I use the technique of focusing on my breathing when I am meditating or relaxing. It's harder to do in "nondedicated" time or to remember to do it when I'm getting tense. As someone with ADD, it's hard to focus, but when I do, I hyper-focus and have a really hard time pulling back from what I'm doing and moving on. These are times when I have to stop and force myself to breathe and come into the moment.

I also try to do something I read about in Dan Millman's book, "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior." He talks about not just breathing, but letting the air breathe you. So for me, it works like this: First I get into breathing as opposed to mind spinning, then I breathe deeper, then I sort of let go of myself and stop focusing on how I'm breathing, but focus on my connectedness to the outside world - as if the world relies on me for air and I rely on it.

The world and I work together. When I get myself in sync with this, it is really calming and very good for changing my state of mind because whatever I was distressed about seems less important. Life, breath, the universe. We're all flowing together without separation. Sometimes.