When I talk to organisations about introducing mindfulness to their teams, and when I talk to people about how transformational mindfulness has been in my life, I often hear a similar response:
“It sounds great, but our people don’t have the time for mindfulness” or “I just can’t fit anything else into my busy day”
But, how about if you were able to integrate mindfulness into what you’re already doing rather than treating as just one more thing to fit into your busy day and make time for? Even a few moments of mindfulness can give you a helpful energy boost, refresh your body and mind, and leave you feeling revitalised and ready to perform with greater focus and engagement.
Here are two quick ways you can integrate mindfulness into your day:
A mindful moment (1-2 mins) – Take a mindful moment at the start of every meeting to allow people to fully arrive. Invite people to sit quietly and focus on their breath, breathing deeply and slowly for one to two minutes, feeling the breath as it moves in and out of the body. This gives people the space and time to switch off from what they were just focussing on, to catch their breath if they’ve been rushing from one meeting to another, and to start to focus on the purpose of the meeting ahead. A short pause helps to avoid a build up of stress and promote calm and focus too.
The 3 step breathing practice (3 mins) – this is a very popular micro practice you can rely on during challenging situations or when you notice you’re slipped into auto-pilot mode. It helps you to bring you back to the present moment, become aware of your complete experience and allow it all to be – just as it is. Each step takes around one minute and takes your awareness through an hourglass shape. From a wide angle awareness in step one – opening your awareness and acknowledging everything you find; to a narrow focus in step two – concentrating on the physical sensations of the breath in the body; and back to a wide awareness in step three opening to life as you find it, and preparing yourself for the next moment. Follow along with infographic below.
Fitting just a few minutes of mindfulness into your day can help you to recover from stress, regain energy and focus, and enjoy some calm.
I’d love to know how you get on with these practices so please do drop me a line!