“There is no good or bad meditation — there is simply awareness or non-awareness. To begin with, we get distracted a lot. Over time, we get distracted less. Be gentle with your approach, be patient with the mind, and be kind to yourself along the way.” – Andy Puddicombe

Recently, I have been suffering from high anxiety, stress, overwhelm and a general lack of resilience. Resilience, unfortunately, is not something that is retained without conscious effort. This is true with me, for sure. No matter how good my ability to pick myself up and stay in motion at some points in my life, it all gets forgotten when my brain gets too crowded.

Ironically, for someone who writes about the mindful lifestyle every month, I am remarkably bad at putting this knowledge sometimes. Meditation is something I know a fair bit about but I often forget that it exists as a resilience tool. It is useful for so many issues. Not only this, but it is a remarkably simple thing to access if a simple tool is what I need at a certain moment.

Here are some examples of how everyday mediation has helped me in recent months…

1. Keeping Calm with My Kids

Parenting is stressful. It is hard. If you are a parent, you will likely feel the same way (unless you are some kind of miraculous super parent!) My wife and I are right in it at the moment. I work from home, and in that home, we house a four-year-old and a six-month-old. We are in the heavy graft years. Needless to say, we are tired, dealing with growing people who are constantly developing, and short of temper.

When my four-year-old will not listen, get dressed, eat his supposedly favourite dinner, leave for school or stop jumping on his brother, it takes all the will I can muster not to scream at him. However, what has really helped recently is returning to my breath. If I have enough reflective energy in a potentially explosive moment, I close my eyes, take five deep and conscious breaths, and return to the situation. Sure, I’m rarely 100% calm when I’m back in the room, but I certainly have much more patience for it than I did mere seconds earlier.

2. Juggling Jobs

I’m a freelance writer, right? This means working for several clients at a time. Also, each client requires writing in a different style or voice, and they tend to have vastly varied opinions as to what is good and what is not (my work, by nature, is subjective to the consumer). Therefore, code-switching is a daily practice for me, and weeks with a lot of different projects can become incredibly overwhelming. The people-pleasing part of my personality can also take a massive hit in these situations. Just sitting where I am sitting (often with rainfall or ocean waves plugged into my ears), and observing my surroundings (its sights, smells, details) is a fantastic way of pulling away from those worries. This meditation often leaves me a little less stressed and more clear-headed when diving back into those workplace expectations.

3. Domestic Worries

My flat needs fixing. My kitchen needs decorating. I need more work. The kids need new shoes. My mum’s coming to stay tomorrow, and we have no clean sheets. The bins need taking out. We need to move house. The emergency service light has come on in the car. I haven’t put that shelf up yet. We don’t have any more cat litter. What am I going to wear to that wedding? Who’s going to take the kids when we are at said wedding?

There’s so much to think about, sent there. Things big. Things small. Things that all need to be addressed, but in what order? When will I have time to simply do nothing?

Essentially, the best way to take all of these things is to slow down, make a priority list, and do them one at a time. Even though I feel as if I have not time, I try to set aside a time at the beginning of the week to lay out a plan (that time usually involves coffee and toast). Also, when I am taking on the tasks, I do my best to focus only on the moment and the task in question, and not to worry about any of the other things on that list!

By Chris Thomson

 

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.