My days are non-stop from the moment my two boys wake up in the morning until my head hits the pillow at night, and for sometime thereafter as I process the day and plan for tomorrow. It is a whirlwind of meals, diapers, cleaning, playgroups, naps, games, laundry, baths, books and bedtime…and repeat. It is full of constant movement and leaves very little time for me to catch a moment for myself.

Maybe your days are filled with emails, meetings, conference calls and budget projections. Perhaps it’s students, homework, classes, and lesson plans. Whatever it is that engulfs our daily lives, we would all greatly benefit from creating a little inner space. Clear out the mental and emotional clutter, and find just a few minutes of peace.

Now, how do we do it? A quick online search on “meditation” is overwhelming and frankly terrifying. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I need is another book I should read, feelings of guilt about what I’m not doing, or another task on my already lengthy to-do list: Monday – learn to meditate. So for those of us who are overworked, overwrought, over-scheduled, and overcome, here are a few simple ideas for helping create some inner space.

In her book The One Minute Active Meditation Technique, Alannah Jantzen says, “we often forget how important breathing is, yet to breathe is to live…It is also in my opinion the easiest meditation technique of all and holds tremendous healing power.”

• Breathe in through your nose, hold the breath, and then breathe out through your nose.

• Count a rhythm that works for you. For example, inhale for 4 counts, hold the breath for 4 counts and exhale for 4 counts.

• As you inhale, fill your belly and lower back first, then the sides of your ribs and then your upper chest.

• One round of breathing equals 12 seconds. You can do four complete breath cycles in one minute. Feel what happens as you do this.

To help relieve a little tension, www.themeditationsite.com recommends the following exercise:

• Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and tense up your body for a moment. Now breathe deeply through your nose as you release the tension from each muscle one by one. If tension remains somewhere, tense up that part again, then let it relax.

• Let your breathing fall into a comfortable pattern, and pay attention to it. Though your mind will wander endlessly, all you have to do is continually bring attention back to your breath. Try naming the distractions as a way of setting them aside. For example, say in your mind, "itchy leg," "worried about work," or "anger," and then immediately return attention to your breathing.

• Do this meditation for five or ten minutes, or for 100 breaths. When you open your eyes, you’ll feel relaxed, and your mind will feel refreshed.

A writer for www.odemagazine.com shares this great pressure-free tip:

• Take meditation time where you find it. After a full day of work, heading to my three-hour evening class (and then to helping a friend with a late-night art project), I realized my best bet for meditation time was the train. Of course it wasn’t the best of surroundings, and I was distracted. But I sat down, meditated to the screech of the train instead of to music and left the train much more relaxed and energetic than I had entered it. Take what you can get!

We can’t always find 30 minutes to relax, turn off the distractions and re-focus our minds. Maybe all we have is five minutes while our kids are watching Dora the Explorer. But whatever time we can find to quiet our minds and hearts and relax our bodies will help bring a little peace to our chaos.

How do you create a little inner space?

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