Reduce stress with a 3-minute meditation: find a quiet, comfortable place. Wear loose clothing and choose a relaxed position to sit in, being careful not to be disturbed by phone calls, pagers or other people. It’s best to sit straight up on a bench, chair or cushion so you don’t fall asleep. You can sit cross-legged or with your legs stretched out, whatever position you adopt, as long as you feel relaxed. Calm your mind by focusing on your breath. Close your eyes and slightly shift your attention to your breath. Think only that you are breathing in and out. When certain thoughts come out of your mind, let them come and go freely and think of them as floating clouds in the sky. You can pay attention to your thoughts for a while, but you can’t make any judgments about them at this point. Let them come and go as if they were clouds, and you just pay attention to your breath. Inhale calm and exhale stress. You want the air you breathe in and out to feel like a cool breeze as it flows through your nostrils and chest. Experience the pleasure of rhythmic breathing, which the Buddha described as “joyfully savoring the in-breath and the out-breath”. Each breath should be slow and deep, and you should feel yourself inhaling calmness, as if smelling the fragrance of summer jasmine; then exhaling stress. Next comes an inhalation of calm and an exhalation of fear; an inhalation of calm and an exhalation of depression. You are completely surrounded by safety and stillness. You have to once again focus on your breath and calmness, and finally only care about calmness.