August is National Wellness Month, a time to focus on self-care, burnout prevention and healthy daily routines. In the era of massive layoffs, economic uncertainty and political and social turmoil, it’s natural for stress levels to rise and to feel like your life is out of control. As little as 5 minutes of daily mindfulness, puts you in a state of mental relaxation and alertness at the same time, allowing you to approach work and life in a calmer and enjoyable way.
5 Minutes Of Daily Mindfulness: Rx In Uncertain Times
A growing body of science attests to the link between mindfulness and stress reduction, well-being and greater job productivity and career success. Perhaps you worry about unpaid bills, an unfinished project or how to meet a deadline. Maybe you replay a disagreement with your boss or wonder if your neck is next on the chopping block.
Mindfulness trains your mind to do what it doesn’t do instinctively: to come back to the present, enjoy the moment and appreciate your life instead of focusing on worries of the future (“What if I get laid off?”) or regrets of the past (“I wish I had spoken up in the meeting”). On a neuroscience level, just five minutes of mindfulness during your workday enables you to notice the habitual workings of your mind, harness the social circuitry of your brain and reset and recharge your mind.
Think of yourself as a two-lane highway. You have an outside lane and an inside lane. Most of us spend more time in the outside lane thinking about daily work tasks. But the key to greater mental well-being is more time noticing instead of thinking in both lanes. This curious noticing of your outside lane (what’s happening around you) or the curious noticing of your inside lane (what you’re thinking and feeling in the present moment).
All you need is five minutes and yourself, a comfortable chair or cushion and a place where you won’t be distracted. And you’re ready to roll. Here are some mindfulness exercises to get you started. Always notice with curiosity, as if you’re observing a blemish on your hand.
Noticing In The Outside Lane
Open awareness is the curious observing of what’s happening around you in the present moment as you go about your workday. Here’s how it works in four quick, easy and portable steps.
1- Sit in a comfortable place with eyes open or shut for one minute.
2- Set a timer for 60 seconds.
3- Listen with curiosity in your outside lane, noticing as many different sounds as you can. You might hear the heating or air conditioning system, traffic off in the distance, voices in the building, ticking of a clock or your own gurgling stomach.
4- After one minute, instead of trying to remember the sounds, pay attention to your inside lane. Notice your lower heart and respiratory rates and relaxed muscles. In just 60 seconds, most people feel calmer, more clearheaded and more energized. Imagine how you might feel if you did this exercise for five minutes.
When you’re fully engaged with curiosity in the present moment, you notice that previous worries or stressful thoughts are absent. You might be aware that your heart and respiration rates are slower and your tight muscles have loosened. That’s because you took yourself off the red alert of your thinking mind and brought it into the present moment of the noticing mind, activating your rest-and-digest-response.
Noticing In The Inside Lane
One of the simplest forms of mindfulness is to access your inside lane, using your breath as a focal point. Sit in a comfortable place with eyes closed. Breathing in through your nose and out through the mouth, focus on each inhalation and exhalation. Follow your breath through to a full cycle from the beginning when the lungs are full back down to when they’re empty.
Then start over again. As you stay with this cycle, mindfully watching your breath, thoughts arise in the form of judgment: wondering if you’re doing it right, thinking about tasks you have to do later, debating if it’s worth your time. Don’t try to get rid of the thoughts. Allow them to arise and accept whatever arises with open-heartedness, bringing your attention gently back and focusing on the breath.
Each time your attention strays from the breath (and it will), bring your awareness back to it. If your mind gets caught in a chain of thoughts, gently step out of the thought stream and come back to the sensations of your breath. After about five minutes, open your eyes and notice how much more connected you are to the present moment.
The Butterfly Hug: Noticing In The Outside And Inside Lanes
Think of a small worry, problem or concern that has been bothering you. Chose something like “Will my coworkers like my presentation?” or “I wish I had spoken up in the meeting yesterday.” Then cross your arms over your chest and flap your hands against your shoulders (I realize this might sound silly, but it’s neuroscience so give it a shot).
Turn your head to the right and find something to focus on. It could be anything–a wall, painting, carpet or some aspect of nature. As you focus on the object, notice it in detail for about 20 seconds. Notice the shape, size, colors and see it as vividly in your mind’s eye as you can.
Then turn to your left and focus on something else for another 20 seconds. Take in as much of the detail of the object as you can. Keep flapping your butterfly wings as you continue the exercise.
Next, turn back to your right again and find another object and notice all of the details: shape, colors, size and so forth. Now, turn to your left again and repeat your focus on another object for about 20 seconds.
After you’ve finished the exercise, recall the worry or concern. At first, you might have difficulty remembering the original concern, or it might take you some time to remember it. Once you do recall, chances are the original concern loses its power. Why? Mindfulness puts the brakes on your fight-or-flight or stress response and activates your parasympathetic nervous system (or your rest-and-digest response). Once mindfulness turns off the red alert inside, you have more access to calm, clarity and confidence.
Final Thoughts On 5 Minutes of Daily Mindfulness
During these uncertain times when you feel overwhelmed, anxious or frustrated or things don’t turn out the way you hoped, get in the habit of bringing your awareness to the present moment.
Blend mindfulness into the workflow of your daily routines on the way from the parking garage to your office. Instead of thinking about the day’s agenda, practice mindful walking. Notice the sensations of your feet against the ground or the feeling of the open sky or sights and sounds around you. While walking to the restroom or waiting for a Zoom meeting to start, notice ambient sounds or tune into body sensations.
After regular practice, you start to notice that your mind remains still on an ongoing basis, and you are calmer at work and in life. In the long term, you realize the 5 minutes of daily mindfulness is working when you’re less stuck in past regrets or future uncertainties and more grounded in the here-and-now. You are calmer, have more clarity and your work engagement, job productivity and career performance soar.