smoothly and quickly it rolls. We can’t control the hill, or gravity, but we can control the shape of our cylinder, the state of our minds.

For instance, let’s say you find yourself, like many parents, working from home while caring for a young child. Those facts represent the hill; they are immovable. What you can move is your attitude. It needn’t be a momentous shift either—we can’t all be Mother Teresa—but a subtle realignment from resistance to, if not total acceptance, at least tolerance.

The ability to tolerate uncertainty can bring great rewards. Uncertainty, after all, drives the quest for knowledge. The best scientists know this intuitively, and are willing to live with unknowns as they explore new frontiers. “I don’t have to know an answer,” the theoretical physicist Richard Feynman said. “I don’t feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose.” Tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity are also linked with greater creative thinking, as several studies have found. The English Romantic poet John Keats introduced the term negative capability to describe a similar phenomenon. Writing to his brothers in 1817, he posited that writers are at their most creative when “capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.”

Japanese philosophers go a step further. Don’t merely tolerate uncertainty and its close cousin impermanence, they counsel; celebrate it. “The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty,” wrote Yoshida Kenkō, a 14th-century Buddhist monk.

Consider the sakura, or cherry blossom. The trees are famously fleeting. They bloom for only a week or two, and then the petals are gone. Other flowers—plum blossoms, for instance—last considerably longer. Why go to such great lengths to cultivate something as fragile as the cherry blossom?

Because “beauty lies in its own vanishing,” says Donald Richie in his book A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics. Life is ephemeral. Everything we know and love will one day cease to exist, ourselves included. That is life’s one certainty. The cherry blossom is lovely not despite its transience but because of it. This has always been the case. 

The pandemic has driven home our own transience. And while it may be too much to ask to celebrate this truth under such dire circumstances, we can learn to tolerate the unknown, and perhaps even catch glimpses of the beauty underlying life’s uncertainties.

Erich Weiner is the author of The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers.