Six Mindfulness Practices for Work Stress
How do you tend to deal with work stress?
We’ve all felt stress at work. Whether it’s dealing with difficult customers or coworkers, overwhelming expectations from managers, concerns about job security, financial pressures, physically demanding work, or something else, work is a major source of stress.
The problem with work stress is that it doesn’t stay at work. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), “83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress and 54% of workers report that work stress affects their home life.”
Chronic stress doesn’t feel good, and it also isn’t good for your health. Stress can lead to anxiety, depression, substance abuse, chronic disease, and interpersonal problems, among other things. This is why it’s so important to find ways to cope with stress and lower your stress level! This is where mindfulness can come in.
How mindfulness can help with work stress
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware of the present moment, without judgment.
Mindfulness has many benefits that can be helpful when you’re stressed at work. Mindfulness can help you more easily notice your thoughts and be aware of what’s coming up for you before your stress response steps in. It can also help you learn how to pause before reacting, which can help reduce conflict and misunderstandings at work.
Mindfulness for work stress can help you:
Lower your stress level
Improve your listening skills
Protect against burnout
Feel more able to concentrate on work
Increase productivity
Encourage connection and cooperation
Feel more satisfied with your job
We all experience stress at work from time to time, but it can be hard to navigate how to react in the moment. Here are some mindfulness practices to try the next time you’re stressed at work:
Body scan
In moments where you're stressed, a body scan exercise may be helpful. To do this, find a comfortable position (ideally seated or laying down, but you can do this standing, too) and take a few deep, steady breaths to center yourself. Then, starting from the top of your head and working your way down, notice what you can about each different section of your body.
Try to avoid judging yourself or trying to change what you’re noticing - you’re just observing, like you would watch clouds pass by in the sky. When you’ve mentally scanned your whole body, notice how you feel and whether your stress level has gone down.
5 senses exercise
Our senses are a great way to connect to the present moment, which is the key of mindfulness. To do this exercise, get in a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths to center yourself. Then, begin to notice what’s going on around you, using your 5 senses as a guide. As you observe your surroundings, name to yourself:
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can touch
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
Progressive muscle relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation is an exercise that is very similar to a body scan, but instead of simply noticing what’s going on in each section of your body, you’ll tense and relax each section as you scan down your body. This can be especially helpful when you’re feeling physically tense, as you can actively flex and relax your muscles instead of staying tense.
Box breathing
Focusing on your breath is a fantastic way to slow down. It’s easy for our breathing to get carried away and become too fast, which can be a signal of stress to our bodies. The next time you’re overwhelmed at work and notice yourself breathing too quickly, try box breathing to slow down and reconnect to the present moment.
Box breathing is an exercise where you inhale then hold your breath, then exhale and hold your breath, all for the same amount of time. For example:
Breathe in for a count of 5
Hold the inhale for a count of 5
Breathe out for a count of 5
Hold the exhale for a count of 5
Loving-kindness meditation
Loving-kindness meditation is a meditation practice that helps you both send love and understanding to yourself and to others around you. This practice can be particularly helpful if you’re dealing with interpersonal conflict at work.
To start, get into a comfortable position and take some deep breaths to ground yourself. Then, focus on sending loving and kindness to yourself. You can repeat phrases to yourself like “May I be happy,” or “May I be at peace,” -whatever feels right to say. Notice how you feel afterward.
Then, once you’ve sent those good vibes to yourself, imagine someone you care about deeply and send the loving-kindness vibes to them. Repeat your phrases, but make them about this other person - “May they be happy,” “May they be at peace.” Notice how you feel afterward.
Next, think about someone you don’t know well, like an acquaintance. Send the loving-kindness energy to them in your mind. Repeat your phrases again about this person. Notice how you feel afterward.
Finally, think about someone you don’t get along with well. Maybe it’s a family member, maybe it’s an annoying coworker. Once more, send the loving-kindness energy to them in your mind, and repeat your phrases, but about this person. Notice how you feel afterward.
Walking meditation
Sometimes movement can help you focus more effectively on the present moment. If you’re able to go for a walk on your break, do it! Try leaving your headphones behind and focusing on the scenery around you as you walk. What do you notice? What do you feel? Try to withhold judgment on your observations and just focus on what’s around you.
If a self-guided walking meditation isn’t the right fit for you, there are many mindfulness based apps that have guided meditations, including walking meditations, that you can choose from to get started.
Other ways to support mindfulness at work:
Adjust your notification settings so you aren’t disturbed with every new message
Avoid multitasking and focus on a single task at a time
Work on being kinder and less judgmental toward yourself when you make mistakes or are frustrated
Keep a running gratitude list when for when you notice positive things
Try to keep your workspace tidy to avoid distractions
Give yourself breaks between tasks to recharge
Work stress is often out of our control - but our reaction to it is not
When we feel stress at work, it’s often for reasons that are out of our control. Keep in mind that mindfulness is a coping skill to use in stressful moments, but it is not a cure for the root cause of your stress. Sometimes, work stress can’t be treated only on your end - solutions need to come from your employer as well. Working with a therapist can help you find more ways to navigate work stress in addition to mindfulness practices.
