Twists & Turns
It is tempting when there is uncertainty & loss to break out our type-A tool bag, full of all the resources we need to feel control. Lists, planning and re-planning, organizing, you know the drill.
Or maybe you check out and visit fantasy land or sleep it off.
Whether we are aware or not, we all have different coping practices and habits. Mindfulness has become a handy and powerful tool in my workplace. Almost every call I am on starts with one exercise or another.
I focus less on the breathing techniques and more on directing my mind. Almost every time I am led in an exercise, I have a wonderful ah-ha moment that leaves me feeling refreshed, balanced, or that all will be well without my incessant meddling and controlling.
Practice
If you have not participated in a mindfulness exercise before, you may find a video on breathing techniques to be useful. Below, I suggest breathing in for four counts, holding the breath for six counts, and breathing out for four counts.
Start your breath work, inhale for four counts, hold for six counts and exhale for four counts.
While you do a couple of rounds of breathing, align your body for the exercise.
Sit up straight in your chair
Ground your feet on the floor
Rest your hands on your legs
Start to engage your mind as you continue your breathwork.
As you inhale, think of one thing you are stressed about.
Do a body scan. Does anything change when you think about this stress? Your breathing, your expression. Do particular feelings rise?
On the next inhale, think of one thing you look forward to.
Do a body scan. Does anything change when you think about what you look forward to? Your breathing, your expression? Do particular feelings rise?
As you inhale, accept all things as they are.
Good and bad.
Negative and positive.
Hard and easy.
Dreaded and anticipated.
Balanced.
As you breathe out, relax your face, your shoulders, any tension in your body, and calm your mind.
Moving Forward
Approach your day, recognizing that balance comes in many forms. Rather than controlling or escaping the twists and turns of life, we can embrace the balance. Knowing that while we may feel the strain of the pendulum one way today, circumstances can easily flow in another direction at a moment’s notice.