We are all busy and, if you are like me, sometimes it can be hard to find the time to meditate.

Often meditation is the first thing that gets thrown out the window when chaos starts, making it extra important to develop a routine we practice at least once a day. Here is my morning routine that only takes five minutes and continues to be a consistent go-to practice when life gets messy.

5 Minute Meditation

When I first wake up in the morning, before looking at my shiny fancy light box of distractions, I sit up in bed with my eyes closed.

I count my breaths. Inhale one, exhale one. Inhale two, exhale two. Until I get to ten.

If I get distracted and my mind wanders, I go back to one.

I occasionally change up which type of meditation I like to do first thing in the morning, but when in doubt, I COUNT IT OUT.

5 other early morning practices that take 5 minutes or less:

Alternate nostril breathing:

• Using your index finger, press one of your nostrils in to block the airflow, and inhale through the opposite nostril.

• On the exhale, switch nostrils.

• Repeat the process alternating the nostril for each round of breaths.

4:4:4

• Inhale for four seconds

• Exhale for four seconds

• Hold for four seconds.

Nishpandavaba

• With your eyes closed (or at a soft gaze) with your back against a wall, listen to the sounds around you. The sounds go in one ear and out the other like water following through your body.

• Try to hear them but not label them.

Neck rolls

• Inhale when chin is up

• Exhale when chin is down

Repeat a mantra.

• This is great when your mind won’t let you have a break.

• Using a mala is also a great tool for a sensory experience while repeating your mantra.

• Choose a mantra that feels good to you.

• Repeat the mantra 3-5 times, or more. Don’t just say it, feel it as Truth!

Why do I find it so difficult to meditate?

Whether you find yourself lacking the motivation, the time, or the energy to find space in your day to meditate, ask yourself, “What is the resistance?”

Do you feel impatient? Guilty? Unsure? Uneducated?

Meditating does require time, even just 30 seconds, and as a caretaker or an employee, it can appear “selfish” to take time for yourself.

I invite you to think of it in a new way.

Imagine you are frantic and stressed because you are late to a meeting or to pick up your child. Is it going to be more beneficial to your colleagues or children for you to arrive on time in a panic, irritable, or another deflating emotion?

Or will it be more beneficial to stop at the door or the curb, close your eyes, and give yourself 30 seconds to check-in with the areas of your body that are tense, releasing them?

So what is your why?

Look at it from a new perspective, one that gives you permission (to take time, to rest, to make mistakes, to learn). Your relaxation and mindfulness has the ability to impact all those around you!