The most frequent challenge I hear from busy people who want to find peace in their daily lives is that they have goodwill, but they just plain forget to take a few moments for a Stillpoint. . . .

What helps me, and many of the people I speak with, is finding triggers. Look for triggers in your day — moments, people, situations, times, places, events, goings, comings — that have these traits in common: (1) They are frequent. (2) They are automatic. (3) They are consistent.

Here is an example: telephones, beepers, and clocks, or — putting a spin on John Donne's words — bells that sound in your environment. When you hear them, you can Stop, take a breath, and remember who you are — every time you hear the phone, the clock, the doorbell, or a beeper.

Here's one I do. Every time I hear the microwave beeper — a sound I find annoying — I call myself to a momentary breath of relaxation and a recollection of how I'll enjoy whatever is being warmed.

— David Kundtz, Moments in Between