Lately I’ve been very busy. The kind of busy that makes me forget that I’ve only put on one sock, or that I’m supposed to be in an important meeting. I’m like a pinball rolling around, randomly picking up points for just passing by, and occasionally being flipped up in yet another direction. When I catch myself feeling stressed I practice short meditation exercises to reset my body and mind.

If I focus on something, even for less than a minute, I can feel calmer and break negative thought cycles. The things I choose are typically quick to conjure and are often nature-based. Here are some that have worked to lower my heart rate and clear my brain. These are easy enough for beginners and work as fall meditations for everyone.

1 minute fall meditations

Rain on a log

Picture a campfire log that has no flames, but has been burnt, the surface ashy white with glowing red heat underneath. It has started to rain, only a sprinkle. Each time a small drop hits the log it sizzles. You smell the comforting bitter smell of wood touched by fire, feeling both the heat of the embers and cool relief as the water hits.

Leaves off a tree

A tree is above you with endless leaves falling, only a few at a time. The leaves are brilliantly colored and sway a little, whispering all at once to each other in the wind. It smells like wet leaves and sunshine. Another leaf falls and you focus on it. It floats back and forth, slowly coming down, closer to the ground. You see the leaf but you also are the leaf, feeling the gentle descent, lower and lower with each breath. Eventually you touch the ground so softly you’re not sure you’ve landed. There, on the ground atop a pillow of other leaves, you rest.

Beach body

Your body is on the shore, made of sand. The ocean crashes softly over you and pulls bits of sand away with every wave, smoothing you down into the rest of the beach. Your body disappears little by little as the water washes over you. When you are almost washed away to nothing, breathe slowly against the back of your nose, roaring like the wind, blowing the sand you have lost back to your body. Breathe like this a few more times until you are whole again. Repeat.

3-5 minute fall meditations

It’s cool

Open your window and sit in a comfortable position. Breathe slowly and deeply inward, feeling the cool air enter your lungs. Exhale completely and slowly, but keep the essence of the air with you, cooling more and more with each breath.

Hear with your forehead

Play music that is relaxing to you. Let the sound enter your ears, but pull the music toward the front of the inside of your forehead. Practice gentle half-smiling while you listen. Keep the song flowing there until it’s finished.

Thank-you word

Think of a word or phrase that represents what you are most grateful for. Take a moment to feel why this is important to you and be thankful. As you breathe in say this word or phrase silently to yourself.  As you breathe out, say it aloud, slowly.

 

The more I learn about mindfulness, the more I see it isn’t something to fear as an impossible challenge. Intention, focus, and calm are natural ways of being—I just need to practice letting myself get there. Distraction and negative rumination can be cleared away by resetting what my brain is doing, bringing me back to the here and now.

Mediation can be done by anyone, and doesn’t have to include hours of silent sitting. Little moments of calm can happen throughout the day, and should. If you have a minute (or five) to spare, you have time to practice meditation this fall, a season for slowing down and being grateful.