3 Mindfulness Tools to Ease Work-Related Stress

It’s been nearly a year since the pandemic created seismic shifts for all of us, and for many, the dramatic changes in our work lives have been a source of increased anxiety and stress. That may be why, now more than ever, individuals and companies are turning to mindfulness and meditation. Major corporations like LinkedIn, Nike, and Google have led the way in this area over recent years, creating successful mindfulness and meditation programs for their employees. While there is not a lot of documented research yet on the benefits of these practices in the workplace, many agree that mindfulness does provide useful tools for reducing stress.

In her article on PositivePschology.com entitled “Mindfulness at Work: Using Mindful Leadership in the Workplace,” Heather Craig, BPsySc, a provisional psychologist in Melbourne, Australia, says: “Speaking very generally, there are some mindfulness-based processes that are thought to affect employee performance and well-being. These include response flexibility, decreased rumination, empathy, affect regulations, increased self-determination and persistence, improved working memory and more accurate affective forecasting (Glomb, Duffy, Bono, & Yang, 2012).”

The good news is you don’t have to be a top corporation or work at one to benefit from these practices.

Here is a brief introduction to mindfulness and a few tools you can use right now to bring more calm into your daily life, whether you work at home, in an office, or are transitioning to a new job or career.

What is Mindfulness?

According to Mindful.org, “mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” This article, “What is Mindfulness?” is a great intro and can answer a lot of your questions.

3 Easy Tools for Practicing Mindfulness at Work or Home

1. Focus on Your Breath — One of the main foundations for mindfulness and meditation practices is utilizing your breath — something that’s always available to you — to bring you into the present moment. A great way to bring attention to your breath is by counting through your inhales and exhales. An example might be inhaling as you count to 4, holding your breath for a moment, then exhaling to the count of 8. You can use any count that’s comfortable for you, but do try to make the exhale twice as long as the inhale. It’s also helpful to feel your entire body relaxing with each breath. Breathing like this will at the very least, help you feel calmer.

2. Focus on One or More of Your Senses — Becoming hyper-aware and observant of your immediate surroundings helps bring you fully into the present moment and helps steer your attention away from thoughts and emotions that were causing you stress and anxiety. For instance, with your eyes closed, you can begin to observe every sound in your environment. Or you can focus on the sense of feeling, paying attention to all that you feel, from your feet on the ground, the chair you are sitting on, whatever your hands are touching, or the air blowing around you.

3. Do a Body Scan — Similar to using your senses, you can find an anchor into the present moment by putting attention on parts of your body. One common practice is doing a “body scan” in which you mentally scan yourself from head to toe, or toe to head, stopping to observe each body part and being curious about the experience without judging what is happening. For instance, you would begin with your head and face, simply noticing any tightness, tingling, heat, or other sensations that are present. Then move through the rest of your body.

The great thing is that all of these exercises can be done almost any time and anywhere — even while sitting at your desk. Whether you’re dealing with a conflict, stressful situation, or lack of motivation, taking a few moments to recenter yourself with one of these simple practices can shift your perspective and bring clarity to aid you in finding solutions.