Nice Spot of Tea
Switch out that midday coffee for a cup of black tea. Think of it as a more relaxing way to get your caffeine fix. Sure, sipping on hot teas and beneficial L-Theanine amino acids can soothe your mood, but the real benefit lies in the patient and focused process of preparing the tea. After you’ve heated enough water and picked a black tea blend, steep until you lose track of time. As you slowly (that part is important) enjoy the tea, the steam will warm your face and open up your sinuses. Having trouble finding a black tea that sounds delicious? Try these:
- Earl Grey—black tea with bergamot (a kind of citrus fruit) oil
- English Breakfast—stronger flavor usually mixed with milk and sugar English Afternoon-Assam and Kenyan teas blended with Ceylon
- Irish Breakfast—blend of many black teas, usually including Assam teas
- Masala Chai—black tea, spices, milk, and a sweetener (try agave nectar or honey)
Take a Virtual Trip to an Art Gallery 
Take your mind off things and walk through a virtual art gallery. In fact, you can tour any number of rooms and staircases inside The National Gallery in London without ever leaving your seat at www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtualtour. If you have headphones on hand, hop onto Netflix and dive into the oldest art gallery in history—nature! Louie Schwartzberg’s Moving Art series provides a high-definition tour of captivating natural scenes like deserts, forests, flowers, oceans, waterfalls, and more.
Zentangle for 10
Sometimes thinking creatively can be difficult, but when you’re stressing it can be nearly impossible. Drawing a Zentangle keeps those creative juices coursing while leaving your mind open to meditate, relieve stress, and focus on new and creative ideas. Zentangles are manageable, unplanned, abstract art pieces that resemble scribbling or doodling. The Zentangle method starts out with a border and tangles and patterns unfold from there. Get the full details on the process of tangling at www.tanglepatterns.com/zentangles/what-is-a-zentangle.
Passwords and Improvement
This relaxation technique might only take 10 minutes, but it is sure to ease some anxiety. Change a few of your passwords to specific mantras that focus your thought in a way that promotes a positive change in your life. Smokers trying to quit might change a password to “QuitSm0king4ever.” Others might want to try “List3nM0reSp3akLe55.” Changing your passwords to encoded bits of helpful triggers will strengthen your security in addition to keeping you more mindful of positive changes you’d like to make in your life.