Take a deep breath - using meditation to keep you sane
A busy day, a hectic schedule, back-to-back video conferences, an upcoming presentation and on top of that you have to prepare food for lunch and fit in a trip to the supermarket - with a mask on, of course. It’s no wonder we feel like there is no room to breathe and no time to look after ourselves.
I’ll be the first to admit that for many years I brushed away the suggestion of meditation with a flippant comment like ‘I don’t like sitting still and I don’t need peace and quiet’. But I was so wrong.
It’s been well over 2 years since I changed my mind about meditation and mindfulness and incorporated regular practice into my day. It changed things for me fundamentally. And I am still learning how to use meditation in situations when I turn to cookies or stomping down the hallway - neither of which are particularly helpful ‘solutions’.
When the deluge hits you
So what can you do when things become overwhelming and stressful and feel like they’re just too much? The first step is to take a deep breath and remind yourself that whatever is in front of you can be accomplished one step at a time. It’s also helpful to assess the true impact of doing and not doing something. Emergency, life-saving surgery? Not something we can just say no to. But most of us, at least most of the people in my professional and personal network, do not work in A&E or are confronted with life and death situations. And as humbling as it can be, it’s really helpful to remind ourselves that the earth will keep spinning even if your report is a couple of hours late or the powerpoint slide isn’t perfectly aligned.
Taking a deep breath sounds simple, almost too simple, and it might not make the difference you need it to make for you right now. So take another breath, or another ten. The idea is to calm your mind and your body and to focus on something as natural as breathing. In meditation, we are always encouraged to try focusing on the breath going into our lungs and back out. How does it feel? Where can you feel the breath? And can you even focus on it?
I can report that after 417 days of daily meditation practice, I still cannot focus on the breath for more than 5 breaths (if that!) before my mind starts to wander. But that doesn’t actually matter because meditation isn’t about achieving the perfect score. It’s about mindfully, consciously taking a moment for ourselves to create calm and peacefulness so that we feel better and we can be better as a consequence.
Do you need an hour to meditate?
No. Even a minute is enough. Or 15 seconds. Again, it’s not about keeping score or being the perfect ‘student’. Personally, I mix it up. In the evenings I often meditate to fall asleep. I use an app called Headspace and it is the very first (top left) app on my phone’s home screen. That’s how important it is to me. I select the 20min sessions (to make sure that by the time they tell me ‘open your eyes again’, I’m really asleep) and let it help me relax and unwind. In an effort to keep the phone out of the bedroom, however, I’ve started to do 3min sessions in the evening and leave my phone downstairs. And sometimes I do those short sessions during the day, just to center myself and get back to a calm and peaceful mind.
No matter how much any of us seem to ‘have it all together’, we’re not immune to the effects of stress, be it work-related, personal or, you know, a global pandemic impacting our lives. Meditation doesn’t solve everything and for bigger issues around mental and physical health, I’d always recommend seeking professional help. Often, though, we want to take some small steps first to see if we can fix a problem by ourselves.
Give it a try
If your ‘small problem’ today is that you don’t know where to start, you feel flustered and can’t concentrate or you’re frustrated after an unproductive meeting, then try a short breathing exercise. Take a deep breath, and then another one. Go ahead and close your eyes. It will only take a minute. Open the window if you have one nearby and get that oxygen into your lungs and your bloodstream. Use your exhale to get rid of negative energy, negative thoughts and tension.
If you want to take it just a little bit further, check out headspace, or try a meditation on spotify or youtube. Take just a few minutes to reclaim your focus, your clarity, calmness and sanity. Repeat whenever you need to.
I swear by it now, and that’s coming from someone who thought just a few years ago that she didn’t need ‘any of that’. I’m definitely a convert. And I couldn’t imagine my day without those few minutes and moments of calm that help me bring my body, my mind and my soul back into alignment.