Slow mornings are a skill, not a luxury

A slow morning sounds like something for people without children, jobs or trains to catch. It isn’t. It is five minutes you decide to keep, before the day gets to decide for you.

Five minutes is a morning

Sit. Put your feet on the floor. Breathe out for longer than you breathe in, six times. That is the whole practice; everything else is decoration.

Most people come in holding their breath without knowing it.

On the days you can’t

• Do it on the stairs, or at the kettle.
• Do it in the car before you go in.
• Do it at night instead — a slow evening counts.

The point is not the morning. It is having one small thing that is yours, every day, whatever the day is like.