Self Check Exercise:

Step 1: Get comfortable. Find a spot that feels good, whether it’s sitting, standing, or laying down.

Step 2: Notice how your body is making contact with the surface beneath you. A hard floor, a soft bed, a springy chair, or maybe some grass outside.

Step 3: Starting from the top of your head going all the way down to your toes, take note of the sensations in your body.

• Notice your breathing
• Check your heart rate
• Find any muscle tension

Step 4: Listen to your surroundings. What do you notice?

• Skip if hearing impaired or unable to focus.
• In this room (music, airflow, machinery)
• In my home (appliances, my family)
• Outside (traffic, people walking by)

Step 5: Acknowledge the noise around you. Now turn your attention inward and away from the noise.

Step 6: Focus once more on the sensations in your body. Are you holding tension anywhere?

• Jaw
• Brow/eyes
• Upper arms
• Shoulders
• Hands
• Feet

These sensations are cues from your body. Now let’s ease that tension.

Step 7: Take a deep breath in as you concentrate on the areas where you felt discomfort.

Breathe in for 3 seconds.

Step 8: Slowly release the breath and imagine the tension flowing down a river away from the areas of your body that felt tension.

Breathe out for 3 seconds

Step 9: Take an even deeper breath in – deeper than any breath you’ve taken all day.

Breathe in for 5 seconds

Step 10: As you release this breath, blow away any worries or tension or responsibilities keeping you from being here in this moment.

Breathe out for 5 seconds

Take a few moments to do this same breathing exercise as you turn your attention to each area where you feel tension or discomfort.

Great job! Take one or two more deep breaths, and as you start to resume your day, take a second or two to appreciate that you are here, right now, and you are capable of great things.