Your report is overdue. Your bills are past due. Your mortgage is getting out of control. The last time you spoke with your significant other was three days ago. You kids hate you. Every traffic signal turns red when you approach. That pounding that you hear is not the energizer bunny sneaking up behind you, it's your dangerously increasing blood pressure as your heart thumbs incessantly in your ears, reminding of all your troubles at the alarming rate of eighty beats per minute.

But there is a way to stop it all. Now. And it is completely up to you. Nothing to buy, no programs to join. No CD's to listen to for forty-five minutes a day. And certainly no pills to take. All it requires is a few moments of personal time. And you can do this at all those red lights, while your boss is yelling at you, or even right here. Right now.

Stress is not anything new. It has been around since mankind realized that if he strayed into the wrong area of the jungle, a tiger'd eat him. It that sense stress is good. It keeps alive. It keeps from jumping into the polar bear pit at the zoo. Well most of us, anyways. Stress is good when it signals your brain to make a correction. If feel a certain amount of stress while wandering out in the jungle looking for food, it's good. It means be careful, and watch out for tigers or snakes. It's when you start to feels stress over things that are out of your control that it can become a problem.

This technique works when you are in those situations when there really isn't much for you to do to change the situation. This technique has been around for thousands of years. Because it's easy to do, and easy to learn, and easy to teach, there's not a lot of money in it, so you haven't seen it on Oprah or anything. But don't be fooled. It's very powerful.

Ready?

Take a slow, deep breath. Exhale it just as slowly. When you are lungs are completely empty, hold them empty for a few seconds. Wait until you have a strong desire to breath. Not a desperation I'm-gonna-die-if-I-don't-take-a-breath desire, but a desire. You want to really appreciate the breath as you inhale. When you inhale, inhale slowly. Again, not so slowly that you will pass out or anything. Avoid the temptation to gulp in a lungful of air. There's plenty, you can take your time.

Inhale slowly, and really feel the appreciation for the breath. Do this as many times as you can. Until the light turns green, or it's your turn to talk, or the commercial on TV is over. The trick is to focus completely on the appreciation of the air you are inhaling. When you get good at this, start to feel appreciation for all the other physical sensations in your body. Focus completely on any physical sensations that you feel. When you hold your lungs full, blank your mind as much as possible. Then repeat this as many times as you can.

What you are doing is linking a deep feeling of appreciation for your breath and your feelings, with the act of breathing itself. When you practice this, you will start to develop a deep sense of appreciation for breathing alone. Since you breath all day long anyways, you'll begin to develop this deep sense of appreciation as an underlying feeling to all that you are and do. And this is the source of all miracles, love, and true expression. All from a simple breath.

If you'd like to discover what many others have, you can come to my blog to read more articles like this. Some find them interesting; others can find them helpful and entertaining. But before you come on over, please take a few moments to play with your breath, and discover the miracle that is you.