Calm Corner: three 1–5 minute practices to ease stress right now

When stress is rising

When stress rises, the body often runs ahead of your thoughts: breathing gets shorter, you feel restless, your mind circles one thing. The three practices here do not solve what is putting you under pressure. Their job is smaller: to ease a rising wave enough that you can think more clearly about the next step. Each takes one to five minutes, works right on your phone and needs no account.

Which practice to choose

Choose by what you notice most in yourself right now.

• Fast breathing, a restless body: start with Paced breathing. Even 5–5 is the gentlest; box 4–4–4–4 keeps a steady rhythm when your mind races; 4–7–8 has a long exhale that suits the time before sleep.
• A mind caught in a loop of worry, hard to stay in the present: try 5-4-3-2-1 grounding — notice in turn five things you see, four you can touch, three sounds, two smells and one taste.
• Uneasy without knowing why: use Name the feeling — pick your energy level, pleasant or unpleasant, then up to three words that fit best.

Making it useful

Finish one full round before judging whether a practice suits you. If you feel dizzy or uncomfortable while breathing, stop and breathe naturally. And do not open them only when you are already overwhelmed: the World Health Organization's stress guide says a few minutes each day are enough to practise its self-help techniques, and the NHS (UK) says its breathing exercise helps most when done regularly, as part of a daily routine.