The Luxasia Way of Unleashing Your Full Potential (Mindfulness at Work) series: Take a Short Breathing/Meditation Break

‘Busyness’ seems to be the “new normal” in today’s workplace. Many people are addicted to busyness and some even feel somewhat guilty when taking breaks. What many do not realise is that Busyness does not equal to Productivity. Also, we are human, with both hearts and minds, and hence, need breaks to help us recharge. We need to manage our productivity proactively – this calls for mindfulness and for us to take necessary breaks.

There are two kinds of break that can boost productivity – This piece is about no. 1 while the upcoming piece is about no. 2:

1)     Small breaks that sustain performance throughout the day

2)     Big planned breaks that sustain an effective life

Many a time, we are unable to focus on the task at hand and be productive because:

1)     Our mind and thoughts are somewhere else

2)     Our heart is riddled with unpleasant emotions

HOW DO WE DEAL WITH UNSETTLED HEARTS AND UN-PRESENT MINDS?

In this piece, allow me to introduce two simple practices – breathing and meditation. I employ these two practices to ensure that the state of both my heart and mind are managed for higher levels of productivity and effectiveness throughout my work day, and even after work in my personal life. While Breathing and Meditation are linked, I employ them for two different purposes:

1)     Breathing to reset the mind and our thoughts

2)     Meditation to reset the heart and our emotions

With respect to breathing, I am not referring to a normal breathing, but deep diaphragm breathing that is consciously done at a certain tempo or cadence.

THE BENEFITS OF BREATHING

1.  Decreases Anxiety

Worry and anxiety are the brain’s natural impulses to anticipate perceived dangerous or uncertain future. Breathing exercises for anxiety are so effective because they activate your parasympathetic nervous system. This shifts your body out of fight-or-flight mode, which is the usual way of framing a panic response, controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. Once your parasympathetic nervous system takes over, your body can relax, because as your breathing deepens, your heart rate drops and a feeling of calm sets in.

2.  Improves Focus

Researchers looked at brain activity in a small area of the brainstem called the locus coeruleus, where a chemical called noradrenaline is made. They found that as you breathe in, activity in the locus coeruleus increases, and as you breathe out, it decreases. This is why they believe that breathing exercises can optimise your attention level. For this reason, I like to start meetings with my teams with a short breathing exercise, to begin the meeting with a fresh outlook. I’ve previously introduced this to Luxasians at multiple events and engagements. 

Kicking start the day of meetings by leading the Top 100 Leaders in Luxasia in a focussed breathing exercise during the 2019 Leadership Retreat.

3.  Boosts Energy

With deep, diaphragmatic breathing, oxygen spreads more rapidly and completely through the body. So, the deeper you breathe, the more efficiently you transport oxygen throughout your body. The increased oxygen saturation therefore boosts your cognitive function and leads to healthier organs, muscles, and tissues, allowing you more energy to perform your tasks better.

THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

Meditation helps me to pivot away from unpleasant emotions and be emotionally present for your next task – it helps me to reset my emotions, especially when I am feeling sad, mad, or scared. This particular article – Be Here Now: 2 tools to get present NOW – shares a similar framework to how I manage my emotions and I thought to share this with you.

Resetting one’s emotions is even more important for Leaders – your mood, words, and behaviour profoundly affects those around you, especially those you lead. When you are able to effectively manage your emotions, you prevent the unfortunate situation of your teammates receiving an emotional backlash when you are having a bad mood. Also, when one is caught up in an internal storm of unpleasant emotions, one tends to be less objective, less focused, and hence, less productive. In fact, research has shown that how well a team does hinges on how well the leader can manage his/her emotions. Furthermore, studies have also revealed that mindful meditation practices improve the brain’s problem-solving and decision-making strategies, which is beneficial at work.

PUTTING BREATHING AND MEDITATION INTO PRACTICE

I hope you are now convinced of the importance of deep-diaphragm breathing and mediation. Now, allow me to share the actual practices with you. You may have noticed that the Breathing one had already been mentioned in my previous article – Be Present. 

Breathing and meditation practices is something everyone can do anytime and anywhere to improve their mental and emotional health. At work, by applying the practices and focusing on one task at the time, you will be able to achieve your results or goals faster to garner quick wins, which in turn accumulates into gaining momentum in order for you to speed up to achieve more.

Similarly, at the end of the work day, practicing this will also help you to transit from work to personal life, by leaving the cares of work behind, to be dealt with the next day. As the work day winds down, breathing and meditation helps me to be present in my personal life and ensures that I can give my 100% to my family.