You can't stop thoughts and every one of us has a thought every 10 seconds.

What we think and feel in our mind, affects our behaviours and when a trigger event happens through a conversation, an email or a phone call our thoughts can race. We often become anxious and make snap decisions that often have consequences we regret.

I'm listening to Dr Caroline Leaf's audiobook "Cleaning up your Mental Mess" and using her NeuroCyle App to calm my own mind which since my stroke often races, goes into loops and leaves me feeling exhausted and anxious.

Each day of my NeuroCyle, Dr Leaf suggests a brain preparation exercise to calm and balance the different brain frequencies.

The 10 Second Pause

This is a simple breathing exercise that that you can use if something like a conversation, email or text has pushed your buttons and triggered you. Hopefully this will control how you respond.

Note the physical and environmental warning signals and your own perspective to whatever you're experiencing;

• Breath In for 3 seconds whilst saying to yourself; "Think, Feel",
  try to inhale what you're experiencing as you breath in.
  (This puts you in a controlled conscious state and gets great your neuro chemicals flowing).

• Breath Out for 7 seconds saying the word Chose, extending the word to be "Choooooooose". As you breath out, consciously observe your emotional, physical and mental state. This awareness will give you so much more control over the next moment to improve your decision making.

(Repeat for at leat 3 cycles).

In the time between breathing in and out, your unconscious mind will send out thoughts and the embedded memories that are related to this experience that you're having.

Every 10 seconds your brain and unconscious mind are actively and dynamically self regulating the incoming information, so you're helping to adjust and reorganising your energy levels.

There is an adjustment period of up to 90 seconds and if you're not in the optimal mind and brain state you may react to impulses and say or do things you regret. This 10 second pause will reset your brain state to avoid this from happening.