Practicing Mindfulness - How to Reduce Stress and Improve Your Wellbeing Using the Recognize, Reframe, and Replace Model

According to the Aflac WorkForce Report (2022-2023), "more than half (59%) of American workers, just like you, are experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout, a notable increase over 2021 (52%) and on par with the levels reported in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic" (para. 3).

The great news is that mindfulness is a potent ally in combating stress, burnout, and negative thought patterns. It enhances our focus, boosts productivity, and empowers us to make better decisions. As a result, it elevates our overall life satisfaction. Every moment offers a chance to observe our thoughts, redirect our attention, and consciously choose our reactions, gradually rewiring the brain's neuropathways.

The Problem: Warp-Speed of Life in the New Millennium

"The warp speed of life in the modern world, driven by smartphones, tablets, and Zoom meetings, is taking a toll on our wellbeing. In their book Start Here, Langshur and Klemp (2016) shed light on these challenges, which include: "

The average adult:

• Spends more than eleven hours a day exposed to electronic media
• Checks their phone more than 150 times a day
• Stress has become a way of life. According to the American Psychological Association:

*70% of Americans report they experience physical or nonphysical symptoms of stress.

*80% of Americans say their stress level has increased or stayed the same over the last year.

*The American Institute of Stress estimates that more than half of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints.

Impact of Employee Burnout

"Stanford researchers looked into how workplace stress affects health costs and mortality in the United States), and they found that it led to spending nearly $190 billion—roughly 8% of national healthcare outlays — and nearly 120,000 deaths yearly."

"7,500 full-time employees by Gallup found the top five reasons for burnout are:

• Unfair treatment at work
• Unmanageable workload
• Lack of role clarity
• Lack of communication and support from their manager
• Unreasonable time pressure" (Moss, 2019, paras. 2-5)

"Now officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the responsibility for managing it has shifted away from the individual to the organization."

Being in a continuous state of stress and hypervigilance is not intended for the design of human beings. (Langshur & Klemp, Ph.D., 2016, pp. 8–9)

The Solution: Neuroplasticity, The Ability to Train (Rewire) our Minds to Respond vs. React

Learning to replace negative thinking with positive thinking (and better well-being) is critical to reducing stress and avoiding burnout.

Neuroscientists explain that our brains and thinking patterns have been shaped over time and continue to be constantly shaped, most of the time unwittingly. As a result, when triggered, people tend to feel the same negative emotions (fear, anger, anxiety, irritation…) and then react in the same ineffective ways, like shutting down, raising their voices, and showing offense with facial expressions and body language and showing up in ways inconsistent with how they want to be seen by others with less than effective behaviors.

Why? Neuroscientists explain that negative thinking patterns and associated ineffective reactions result from deeply established neuropathways. We've become wired to react counterproductively to triggers and negative emotions.

Langspur and Klemp (2016) summarize how they help leaders wittingly learn how to learn by saying: "We can let ordinary habits of the mind fly the plane, so stress and tension take us to our usual destination. Or we can redirect our attention to train our minds to experience a more optimal state of well-being" (p. 33).

Now for the great news. Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity. The ability of the brain to modify its connections or rewire itself using contemplative practices, such as mindfulness. Neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson, the Center for Healthy Minds founder, is one of the world's leading experts on the impact of contemplative practices, such as mindfulness meditation, on the brain. Training our brains can create neural pathways for wellbeing, especially when faced with adversity (Danet, 2018, p. 3). In other words, training our brains to respond (vs. react) by choosing practical thinking and behaviors to optimize well-being, reduce stress, and avoid burnout.

How to Retrain, Rewire the Mind?

The field of mindfulness is increasing, and there are numerous strategies for practicing mindfulness in literature. The goal of practicing mindfulness is to learn how to experience more significant focus, productivity, and life satisfaction.

This article's strategy to be shared is Recognize, Reframe, and Replace (RRR).

1.?? Recognize: The first step is emotional self-awareness, knowing what's there. When a trigger occurs, people experience automatic reactions.

• People experience a physiological reaction. Their heart rate increases, blood is pumped into muscles, adrenaline increases in the bloodstream, and their eyes dilate. Rational thinking in the brain (the neocortex) shifts to the emotional or feeling brain (the limbic brain). If the reaction is intense enough, the shift can be to the reptilian brain, where people enter into fight, flight, or freeze mode.
• People experience intense negative emotions. Emotions include rejection, betrayal, criticism, disapproval, helplessness, loss of control, unjust treatment, beliefs challenged, excluded, ignored, unwanted, unneeded, unlovable, and discounted.
• People become trapped in negative thinking, including:

Filtering: Focusing exclusively on the negative parts of a situation and disregarding the positive.

• Personalizing: Seeing yourself as the sole cause of adverse events.
• Catastrophizing: Automatically anticipating the worst outcome.
• Polarizing: Viewing circumstances as good or bad with no middle ground.
• Keep these forms of negative thinking in mind as you go about your day. Consider how it fits into these categories when you have a negative thought.
• Becoming more aware of negative thinking will help you reframe your thoughts. (Strategies for Reframing Negative Thoughts, 2022, paras. 13-15)

Recognizing is using the gap between the emotional trigger, the intense emotions, and the reactions to apply emotional self-awareness (knowing what's there) to shift to step two.

2. Reframing: ?Learning to reframe your thoughts is a way of being your most loyal ally. Regarding the reframing step, there are attractive benefits. Identify negative automatic thoughts, label them, and come to your defense by creating a rational alternative. Reframing negative thoughts into positive thinking has numerous health benefits.. According to the Mayo Clinic, positive thinking can:

• Increase your lifespan.
• Lower your risk of depression.
• Improve your cardiovascular health.
• Provide better coping skills during stressful times. (Strategies for Reframing Negative Thoughts, 2022, para. 12)

Reframing is a straightforward process that puts positive thinking into practice by reframing negative self-talk into positive thinking. The following are reframing examples.

• I've never done it before. Reframe to: It's an opportunity to learn something new.
• It's too complicated. Reframe to: I'll tackle it from a different angle.I don't have the resources. Reframe to: Necessity is the mother of invention.
• I'm too lazy to get this done. Reframe to: I couldn't fit it into my schedule, but I can re-examine some priorities.
• There's no way it will work. Reframe to: I can make it work.
• It's too radical a change. Reframe to: Let's take a chance.
• No one bothers to communicate with me. Reframe to: I'll see if I can open the communication channels. (Mayo Clinic Staff, pp. 3-4)

Another effective way to reframe thinking from negative to positive is gratitude. For example, I call up a mental photograph of my grandsons. Why? I can't think of my grandsons without smiling and, sometimes, laughing. I'm very grateful to be a grandfather and have these three boys in my life. It is a genuine and quick way to shift negative thoughts to a positive frame of reference.

Reframe negative thinking and self-talk by finding the benefits of challenging situations you face. Use such situations as a learning opportunity rather than a reason to question your self-worth and experience stress.

The article Strategies for Reframing Negative Thoughts provides an additional way to reframe emotionally charged negative situations. You examine the evidence by analyzing it to interpret a situation. Consider a possible scenario that you think negatively about. Now ask yourself these questions:

• How likely is it that the adverse scenario will happen?
• How often has the pessimistic scenario occurred in the past?
• What is the worst possible outcome of the adverse scenario?
• How likely is the worst possible outcome likely to happen? Can you handle it if it does?
• Your answers to these questions can help you face challenges with more balanced thinking.

Like any skill, reframing negative thoughts takes practice. When you notice a negative thought, use these strategies to reframe it and make positive thinking a habit. (Strategies for Reframing Negative Thoughts, 2022, paras. 27-31)

3. Replace: By successfully thinking through the Recognize and Reframing steps, people are now in the position to access the neocortex, their rational thinking brain, and choose effective behaviors to manage the emotionally charged negative situation successfully. The key word is "choose." Choosing to apply practical skills and behaviors, such as active listening, asking questions, problem-solving, conflict resolution, collaboration, recognition, and persuasion.

Retraining the brain using mindfulness strategies is an effective way to reduce stress and avoid burnout. It is also the door opener to building trusting relationships. Too much negativity and related behaviors create resentment, ruin relationships, and produce a bad reputation.

Conversely, practicing mindfulness and positive thinking builds trusting relationships and a positive image for those who can demonstrate emotional self-control, adaptability, a positive outlook, and empathy. Practice is required to retrain the brain and replace negative thinking with positive thinking and choices.

Langspur and Klemp (2016) point out that:

"The great thing about practicing mindfulness is that you can do it anytime, anywhere. You can do it at the check-out line, the gas pump, the TSA security line, in a meeting with a client, or with your boss. Practicing integration practice doesn't take any time out of your day. It's a practice you can do 10, 20, or even 50 times a day without stopping doing everything you need to meet your commitments. How to Notice, Shift, and Rewire Your Brain." (Langspur & Klemp, 2016, paras. 22-29)

Summary

Remember, you can retrain your brain to shift from negative emotions and reactions to a positive mindset and choose constructive responses using the Recognize, Reframing, and Replace mindfulness method. Instead of choosing to let your ordinary habits/reactions fly the plane so stress and tension can take you to the usual destination (your reactions), choose mindfulness as a way to redirect your attention to retrain your mind to avoid burnout, reduce stress, and achieve a more optimal state of wellbeing.

If you feel coaching may be right for you, contact Tom Norris at [email protected] or (760) 685-6910.

?References

Aflac (2022). Employee burnout is on par with levels at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic; job performance is impacted. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://www.prnewswire.com/news- releases/employee-burnout-is-on-par-with-levels-at- the-height-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-job- performance-impacted- 301679546.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20newly%20released,2022%2D2023%20Af la c%20WorkForces%20Report

Danet, G. (2018). The neuroscience of wellbeing. Holistic Life. Retrieved May 7, 2024, from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b03c8b41aef1da34c603285/t/5ca500d8eef1a149a917420a/1554317559849/the+neuroscience+of+wellbeing.pdf

Langshur, E. & Klemp, N. (2016, December 12). How to notice, shift, and rewire Your Brain. Mindful. Retrieved October 22, 2021, from https://www.mindful.org/notice-shift-rewire-brain/

Moss, J. (2019). Burnout is about your workplace, not your people. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2019/12/burnout-is-about-your-workplace-not-your-people

Mayo Clinic Staff. Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from Positive thinking: Reduce stress by eliminating negative self-talk - Mayo Clinic.

Strategies for Reframing Negative Thoughts (2022). Retrieved April 6, 2023, from Strategies for Reframing Negative Thoughts | St. Bonaventure University Online (sbu.edu )