Client meetings and presentations can be ultra-stressful, so we asked Dr. Neil Patel, Medical Director at Collective Primary Care, the practice serving the members of Freelancers Medical, advice on how to stay cool when the heat is on. Dr. Neil turned to Freelancers Medical health coach Marcus Berardino and collected his expert tips.

Before that next big meeting, de-stress using the three B’s every freelancer needs:

**Breathing – Try calming the mind with the breath before a meeting. **

Alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana in Yoga) is a technique that helps coordinate both sides of the brain: left sided creativity with right-sided logic. This creates a more balanced person, since both halves of the brain are functioning and communicating optimally. The yogis consider this to be the best technique to calm the mind and the nervous system:

- Close the right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril to the count of four seconds.

- Immediately close the left nostril with your right ring finger and little finger and remove your thumb from the right nostril. Exhale through the right side to the count of eight seconds. This completes a half round.

- Inhale through the right nostril to the count of four seconds. Close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left nostril to the count of eight seconds. This completes one full round.

- Continue this for a few rounds, and end by exhaling from left nostril.

Being – Be in the moment, and the moment will pass, leaving you better able to handle your task.

Researchers and psychologists suggest that emotions like anxiety or fear or anger are automatic responses that last just 90 seconds from the moment they’re triggered until they run their course. One and a half minutes, that’s all. When they last any longer (which they often seem to do), it’s because we’ve chosen (sometimes inadvertently), to perpetuate them.

Acknowledge your feeling and give it your full, compassionate, even welcoming attention. As you do so, drop the context and storyline about the feeling. This allows you to have a direct experience of the emotion, free of interpretation. Don’t fuel it with judgments or opinions about whether it’s good or bad. Just be present with the sensation.

**Believing – Believe in yourself and know that you are at the right place and the right time. **

You are enough. Trust that you have done all the homework you need to do to succeed in this moment. And remember this wonderful mantra a dear friend of mine would say: “Work Hard, Spread Love, Have Fun!”

May your next meeting be your best (and least stressed) meeting yet!

Freelancers Medical, a program of Freelancers Insurance Company, is health care as it we believe it should be: about you first and foremost. To us, health care must be about treating the whole you, not just your body parts or ailments. We will be checking in with Dr. Patel and his staff regularly; leave a comment if you have any questions for them.