If I Can Meditate – So Can You!

True confession – I love my work and I am energized by what I do but my personality is a classic Type A, (maybe even AA) which can lead to stress. You know my type – I’m an achiever, constantly moving, high energy, focused on multiple things and sometimes referred to as the Tasmanian Devil. Ok – maybe that’s just my husband’s nickname for me.

I’m a career coach for goodness sake! I need to practice what I preach about work/life integration. I work out, I eat right (most of the time), I love to sleep – in fact I can’t function without 8 hours a night but I still have plenty of STRESS in my life.

So, a few months ago I was inspired to take the Oprah/Deepak Chopra meditation challenge and I’m hooked. This career diva is a work-in-progress but a few minutes of meditation a day have really helped me physically and emotionally handle my stress.

I recently read a piece by Gregory McKeown about de-stressing techniques and I wanted to share because they are so easily implementable – by anyone.

Breathing. Start by taking three deep breaths each time you sit down at your desk. Once this becomes a habit, expand to a few more times a day. Notice how the breathing helps you become more patient, calm and living in the moment and how it melts away the stress.

Meditating. I use a guided mindful meditation CD since I respond well to someone explaining step by step how to relax and clear my mind. In addition to the inexplicable feeling of inner calm, I have also noticed increased emotional control and brainpower after my meditation sessions.

Listening. Active listening is a rare skill and according to McKeown, when you concentrate on other people by listening, your interactions become richer. Listening is the quintessential positive interpersonal communication behavior.

Purpose. Commit to living with purpose doing whatever you are doing. Do it and only it. If you decide to watch TV, really watched it. If you are eating a meal, take the time to enjoy the meal. Giving each activity your undivided attention ensures you’re in the moment and fully living that experience. Nix the multi-tasking – it causes more stress!

Baby Steps. It’s important to start small – very small, because you can’t take on stress in a stressful way. You can’t beat stress using the same techniques that created the stress in the first place.

Instead, the key is to do less than you feel you want to. If you feel like breathing for two minutes, do it for just one minute. If you are up for a day of really listening to people deeply, do it for the next meeting only. Leave yourself eager to try it again. What you want is to develop a sustainable habit: a stress-free approach to reducing your stress.

Thank you, Gregory McKeown for being my anti-stress guru. Your tips are actionable, even the rookie seeking to de-stress like me. I can say with confidence that I like the changes I am beginning to experience, one small step at a time.