5 Minute Mindfulness: Workplace S.O.S.

Mindfulness doesn’t have to be something extra you need to ‘fit in’ to be effective.

It’s really just about putting yourself in the moment that you are actually in and not working yourself up into an anger storm, drifting away on a cloud of ‘what do I need to do next?’ or getting swept up into a tornado of panic attacks.

Mindfulness is about being PRESENT for whatever it is you’re doing.

Seeing what is right in front of you.

Becoming aware of your environment.

Engaging your sensory self: what can you see, hear, feel, smell or taste right now?

Here’s is one of the simplest ways to do that when you’re at work. It’s a 6-step process:

Stop, grip, breathe, focus on one thing, describe, describe.

As soon as you feel your own signs of the heebie-jeebies (everyone is different, but for the purpose of solidarity- you really are not alone- here are some of mine that can crop up during a really bad time of anxiety. All of my senses became heightened- that’s the amygdala saying ‘Warning! Danger! even when there is no danger. Thanks amygdala. My heart beats faster and my breathing quickens. I cab’t think and the only thing running through my head is ‘oh no! not this again! oh no! oh no!’)

1. Stop what you are doing. If you’re on public transport or at work or walking around, just stop.

2. Grip onto something. The railing, a friend, your chair:

3. Briefly give yourself a moment to feel- actually feel the surface– between your fingers, gripped by your hands. If you can’t grip anything, push your feet firmly into the ground. Feel the ground holding you up, or your butt supported by a chair. Pay attention to the thing you are sitting on or gripping.

4. Breathe as slowly as possible. Force it to be slow. Particularly the out breath. Sloooooow.

Remember: the OUT breath is the CALM breath.

5. Then if they are aren’t already, open your eyes and focus on something nearby:

6. Describe the thing you have chosen (in your head or out loud if you’re alone) in the greatest, most minute detail. Try it here: Brown stems sitting inside a half-glass of water. The glass is round and clean. The stems rise up into little tiny yellow flower. Really bright yellow. One of the branches has 1…2…3…4..5…6 flowers on it and 1…2…3..4 little green leaves on the stem. There’s a very slight scent, almost sour or bitter, coming from them, but it’s not unpleasant. It smells kind of fresh. One of the branches is slightly broken… etc.etc.etc.

Most desks and public places are a lot more cluttered than this, so there’ll be plenty of things to choose from.

Back in the day, mine was always my computer: not what was on the screen, but the actual computer. I could have told you which buttons had ink smudges on them, or which corner had the sticker mark where the Aboriginal flag from 2008 NAIDOC week had unstuck and fallen off.

The point is to REALLY get into the describing.

Don’t switch items and try and describe everything around you, or just do a vague sweep of something and then try and move on. In fact, the anxiety part- the amygdala- will be trying to get you to do that, to rush- to move- so that won’t help you, that panic button switch will stay on.

So just pick one thing and you’ll see that you can get the craziest amount of detail from staring at it and examining it in all it’s glory. You may even develop a new appreciation for the humble every day items you usually don’t even notice.

And that’s it!

You’re nudging your brain out of the amygdala and back into the pre-frontal cortex. From ‘doing’- taking action against perceived danger- into ‘thinking’- there is no danger.

Once you’ve given it a nudge- a seriously focused nudge, don’t give up- you will find everything will eventually calm down again. When you feel things returning to normal then you might want to get up, shake it off, take a little walk, get some fresh air.

When you come back, it might be a good idea to switch from what you were doing to do a different activity for half an hour or so, or you may even feel fine to return to whatever it is you were doing: typing, reading a book or checking out the hottie who just got on the tram. If you then need to follow-up on something that may have triggered the feeling (such as talk to someone) you’ll be in a much better frame of mind to do so.

I’ve written this here as a 6-step process for the purpose of providing a clear map and to be able to practice, but it’s really not that long. It can be done in under a few minutes and can make the world of different to your day, and your levels of stress and anxiety:

Stop, grip, breathe, focus on one thing, describe, describe.

If you found this blog post helpful, you might enjoy this one on The Myth Of Balance. If you’re curious about counselling please don’t hesitate to contact me. Or if you’re looking for an affordable self-paced online course to help you (re)discover your sense of identity, find worthiness, and stand up for yourself, check out From Bashful To Bold.