Your four-week journey through the Whole Body Action Plan shouldn't just focus on food, fitness, and physical health: It's equally important to develop good habits centered around your mental health. This means taking note of what causes you daily stress or unhappiness, noting it in your journal, and working toward solutions for these problems. 

One effective stress-relief strategy is meditation: It's free, it can be done almost anywhere at any time, and you don't need any special equipment to practice. "Meditation teaches us focused concentration -- and the more you do it, the easier it gets," says Frank Lipman, M.D., holistic physician and creator of our Stress Relief Action Plan. Some of the exercises below are adapted from Lipman's book "Revive: Stop Feeling Spent and Start Living Again" (Fireside; 2009).

If taking up meditation seems daunting, however, start with devoting just 15 minutes a day to this beginner-friendly technique. Once you've made it a habit, deepen your practice with the additional techniques below.  

Meditation for Beginners

1. Sit in a chair and allow your body to settle. 
2. Slowly scan your body from toe to head, noticing where you feel tight. 
3. Bring your attention to your breathing, inhaling and exhaling through the nose but never forcing your breath. Keep your mouth softly closed, your jaw relaxed.
4. Become more and more sensitive to your breath, in tune with where your body moves (and doesn't move) on the inhale and exhale. 
5. Allow your awareness of your breath to bring ease to your entire body. Imagine your body moving toward the earth, fully supported. 
6. Continue observing your breath moving in and out of your body. 
7. At the end of the 15 minutes, breathe deeply three times, allowing the inhale to move down to your toes and the exhale to move up and out of the tops of your shoulders. Pause and then open your eyes. 

Meditation with Nature 

1. Find a park, forest, beach, nature preserve, or reservoir. 
2. If possible, remove your shoes. Walk around for a few minutes until you come to a place where you feel like pausing. 
3. Stand still for a moment and take in the natural elements around you. Take 10 deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. 
4. Notice how your body feels. What feels tight, tired, achy? What parts feel loose and easy? Take five more breaths, directing the breath to the tight places and relieving the tension as you exhale. 
5. Begin walking again, for as long as you'd like. Allow yourself to be completely absorbed by nature. 
6. When you are done, notice how you feel, such as whether your breath is easier, your body feels more relaxed, and your heart is more connected to what's around you. 

Body Scan 

1. Sit in a chair with your back straight, your feet under your knees and your palms resting on your thighs. 
2. Take a deep breath and let your attention be absorbed by the sensations in your feet. Feel, for instance, each foot's temperature, or the texture of your socks. 
3. After a few breaths, move your attention to your calves. For several more breaths, sense your calves in the same way. 
4. Gradually move your attention through each body part. After the calves, focus on your thighs, then your bottom, abdomen, lower back, chest, upper back, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, face, and head. 
5. After scanning each body part, let your awareness cover your entire body at once.