How can mindfulness techniques improve your stress levels at work?

Mindful breathing is invaluable on and off the list. Here is a partial list of ways it can help you: 1. Decrease physical pain. 2, Lower emotional and mental stress. 3. Warm your body. 4. Increase mental focus. 5. Energize mind and body. 6. Help yourself fall asleep.

A body scan is a very useful practice because, not only do we all have access to this practice, but we don't have to "try" to do anything. Just noticing individual parts of the body, trying to describe the sensation naturally relaxes them. But, if have had physical trauma in the past, a body and breath practice may not be the best method for you. The breath and the body can sometimes feel like unsafe places to be. So start with a sensory meditation.

We use to get into stress many a times at work and we need to be conscious about it should not impact us. One of the ways is to develop mindful listening which can help us to have clear and open communication with our peers/ colleagues/ manager/ stake holders, etc. During this process, we need to be in a state to understand, reduce misunderstandings, share thoughts not just focusing on our response. We need to give our full attention, know what the other is trying to say rather than just start reacting. The more open conversation, process the communication and be attentive will build stronger relationships and develop collaborative, problem solving and team skills.

Mindful listening is definitely a more complex practice that involves also titrating between what you hear and what you notice inside of you. It takes practice! Sure mindful listening can help heal relationships, when done correctly. If you find yourself thinking about what to say in response to the speaker, then you are not fully listening. And this can be the most challenging part.

Expressing gratitude is the most underrated one. It is the best way to reflect on the positive aspects, be thankful for all we have. What I use to do everyday is write down what good happened, what did not go well, process the day. Write down the my thoughts on positive and negative both. Being Thankful for my professional growth, new learning and experience. Acknowledging positives and negatives, accept the facts as not everyday will be same but we can be better with our 1% learning which will transform our mindset to be ready for the next day.

Expressing Gratitude is a profound, positive, exercise that immediately resets your emotional mindset from 'Negative to Positive'. Gratitude is recognizing ALL that you have, rather than what you do not.

Mindfulness practices help us stay present to reality. In a high stress moment, our nervous system throws us into fight, flight, freeze, or appease. While in that reactive state, everything feels like an emergency. However, most items at work while important are sometimes not even urgent let alone emergencies. The power of mindfulness is using tools of breath work, body scan, meditation, or just getting up and walking away to shift perspective. It can help us quickly notice how we are operating as though things are on fire when in fact there is none.

Mindfulness Practices do reduce your stress levels. Today was a wonderful example, as everything 'went wrong'. I followed my own advice. 1. I looked at the scenarios as "Positive Opportunities to Succeed". 2. I had a 'Lot of Resistance', but I accepted that this work needed to be done. I worked through my fears. 3. I accomplished what I had set out to do - Succeed.