Give Yourself a Break

During your workday its easy to forget about getting things done for ourselves. We lose our thoughts and clarity as tasks and conversations pile up. We need to take a moment to stop and get grounded.

This exercise is simple and can take as little as, you guessed it, 20 minutes.

Sometime during your day stand up from your desk, leave your technology behind, and walk. If you work near a quiet green space head over there to get away from the hustle and bustle, but even among traffic and crowds this meditation is great.

Once you are outside (again, without technology) slow your walking pace to a stroll – or sit – and pick a single point of focus. This point of focus could be sounds, motion, your breathing. Anything will work but some will be harder than others in certain scenarios. For instance, if you are walking in crowds focusing on motion around you might be difficult because of it’s abundance, but with practice even this can work.

The key, like any mediation practice, is to try to focus on that single thing. When your mind strays into other thought, bring it back around to what you have chosen to pay attention to.

By picking one thing to focus your concentration on you are practicing your awareness of what’s around. You will be amazed by what you can hear in what might normally be considered a silent forest, or by how much motion there is among the trees and grasses on what seems like a still day.

Take that 20 minutes to excuse yourself from distractions and worry. Your sense of calm when you jump back into the fray can really help get you through the rest of your day.

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