Mindfulness at work – a positive mental health strategy

Jennifer Koh

October 18, 2017

SHARE THIS PAGE

I remember the day clearly. It was a snowy Monday morning, and I arrived at work only to learn that the company was being re-structured and the project I was working was cancelled due to budget constraints. Our team was given two weeks’ notice to leave.

As the words fell on my ears, my heart began pounding against my ribcage and my eyes glazed over. As a single immigrant mother of two young boys, things were, shall we say, a bit uncertain.

Fortunately, over the years I had learned some good mindfulness and breathing techniques which I continued to practice daily. I knew that now was a good time to use them to manage my mind and emotions. I went back to my desk, sat down, closed my eyes, and took several deep breaths in and out-my awareness on my breath only.

Those few simple minutes of awareness and slowing down my breath, saved me from a whole range of emotions. Later, it also helped me to see the situation from a more positive perspective.

Mindfulness is a mental state

So what is mindfulness? Very simply, it’s a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, often accepting and acknowledging one's bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Through mindfulness and breathing techniques, we can actually influence our emotions which often control us.

Emotions and breathing are closely connected

Emma Seppala Ph.D., Science Director at Stanford University, and a workplace wellbeing researcher, explains:

"One of the reasons why breathing can change how we feel is that emotions and breathing are closely connected.”

In her article, Breathing: the little known secret to peace of mind, Seppala discusses a research study by Pierre Phillipot. The study showed, that different emotional states are associated with certain breathing patterns. During the study, when the participants felt anxious or afraid, they breathed more quickly and shallowly, and when they felt happy, they breathed slowly and fully.

Try this simple mindfulness technique

This technique is by far one of the simplest mindfulness practices I know. Try out it the next time you need to manage your mind and emotions.

At your desk, sit with your back straight, feet firmly on the ground and your hands on your knees.
Close your eyes and bring awareness to your breath. That’s all, just your breath.
Notice the pace of your breath.
Take a deep breath in through your nose, noticing how it fills your lungs and the temperature and texture as it passes through your nostrils.
Hold the breath for a second, before slowly breathing out through your nostrils. Again notice the sensations of the out-breath.
Continue to repeat this sequence, for 5 minutes initially.
When you feel comfortable, you can increase the length of time to 10, 15 or 20 minutes.