The Five Minute Freedom Formula
Feel less stressed in just a few minutes a day with these mindful practices
“No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free.”
Budda
Freedom from stress sounds heavenly, doesn’t it? A little bit of stress can be good for us when it motivates us to get started, and it can quickly turn into overwhelm when we don’t manage our thoughts.
Here’s something I heard last week that may comfort you whenever you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or simply lost in the world: You’re not the first, you’re not the last, and you’re not alone.
In our fast-paced world, you’re definitely not the only one with these feelings.
By taking a few minutes in the morning, throughout the day, and in the evening before bed to become mindful and check in with your feelings, you’ll feel less stressed, less overwhelmed, and you’ll sleep better too.
We may think we want more money and more things, but really what we want is the feeling we’ll have once we get them, and one feeling that we all want to feel is freedom.
How do you feel freedom in your body?
With all the responsibilities in your busy life, your brain won’t likely believe you can always feel free, but it may get on board with the idea that you can feel free for a few minutes at a time throughout the day.
That’s how you can create 5 minutes of freedom for yourself as often as you want.
The Five Minute Freedom Formula:
Mindful Practice and Journal Prompts
Here’s a short practice you can do in the morning, whenever you need it during the day, and before bed at night.
You can substitute freedom with any other feeling you want to explore. Another good one I like to use is calm.
Before we start this short practice, take a few moments to set an intention for your practice. How do you want to feel at the end of the 5 minutes?
Then, explore these questions in your journal:
What does freedom mean to you?
When do you feel the most free?
As you continue to explore thoughts about freedom, settle into your comfortable place, either a chair or lying down. Close your eyes, and connect with your breath and your body sensations.
Where in your body do you feel freedom?
What does freedom feel like? There’s no right or wrong way to feel. Just notice.
Breathe into that place in your body. Feel the breath of freedom moving throughout your body. Make any movements that feel right to you. If you like mantras and affirmations, you may want to repeat to yourself, “I am free”. You may want to move your neck side to side, or wiggle your fingers and toes. You may want to stretch your arms up overhead. The key is to be fluid and free with your movement.
If you have more than 5 minutes available to you and it feels good, keep exploring. If not, then gently allow yourself to become present in the room again, take a few moments of interoceptive awareness, and settle back into your day.
How do you feel now?
Here are some additional journal prompts to help you continue your exploration of freedom (or calm, or your feeling of choice):
If freedom had a colour, it would be _________________. Why?
If freedom was an animal or thing, it would be __________________. Describe it in detail.
______________ tastes of freedom.
For more mindful practices, you can download your copy of Mindset Magic 101 - The Daily Magic 3M’s as well as other meditations at www.sharonashtoncoaching.com or email me at sharon@sharonashtoncoaching.com for more inspiration.
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I’d love to hear from you so please send any comments or questions to me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com. Feel free to share this email with anyone else who may be interested.
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What is stopping you from living your best life? Get out your journal and a pen and take the new quiz on my website to find out:
Are you interested in learning more about life change & mindset coaching from a mind/body perspective? Please email me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com for more information or to schedule a free introductory consultation to see if coaching is right for you. You can also visit my website coaching page.
"I felt at complete ease with Sharon from our first conversation. She has a wonderful, gentle but firm way that made me focus on my thoughts / feelings so I could remove / change to move forward with a completely different feeling to what felt like obstacles. It was great having regular coaching that gently kept me accountable to actioning and moving towards my goals. Sharon has vast experience in so many areas, I felt that makes her an amazing coach.”
— Michelle Carney, East Galway, Ireland
You can access your free Find Your Inner Coach Guide including a guided visualization and journal prompts here:
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