Work stress? Discover mindfulness meditation

Even if you love your job, it can still stress you out! Meeting deadlines or going through your mountain of a workload can still make you feel tense and anxious. You might not be able to avoid all the things that stress you out in the office, but you can learn how to manage work-related stress. At the end of the day, we can only do so much so it's important that we make time for 'me time' for us to cope and feel re-energized as there will always be more to do.

Meditation is an easy and inexpensive way to deal with work-related stress. It doesn’t require any special equipment (except maybe your smartphone and a pair of headphones) and you can do it anywhere, even at work.

Mindfulness Meditation at work

Studies have shown that when given some time for mindfulness at work, employees have reported a significant improvement in their psychological well-being, reduced job strain, and even reduced their blood pressure during the workday.1

What are the benefits of meditation? Meditation can give you a sense of calm, and bring your mind peace and balance that benefits your emotional well-being and overall health. With even just a few minutes of meditation each day, it can help you clear away the information overload that builds up every day, especially at work.

Emotional benefits of meditation also include:

●     Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations

●     Building skills to manage your stress

●     An increase in self-awareness

●     A chance to focus on the present

●     Less negative emotions

●     An increase in patience and tolerance

●     An increase in imagination and creativity2

There are several types of meditation out there, but for our purposes, we’ll focus on mindfulness meditation. It is a meditation based on being mindful or practicing an increased awareness and acceptance of being and living in the present moment.3 It’s made up of two parts: attention and acceptance.

Attention is about paying attention to your experiences so you can focus on what’s happening in the present moment. This means paying attention to your breathing, your thoughts, the physical sensations in your body, and the feelings you are experiencing.

In acceptance, you have to observe your feelings and sensations without judgment, with the aim of not reacting or responding to them, but to just take note, and let go.4

 Here are some tips on how to practice mindfulness meditation at work.

●     Look for a quiet setting and get comfortable. Meditating may be easier if you’re in a quiet spot with few distractions. If your workplace doesn’t have a quiet room or place for you to do that, you can use your smartphone and headphones to listen to relaxing, meditative music that you can look for online. Make sure that you’re seated in a comfortable position without slouching.

●     Breathe deeply and slowly, taking care to focus all your attention on your breathing. Concentrate on feeling and listening to yourself as you inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. If your attention starts to wander, gently return them to focus on your breathing.

●     Be patient with yourself. Don’t judge yourself if you’re unable to clear your mind right away. Meditation takes practice. And it’s common for your mind to wander during meditation.

There are other ways to meditate. You might meditate better while you’re exercising, or even when walking to wherever you want to go next. Experiment, and you’ll find out what types of meditation work best to boost your wellbeing.

Health care starts with self-care. AXA’s range of health and protection products are here to support your wellbeing as you #MakeTimeForMeTime, so you are empowered to keep protecting what matters most. Find out more by visiting AXA’s health products page by clicking here or reaching out to an AXA financial partner.