Career Chat // Mindfulness and feeling good at work // Friday 24 March, 12pm AEDT

[Determined]

When I was working in a particularly stressful work environment I started the practice of going for a walk during my lunch break rather than just having lunch in front of my computer and not taking a break.

The other thing I did was to leave my mobile phone on my desk when I left so I was not contactable by phone or email, (otherwise the moment I walked out the door the phone started ringing), this allowed me to breathe and focus on my walk and surroundings. The short term result was that my blood pressure went from alarmingly high to on the high end of acceptable. unfortunately it was too little to late and I ended up needing to take a break anyway but it was helpful at the time.

[OstaraAust]

@Determined Thank you very much for your contribution. Its great to hear that real life application of this practice does make a positive difference!

[Determined]

@OstaraAust @NikNik @janedoe2 @Former-Member

An additional note from my experience,
I find it almost impossible to practice mindfulness during a 'stress event' if I can call it that. what worked for me was to practice this when I was doing ok in order to lower my base levels of stress (consistently quite high) so that I am not immediately overwhelmed when things go wrong or something unexpected pops up.

I did an interesting exercise with a councillor where she identified that subconsciously I was constantly scanning my surroundings for danger and looking for escape options. The solution was to make a conscious effort to  notice the positive aspects of my surroundings in order to distract my negative subconscious. (Hope the example makes sense).

[janedoe2]

@Determined that is a great example. I relate to the scanning surroundings behaviour. It is a great idea to acknowledge the positives.

[OstaraAust]

@Determined Another wonderful contribution! 

I especially like the comment you made about maintianing your base line levels low in order to better cope with the unexpected. That is an ideal concept to achieve with through midnfulness. 

I really like exercise you shared , it really demonstartes the importance role our mindset plays on our perception. This is a common perception in the study of mindfulness: 

"Humans have a “ negativity bias .” Essentially, this means that you’re much more likely to focus and dwell on something that’s gone wrong than on things that have gone well. Behaving in this way every day means that you ultimately adopt an excessively negative and unbalanced way of thinking.

Gratitude is the antidote. Plenty of evidence suggests that actively practicing gratitude makes you feel better and has a positive impact on your creativity, health, working relationships, and quality of work. Gratitude makes being at both work and home more positive experiences."

[OstaraAust]

@Determined Another wonderful contribution! 

I especially like the comment you made about maintianing your base line levels low in order to better cope with the unexpected. That is an ideal concept to achieve with through midnfulness. 

I really like exercise you shared , it really demonstartes the importance role our mindset plays on our perception. This is a common perception in the study of mindfulness: 

               "Humans have a “negativity bias” Essentially, this means that you’re much more likely to focus and dwell on something that’s gone wrong than on things that have gone well. Behaving in this way every day means that you ultimately adopt an excessively negative and unbalanced way of thinking.

Gratitude is the antidote. Plenty of evidence suggests that actively practicing gratitude makes you feel better and has a positive impact on your creativity, health, working relationships, and quality of work. Gratitude makes being at both work and home more positive experiences." 

Keep up the good work @Determined 

[janedoe2]

@OstaraAust I am in the process of recovering and thinking my way into preparedness to eventually work part time. I can manage my reasonably sheltered lifes stress levels. As discussed today there is a need to set the tone for a workday and to conciously maintain a base stress level. How do I practice mindfulness in my everyday life now and while I study and prepare psychologically to work part time when I am ready?

[Determined]

Hi @NikNik @janedoe2 @OstaraAust @Former-Member

I have to go but thank you for the discussion and your input this afternoon.

[OstaraAust]

@janedoe2 Thank you for that great question 

Practicing mindfulness in everyday life is a fantastic idea! The more you apply it the more success you will have when exercising it at work or during difficult situation.

Some suggestions of mindfulness practice in everyday life are:

• Take a couple of minutes to notice your breathing. Sense the flow of the breath, the rise and fall of your belly.
• Notice what you are doing as you are doing it and tune into your senses. When you are eating, notice the colour, texture and taste of the food.
• Don’t feel that you need to fill up all your time with doing. Take some time to simply be. When your mind wanders to thinking, gently bring it back to your breath.
• Recognize that thoughts are simply thoughts; you don’t need to believe them or react to them.
• Notice where you tend to zone out (e.g., driving, emailing or texting, web surfing, feeding the dog, doing dishes, brushing teeth, etc.). Practise bringing more awareness to that activity.
• Practice listening without making judgements
• Spend time in nature
• Focus on developing your concentration –being in control of what your thinking and not letting your mind wonder

 One important consideration to be made in particular is being compassionate with yourself. It is very important to forgive yourself especially when it comes to building new self-care practices like mindfulness.

• When you forget to practice, forgive yourself.
• When you get lost in busy-ness, forgive yourself.
• When you are inconsistent with your daily practice, forgive yourself.
• When your mind wanders incessantly, forgive yourself.
• Spend MORE time thinking about what you did do than ruminating about what you didn’t do.

Just remember establish a routine and be consistent. Carve out the time no matter how little and perhaps linking it with something that will help you remember to do it – with meals, as you get out of bed or before starting your car.

Consistence is key

[OstaraAust]

Thank you