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KPR Mindfulness Series Part 2

Mindfulness in the Workplace: Meditation

Meditation has become an essential practice in life, it works as a coping mechanism to ground and calm the body and mind.

Meditation is a Skill

Learning to meditate is like learning any other skill. Think of it like exercising a muscle that you’ve never really worked out before. It takes consistent practice to get comfortable.

 

According to www.headspace.com busy days in business mode can leave us feeling mentally exhausted. Countless hours sitting at our desks, hunched over a computer, firing off emails, fielding calls, and giving our attention to the tasks at hand can drain our batteries — even if we enjoy the work we do. When our reserves are low, it can sometimes be difficult to stay focused and productive.

 

With that in mind, it’s important to take breaks throughout the day (and, just for the record, scrolling through social media doesn’t count). If you don’t have time for a walk, maybe do some stretching exercises in your chair to release any tension. But nothing presses our internal reset and refresh button better than meditation, which is a great way to reduce both physical and mental stress. Practicing meditation exercises at your desk can help you reclaim focus, calm, and clarity — anytime from morning till night.

Take back your internal power by practicing the following steps:

1. Here’s a simple meditation you can do at your desk anytime you need to reset and feel a little more present and calmer, as you move on with your day.
Choose a 3-, 5-, or 10-minute option.
Take a break and enjoy the feeling of having nothing to do for a few minutes.

2. When feeling overwhelmed
Try this 3-minute guided meditation at your desk if you’re feeling overwhelmed, to help all that thinking, all those sensations and emotions, and the physical tension in your body melt away.
This mindfulness exercise uses a technique called visualization, where you’ll picture a steady stream of warm sunshine flowing down through your head into the body, dissolving away discomfort, leaving you feeling a little more relaxed and at ease.

3. When the frustration mounts
Maybe a colleague gets the promotion you’ve been seeking, or a co-worker dumps a half-finished project on your desk, or maybe the boss has been particularly irritable all day. The workplace can produce its fair share of frustrations, but we can’t afford for feelings of irritability or anger to burn us up. So instead of fuming at your desk and holding on to these emotions, take five mindful minutes to ground yourself. When we become more present in the body, we can release these intense emotions. As a result, both the body and the mind feel calmer, and clearer.
This particular technique guides you toward releasing strong emotions by gently focusing on each outbreath.

4. When looking to boost emotional intelligence
When there is a lot of internal chatter in our head, it’s hard to truly hear what someone is saying. Giving colleagues our full attention when they’re talking can help forge deeper, more meaningful connections. But to give such undivided attention means having to be fully present, and that’s where meditation comes in — it teaches us the ability to be fully engaged with the task or person commanding our attention, without distraction. If we can carve out a few minutes a day to meditate, we will become less distracted at work, and therefore, better listeners.

If you’re still unsure about when and how to meditate at work at your desk, take a mindfulness break during lunch. If you’re planning to eat at your desk, make the most of it! Rather than wolfing down your meal, rushing to the next mouthful, take a minute to appreciate each bite, and feel grateful for what’s on your plate. Check in with the different senses — the taste of the food, how it smells, the texture, etc. — to feel more present in the body and less caught up in the thoughts in the mind.

These steps have been provided by www.headspace.com, a trusted source of credible information with mindfulness techniques to help you in navigating your personal journey into better mindfulness living.

Let us know how your meditation goes and feel free to comment with more tips on practicing mindfulness in the workplace.

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