Considering the to-do list you have to tackle at work and/or at home, it might feel like a luxury to pause and a waste of time to meditate as a business woman. But you deserve to give yourself a break! Natalia Bojanic is a mindfulness meditation teacherwho specialises in hosting mindful leadership workshops in the corporate world. Here she explains how you can easily incorporate mindfulness into your day-to-day life.
The main advantage mindfulness and meditation offer is that the tools are free, available to you 24/7 and for centuries have provided a source of relief and everlasting peace of mind.
Of course, there are also other wellbeing activities and ways of seeking support and resourcing yourself that are equally important, such as exercising, sleeping well, eating healthy, spending time in nature, connecting with loved ones and so on.
A McKinsey's 2022 report on women in the workplace revealed that 42% of women experience burnout, compared to 35% of men. Another survey by LinkedIn also highlights this same trend, with 74% of women saying they were experiencing work-related stress, compared to 61% of men.
What is burnout?
According to the World Health Organisation, “burnout is a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed".
It is characterised by three dimensions:
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Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
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Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job
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Reduced professional efficacy.
Burnout refers specifically to the workplace but you may experience some of the same phenomena if your personal life is feeling overwhelming.
There are a number of organisational factors that contribute to burnout, including:
• Culture of emotional incivility
• Systemic bias
• Unclear and impossible requirements
• Unrealistic workload/deadlines
• Prolonged high time with no downtime
• No tolerance for any kind of failure at work
• Lack of personal control and recognition
• Poor leadership
Obviously, shifting the work culture is the root to solving burnout and we all should try to contribute and take responsibility for mental wellbeing in the workplace. However, until that meaningful change happens, there are a few strategies you can apply to shift work-related stress before it builds up to burnout.
The benefits of meditation
The body of science on the benefits of meditation has shown plenty of evidence on the benefits of mental training for emotional wellbeing. Different mindfulness tools have a distinct impact on how we relate to our thoughts, emotions and consequently change behaviour.
Body scans, breathing techniques and analytical meditation can have a series of positive outcomes:
• Enhance mental fitness and clarity
• Develop agile and adaptive mindsets
• Reduce stress response
• Increase resilience
• Improve access to creativity
• Develop self-awareness
• Enhance emotion regulation
• Improve communication skills
• Develop greater emotional intelligence
Overall, having tools to systematically switch the nervous system from the fight or flight response to the relaxation response is key for our physical and psychological health. Mindfulness meditation can help you sleep better as well, a great tool if you're one of those people who takes their work home with them or struggles to switch off.
Practising business woman meditation
Hopefully I've now motivated you to prioritise your mental wellbeing in order to prevent burnout. Below are a few mindful interventions to counteract the building up of stress that you can practice, even when you are at your work desk.
There is a direct link between the nervous system and the respiratory system so you can use the breath to bring presence, stability and relaxation to your mind. So, here are a few breathing techniques for you to explore:
1 - Extended exhalations
Find a comfortable position that works for you and start bringing awareness to your respiration, simply noticing how you are breathing (PAUSE).
Then if possible, start breathing in and out through your nose. Inhaling for a count of two and exhaling for a count of four (PAUSE).
Breathe in for 1, 2 and breathe out for 1,2,3,4 (PAUSE). Focusing your attention on the sensations of your body breathing.
If that is easy you can try to breathe in for 4 and breathe out for 6.
You can use this technique in the moment you feel anxiety arising or as a dedicated practice.
Start with one minute and see if gradually you can build up to 10 minutes.
The video below will provide further guidance.
2 - Five-Finger Breathing Practice
If focusing just on your breath does not work for you, Dr Jud Brewer’s 5-Finger Breathing Practice can be helpful as you will be aligning your inhalations and exhalations with tracing your fingers up and down.
Check out his explanation in this video:
2 - STOP, a self-regulating practice
If all that you remember from this article is to stop, that is awesome, as when we pause we gain perspective and move from being reactive to being responsive, avoiding regrets.
Each letter of this acronym is a step in the process to increase self-awareness and clarity:
Stop
Take a breath
Observe thoughts, feelings and emotions
Proceed with intention
3 - RAIN, a self-compassion practice
This framework can be helpful when you are feeling stuck in a situation and need a way to self-soothe. Each letter of this acronym is a step in the process of skillfully working with emotions:
Recognise thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Allow experience to be there as they are
Investigate with care
Nourish with self-compassion
Watch me guiding the RAIN practice in this video.
4 - Journaling
Free writing is an excellent opportunity to discharge emotions using pen and paper as a worry dump. You don’t need to edit yourself and no one needs to read it. Just take a few minutes to write what comes in your mind and then see how you feel afterwards. Below are a few prompts that might help you:
• Write down everything that's causing you anxiety and stress. If it helps, tear the page up when you're done.
• Name something you can do today that's a step in the right direction in terms of how you want to change or improve your life.
• Name a positive thing that's happened in the past week.
• What song or song lyrics help you feel calmer and more grounded?
As a mindfulness teacher and business woman myself, I believe it is very important to acknowledge that these mindful techniques are not silver bullets. Firstly, they are called practices for a reason. In order for them to effectively work on a long term basis you must exercise your mindfulness muscles daily so the next time a curve ball is thrown at you will be better equipped to handle it in a calm and collected manner. Using calming meditation apps such as Insight Timer, Headspace or Calm can be a good place to start your journey.