Take a Mindful pause when Stressed
Most of us lead hectic lives. We fling ourselves from one chore to the other, and our minds, not to be left behind, constantly changes its focus. At the end of the day, this constant shuffling drains us of energy. It will be greatly beneficial if we pause for a while every two hours or so and take stock of how we feel and what we are doing.
Mindful Pause technique will significantly increase our awareness and make us take more conscious decisions. Not only that, if we are in a bad mood, this exercise could help bring focus to our bad moods and help tide over them.
How to practice ‘Mindful pause’…
1. Every two hours or so, stop what you are doing. Make sure that you stop each and every activity you are doing. If you are feeling overtly stressful or anxious, you can immediately stop the activity you are doing and do this exercise. Do not let yourself be disturbed by phone calls and text messages.
2. Practice Sine Wave Breathing for couple of times. Then, start breathing naturally. Bring your focus on your incoming breath and the outgoing one. Try focusing on your breath for some time.
3. Shift the awareness. Once you are through with the focus on your breath, shift your awareness to your body.
4. Watch for Body tension. Check whether you have tension in any part of your body. In case, you encounter tension in any part of the body, focus on it. Softly tell yourself to remove the tension and visualize yourself as having no bodily tension at all.
5. Watch the Emotions. Slowly, shift your awareness to your emotions. Focus on how you are feeling at the moment.
6. Don’t judge thyself. Don’t judge yourself just because you are having an unpleasant mood.
7. Plan for the next 2-Hours. Think of what you will do in the next few hours. Reiterate that you will face the next few hours with joy and smile.
8. Resume your work. Bring back your focus slowly on your breath and slowly resume your work.
9. Just continue to BREATHE. If you get distracted during the session, take a few deep breaths and resume from where you had stopped.