10 Chapter 2
An easy way to create a barrier is to simply walk around your house with some incense and repeat to yourself, “Work is work, home is home.” Sage is traditionally a good cleansing herb (Yronwode 2002). You’ll find that as you add this to your routine, it gets easier to forget about your work and relax at home. It takes you out of that workspace or stressful space. When we read fiction books, we try to suspend our disbelief about the world. For a minute, imagine you are in a fiction book, and believe that the new routine will work. Part of you will chuckle at these two exercises, and you might think, how silly. Don’t let that voice throw you off. Psychology tells us that if we repeat something enough, it will become automatic. By repeating the routine, the separation between work and home will become automatic after a while. Of course, other small routines can be used to do the same type of thing. I have a Christian witch friend who would simply wash her hands for an extended period of time right after work. This had an effect similar to that of the salt trick. She said she was washing away work from the day so that she could enjoy her family. This is a simple technique, yet it was quite effective for her. Any routine or mini-ritual can act as a way for you to de-stress and create a “different” state from the state that caused the stress. This can be as simple as doing some sit-ups, walking around the block, or engaging in any other daily routine. As you are doing the routine, simply keep telling yourself that the stress, worries, or tension are leaving your body. Keep telling yourself that after the routine you are leaving the worries behind, and eventually they will be left behind.
Relax by Deep Breathing Once you get through that barrier, and convince yourself at an automatic level that work and home are really separated, then what? So far, each exercise has only taken about five minutes or so. A simple way to start relaxing is to learn how to breathe a little differently. Normally we breathe from our chest, but if you have taken