Is Your "Work Mode" Affecting Your Home Life & Your Health?

How To Get More Clarity At Work & More Relaxed At Home.

The purpose of this article. To offer not 1 but 2 tools that can ease the stress that you may have become accustomed to in everyday work-life in a practical way and in a way that helps you to improve your performance at work and enjoy your time at home. 

 Sound like what you need?

Yes! 

Keep reading for an effective breathing technique which if practised can be powerful and significant tool

PLUS a guided meditaiton to reduce stress & anxiety for good! HERE

Stress, overwhelm, & constantly heightened energy levels is interpreted by the limbic system as fight, flight or freeze mode. 

When this happens more of the blood runs to vital organs, which over-stimulates them & means more adrenaline than necessary is produced which is often, but not exclusively, presented by the body as shaking, insomnia, repressed emotions & repressed eating, over-thinking, dizziness & sweating. It is then interpreted emotionally in many ways, based on our belief structures (another article is required for an explanation on belief's).

These are just a few ways those sensations in the body can be interpreted: Heightened energy levels, the need to keep moving, working.

These sensations can also be experienced as excitement - This is not always a positive thing for the mind & body. 

Because blood is taken to keep the organs & limbs ready for action it reduces blood flow to the brain which causes confusion & an inability to focus. This may be subtle at first but over time will become more obvious.

Because the rush of adrenaline can be experienced as stress OR excitement there are many people who work in high pressure jobs who become addicted to that level of stress from the work environment. 

When this happens often times these people feel bored at weekends & often feel a lowness as their body try’s to recover from the high levels of adrenaline experienced during the week. Over years that level of stress becomes the normal on the outside...

...however, the body and mind is really suffering on the inside with symptoms such as:

• Insomnia,
• Excessive urination at weekends,
• Excessive exercise &/or drinking &/or drugs. 
• Excessive eating
• The need to “mong out” in front of the TV.
•  A feeling of lowness. 
• A feeling of boredom. 
• High Risk Activities

Many people attribute this to having high energy levels & that it is a good thing but beware, that is not necessarily the case!

So, how do you still get maximum performance with optimal health?

The key is to send a message to the brain that it is safe, its ok. 

This allows the blood to flow more evenly once again, giving clarity in our minds. When we have clarity we have confidence, we are able to be more objective & more creative. 

In addition, it is still possible to maintain the drive and motivation which many people are afraid to lose.

How do you do that? 

Breathing!

Controlling the flow of oxygen & heart rate begins to change the emergency pattern that the brain is in. Slowing the breathing, slows the heart rate, slowing the heart rate allows more blood & more oxygen to reach the brain, once a normal flow of oxygen & more blood reaches the brain then logic can kick back in & your awareness that you are safe becomes real again.

So what type of breathing?

Well any deep, slow or rhythmic breathing is going to help & there are a number of different patterns that have earned good results. What I have found works well for the majority of my clients is:

• Deep Breath in for 4 seconds,
• Hold for 7 seconds
• Breath out for 8 seconds & pause momentarily,
• Repeat this pattern for several minutes or until the anxiety/stress diminishes. Set a timer for 3 minutes to begin with.

However, more importantly I advise practising this everyday, 2 or 3 times a day. The reason for that is once you are in stress mode it is unlikely that you will remember or be able to practise in the moment.

By practising as part of a daily routine you will become much more likely to automatically start the breathing at the onset of stress which is what we are aiming for. It may not stop the "hyper-ness" in the beginning but it can help to significantly reduce it. Plus eventually diminish it.

In addition here is a guided meditation to support the breathing technique & to work on a more permanent & profound reduction in stress and anxiety. 

You can listen to this as often as you wish & its an invaluable additional tool to help live with purpose & drive but without compromising your health.

Get your meditation here