Awareness - Then you bring your mind into the present by shifting your awareness into the experience of breathing, the experience of the steering wheel in your hands as you drive, the experience of your feet as you stand in line at the grocery store, or even the EXPERIENCE; what it feels like; to be stressed. In so doing you are letting go of the reasons - the thoughts - for your stress.

Regulation - Only then are you able to regulate what happens next. You first regulate your thoughts by letting them go when you shift your mind to the experience of the present. Then you are present. Then you can CHOOSE what happens next, instead of getting caught in that loop of reactivity. Then and only then can you regulate your behavior and actually choose to do something different this time. This is the mini-meditation.

Possibilities for mini-meditations:

In line at the grocery store - We've all been there; the express lane at the supermarket and the guy in front of you has 37 items; and you know this because you counted. Perfect chance for a mini-meditation. Let go of your thoughts of impatience by moving the mind into the present moment experience of just standing there, the feeling of your feet on the floor, the effort it takes to stand.

Driving your car when someone cuts you off - The culprit goes zooming off ahead and you're left stewing in your car. Perfect chance for a mini-meditation. Move your mind from your thoughts of, “What an idiot!” to the feeling of your hands on the steering wheel, the weight of your body in your seat, the feeling of your breath. Just don't close your eyes!

Taking a Shower - We have this beautiful thing called the shower; and yet much of the time our minds are so distracted either rehashing the past or rehearsing for the future, we sometimes hardly notice it at all. Perfect chance for a mini meditation. Move your mind from thoughts of all the stuff you need to get done or the argument you just had with your spouse, into the feeling of the water on your skin, the scent of the soap or shampoo, the experience of the warmth, the steam, the muscles on your back or face relaxing.

These little things aren't so little, they're life.

Strategy 2 - The Magic Ten

It's the ten seconds or so, that's all it ever takes to talk yourself out of doing your meditation practice for the day. We can always come up with a million reasons not to meditate, or not to exercise, or not to do the all the things we know we ‘should' do to better care for ourselves. Why do we do this? Because the mind is good at finding reasons not to change a habit. The mind likes familiarity, and we have deep familiarity with neglecting the work of self-care in lieu of all the endless ‘doing’ in our lives - the job, the home repair projects, the emails, the endless laundry, the grocery shopping; and the list can literally go on and on. Not to say these things aren't important, because they are. But what's also important is taking some time to care for the state of our bodies and minds. After all, our whole life is coming from the state of our mind. If we have a positive state of mind, life and all it's challenges can seem pretty all right. But if we have a negative state of mind, life can seem overwhelming and incredibly tiring. It's not the meditation that's stopping us from practicing, it's the ten seconds or so that's all it takes sometimes to talk ourselves out of practicing. It's the ten seconds in which we come up with all the reasons not to meditate; we're too busy, the emails need answers, the kitchen needs cleaning, or whatever it is. This is the magic ten&; the ten seconds that can decide whether or not we actually meditate. So, if we can simplify things and realize, all we have to do is work through the magic ten, we will develop our meditation practice. After all, if we want to develop an effective practice with all the true benefits it has to offer, we have to let go of the reasons not to meditate. Reasons not to meditate are just thoughts; They have no more truth or bearing in our lives than what we choose to give them. So when we notice that we are talking ourselves out of the practice, move the mind right to the breath. Because the mind can't be in two places at once, if the mind's on the breath, it's not off coming up with all those reasons not to meditate. This is how you can practice letting go of all those thoughts about why answering your endless emails are more important than spending 10 minutes caring for your most precious human resource; your mind. We have to become present in The Magic Ten in order to have control over what we do or don't do, otherwise we will NEVER change the habit of not caring for ourselves in the ways that we know will bring us true benefit. Now go meditate.