May 2021, how has it been for you? Exciting with the release of restrictions? Anxiety inducing with the continued lack of certainty around the future or maybe due to thoughts about going back into the office? Maybe you have been able to see some more people or maybe you are still frustrated by the regulations around foreign travel and so many things. Possibly some of all of these things.
We have had sunshine and showers and torrential downpours and hail. For many of us the external world has reflected our internal world. There have probably been some highs and some lows. There always are but this year those normal highs and lows are often intensified by Covid, the threat of illness, the lack of control over our lives and the uncertainty about how our futures will look.
Some people are excited about going back into the office, others are dreading it. It can be helpful to take a moment to ask yourself how you are really feeling and to give a name to that emotion, or to all the emotions. Being honest with ourselves about how we really feel can be helpful in moving towards feeling better.
This month I have been busy giving mindfulness training sessions in the workplace for Mental Health Awareness Week. Each time I teach, I offer everyone the chance to email me individually to put down in writing what they would like to change. I am interested in what we can do to bring about real change in our lives. We all generally have the intention to change for the better, but what determines whether we actually do it?
To make change possible, we have to make very, very small steps in the right direction. We have to make it manageable. That means making it personal, because what is manageable to one person is not manageable to the next. The more I teach mindfulness, the more I am able to support people with this.
How can Mindfulness Help?
First we need to be honest with ourselves though about how we feel and what we would like to change. There are some themes here which are common to many of us. Most people are telling me that working from home has meant that they feel less able to switch off from work in the evenings and at night. Mindfulness and meditation can be immediately useful for this.
Both mindfulness and meditation enable us to increase our ability to focus and also to be aware of what is going on in our minds. Meditation allows us a few minutes each day to focus on this alone. Mindfulness practices give us the chance to put this into action in every life. The combination of these two things in what enables us to develop the ability to focus better both at home and at work. We become more able to manage distractions, whether those are external, like your emails pinging, or internal, like your mind whirring at 3 am. I once had someone come up to me at the end of an introduction session and ask very firmly, “Will this help me sleep? I’ve tried everything”.
A few minutes of mindfulness and meditation a day can make a profound difference in how your mind works. It can help you to switch off from these thoughts when you are with your family, or trying to get back to sleep. It can increase your ability to deal with stress and anxiety around the return to work, or the uncertainty of the ending of restrictions.
However for it to work, you have to practice. The same way that thinking about going to the gym, or going for a run, doesn’t make you fitter - you need to actually go there and do it. Most people benefit from support when it comes to going to the gym, going for a run, or starting a mindfulness practice. Only in committing some time on a regular basis do we see results.
The results that I have seen lately in my clients include managing to focus on one task at a time so they stay on track at work, managing to deal with conflicting priorities without getting stressed, managing to get out for a run and managing the stress of work to the point that they are able to stay in the job, rather than walking out. Sometimes I bump into the man who asked if it would help him sleep, and he tells me that he is still sleeping, and still staying asleep.
Change is possible, we just have to make the first small step. I will help you make that step. Tell me what you want to change and I will help you to make it happen contact@pennymetcalf.com