There sits your boss...glowering...you can hear another employee cursing under their breath back in the corner...the person next to you is complaining about life in general... time for lunch...the girl at the coffee shop gets your order wrong...you see a woman crying as she walks down the street among the rushing noon havoc of people, and heat, and traffic...and...

definitely time to get serene!

Here is another of my Ten-to-One meditations that's fast, simple, and perfect for ridding yourself of those daily ills of folks and places that try to attach themselves to you.  You can even have fun with it and do it in your own cadence if you like.  Here's how it works.

Counting from ten down to one, we're going to remove all negativity from the day.  This includes gossip, unhappy feelings, fears, irritations, etc.  First, take four deep cleansing breaths, counting from one to four with each breath and each exhalation.  Then, with eyes closed (if possible) begin counting down from ten to one, imagining that you are pulling off all negativity from your body, mind, and spirit.  Try your best to visualize the removal of the negative energy that has attached itself to you.  You can see it as green slime, pesky flecks of black, creepy, crawly purple bats -- whatever.  Your choice.  It can go something like this:

Ten!  Tear it off!!  Nine!  Rip it off!  Eight! Peel it off!  Seven!  Stomp it off!  Six!  Shake it off!  Five!  Jump it off!  Four!  Flick it off!  Three!  Brush if off!  Two!  Scream it off!  One!  Strip it off!

Then, imagine yourself stepping out of the puddle of yuck that you've taken off.  Shove it into an imaginary paper bag, then throw the bag into a visualized ritual fire.

Gone -- its all gone -- and say that.  Gone.  Done.  Outta here!

Take four nice, deep even breaths again, stretch (a nice big one) and keep going about your day.  You'll feel like you're ready to take on the world!

If things are very difficult for you right now, try this easy exercise three times a day, and especially when you feel super stressed.  Takes only a few minutes and a simple counting exercise to promote healing and happiness in body, mind and Spirit.