How to create "Peace Points" in your every day

Something I'm committed to in my practice is off-setting the urban overwhelm with simple practices you can incorporate into your every-day. 

In this foot-always-on-the-gas-pedal culture of ours, idleness, relaxation, and let's face it, peace, are oftentimes elusive during our busy weeks. How many of us have crammed through the Monday-Friday race, and then at 6 PM on Friday night, ask ourselves, what just happened? Where was I? How has another week flown by already?

Peace Points (a term I first heard coined by the brilliant Paul Chek) are little actions you can take within your days that draw you back to your center, out of your head, and back to the "why" of your life. We all have greater intentions, purposes, and ambitions in our lives that often get lost in the busyness of it all; the following practices seem simple, but act as powerful ways to re-connect you with yourself. What's more, these pauses in your day, however brief, will actually serve to make you more productive, as you will be working with greater aim and purpose, not to mention clarity and focus.

Examples:

• Go outside on your lunch break, find a bit of grass, take off your shoes, and simply feel your feet on the earth. Take it a step further: lay down outside, and stare up at the clouds. Ten minutes of this and I guarantee a perspective shift.
• Scheduling in your exercise.You get busy and what's the first thing off your calendar? Usually self-care. Schedule your run/yoga class/dance class/gym session on your calendar, and honor it like you would the strictest of deadlines.
• Set an hourly alarm on your work computer. Every time it buzzes, stand up and stretch, or take 5-10 full, soulful, deep breaths.
• Wake up 20-30 minutes earlier in the morning and allot yourself some personal time. This can look like meditation; a nice, nourishing breakfast; a walk/run with your dog; catch up on reading.

I will continue to add to this list as I continue to implement them into my own life, but in the interim, how do YOU re-connect with yourself when you start to spin a little too fast?