Mindfulness At Work - Daily Office Meditation

At work, stress accumulates throughout the day. We need regular moments to release that stress. Use this meditation with the office door closed and headphones on. Take time for your well-being so you can approach the rest of your day with ease and patience. This is a great meditation for a busy mind and beginners. Taught by Marla, who has been teaching meditation and yoga at work since 2006.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to our mindfulness at work exercise. For the next 10 minutes, You'll be taking a break. So pause right now and get yourself set up so that you can take a break. I'm glad you're back. So if you have any dings that may go off on phones or computers, See if you can silence them. And then create the space that you want to take a break in. You may need to open or close window shades, Open or close doors, Remove your eyeglasses, Adjust your headsets, Fix your sweater, Whatever it is, Maybe even remove your shoes. And then getting into that comfortable place, Begin to soften the eyes. Let the gaze fall from the screen down to the desk, Down to the floor, And let the eyes close effortlessly. If you're unable to close the eyes without effort, Then squeeze the eyes shut and relax. Squeeze the eyes and relax. And if you're feeling any other sort of tension in the face, That doesn't allow you to close the eyes, Tense all the muscles of the face, Imagining you're bringing them all to one dot in the middle of the face, And release. And letting the eyes close, See if you can soften the body about 10%. Ask yourself what you need. Do you need to lay back in the chair? Do you need to extend the legs? Do you need to drop the hands into the lap? And then noticing here, With the eyes closed, The first thing you're aware of. Are you aware of the sensations in the body? Are you aware of talking in the distance? Are you aware of the smell of the environment? That's only what you're aware of. And then shift the attention to one sound. Notice the pitch, The tone of this sound. Notice the direction in relation to your body. Notice if the sound moves or it remains still. Is the sound constant or does it start and stop? Describe the sound further. And then notice if there's thoughts about this sound. Do you like it or not like it? Are you trying to figure out what it is? And then shift attention to the body. And bring attention to one sensation in the body. And this may be a place in the body where you're experiencing pain or discomfort. Because it's natural to move attention to where the body hurts. As you explore this sensation, Label it, Describe it. Imagine you're a scientist making unbiased observations. Is it dense, Heavy, Is it tingly, Is it light, Is it surface, Is it deep? And then notice thoughts that are happening about this sensation. Is there liking or disliking? Is there judging, Good or bad? Is there asking why, How? And then shift attention to a more neutral sensation. So just feeling here the feet on the ground. If the feet are at shoes, Feeling the connection of the foot to the shoe. And then the weight of the shoe on the ground. If you're unable to connect with that sensation, Wiggle the toes around. Press the feet into the ground. And notice how that shifts attention. The exercise we're doing today is moving the attention from part to part. Knowing what the mind is doing while it's doing it. And now shifting the attention to breathing. What is it like to breathe this breath? Do you notice the sensation in the nostrils? Are you on an inhalation or an exhalation? Does the breath feel deep or does it feel shallow? And then here in an effort to slow down our nervous system, To release some stress, We're going to actually exhale just a little bit longer. So breathe in naturally and as you exhale, Press out the breath just a little bit more. Relax the belly, Allow the inhalation to be natural. And exhaling, Pull in the belly, Pressing out just a little more breath. Inhaling, Relax the belly, Let the chest expand. And exhaling, Pressing out the breath. And as we let this practice go, Ask yourself, How do I feel? If you need a few more minutes to continue breathing consciously, Go ahead and do it. I suggest doing 10 more breaths, Counting down from 10 to 1. Fully paying attention all the way from the inhalation to the exhalation continuously. And if it's the best time to stop the practice, Then once again, Come back to the feeling of the body in the seat. Sitting up just a little bit straighter. Gently opening the eyes and expanding the view to take in the whole room. Noticing colors and shapes. Noticing objects. And then noticing thoughts you may have. I want to thank you for practicing with me. Have a wonderful day.