When you are flat rather than wound up, try this. Rub your palms together until they feel awake, let them rest, then breathe in as your arms lift and out as they lower, two or three times.
Sluggish, heavy, far away: those states rarely respond to more calming. A bit of friction in the hands, some movement through the arms and a fuller breath give the body several small signals at once, and none of them ask you to think about anything difficult. It is a good one for the middle of the afternoon, and it is gentle enough to offer to almost anyone.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Lord, lift up my heart (Quran 20:25). Moses asked to be lifted before a hard task, which is what this one is for, a small lift rather than a settling down.
قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشۡرَحۡ لِي صَدۡرِي
Moses said, ‘Lord, lift up my heart
Qur’an 20:25read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
A review of the physiology argues that the rhythm and shape of breathing are closely tied to emotional state, which is the reasoning behind using breath to change how you feel. That is a mechanistic case rather than trial evidence. The rousing end of breath work is much less studied than the slowing end, so treat this as a plausible and low risk experiment rather than something with numbers behind it.
Jerath R, Beveridge C. (2020). Respiratory Rhythm, Autonomic Modulation, and the Spectrum of Emotions: The Future of Emotion Recognition and Modulation.. Frontiers in psychology doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Touch, movement and breath together nudge the body upwards in a way that any one of them alone often will not.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
Breath is the quickest way you have of turning your own nervous system up or down. Nothing else you can simply decide to do works on that timescale.
These practices are not only pleasant. They change things you could measure, which is worth knowing on the days when pleasant is not reason enough to bother.
There are two skills here rather than one: letting your body move and settle in its own way, and being able to steer yourself deliberately towards rest or alertness. It is worth having both.