- Nina Fischer
Three Benefits Of Including Meditation In Your Work-From-Home Routine
(Guest post by Susie Hemsted)
2020 has been a monumental year, with employees sent home and asked to do a 180 pivot on how they structure their workday. No longer are there face to face meetings, team community connection or having a quick natter while your 11am tea brews.
Employees, employers, digital nomads and entrepreneurs have been confined to their home office (or their breakfast bar) as the nation has been told to ‘work from home’ and because of this Groundhog Day routine, it’s more important than ever to start every day with energy and inspiration, whilst also taking snippets out from the day to ground and reconnect.
As a Meditation Teacher, I could talk until the cows come home (or perhaps they are currently isolating too?) about the benefits of meditation, but I know how precious your time is, so I’ve condensed it down to my Top 3.
Ok, let’s jump in….
1. Meditation Soothes Your Nervous System
Ok a short science lesson…stick with me as this is important.
All humans have an autonomic nervous system, which is split into two divisions:
1. Sympathetic Nervous System
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System
When the body is perceiving danger, the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for the “fight or flight” response during any potential danger. As humans we have evolved to protect ourselves when living in the wild, with our tribes. For example, when a tiger approached, the sympathetic nervous system would switch on
and we would either...
fight the tiger
or
run and take flight.
In the world we live in today, there aren’t many real tigers to deal with, but there are many other perceived situations of threat, that still cause a fight/flight response and many of these can show up in our working life, e.g. an angry boss, a scary presentation or meeting we have to host, fear of losing our job…etc. This means that for a high % of your working day is dominated by your sympathetic nervous system.
We need to communicate to our bodies that we are safe. When we feel safe we drop into the parasympathetic nervous system. This stops the body from overworking and restores it to a calm and composed state. In this place we are focused, creative and do our best work!
Meditation is the fastest route to get us into the parasympathetic system.
2. Meditation Improves Your Cognitive Performance
Did you know that mediation can boost your brains working capacity?
Studies have shown that meditators perform 10 x better than non-meditators on cognitive skill tests. This could be because meditation increases grey-matter density in the areas of the brain associated with learning, memory, self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. This means a big boost in focus and productivity, an increase in mental strength and improved emotional intelligence.
Meditation in the morning is going to perfectly prep your brain to work with less effort and get better results during the day. Yes, it’s like a superpower!
And you know what getting more work done with better results also means….longer lunch breaks to relax/play with loved ones/exercise AND because of the boost in productivity you’ll find that you can confidently shutdown your computer at the end of the day, with a smile and no late night peeking.
3. Meditation Boosts Your Overall Mood
The start of the day sets the tone for the day and meditation will allow you the space to:
Process thoughts that are fuzzing up your mind. You wash your body every morning to prepare for the day?Well the mind needs the same thing - a mental shower to process & wash out all unnecessary thoughts.
Practise gratitude. Did you know that gratitude is the emotion with the highest energetic frequency. In short, this means that when we feel grateful we operate from a ‘high vibes’ state. Trust me, your boss, co-workers and clients will notice it!
Focus on the breath. When you breathe slow deep breaths, signals are sent to the body that you are safe. This soothes the nervous system (as we discussed earlier) and makes you feel calm and centred so you can fully own your workday.
I hope that these meditation benefits give you the motivation you need to take a few minutes each day to sit still, get quiet and focus on the breath.
The future you will thank you later!
Susie Hemsted is an ex-corporate warrior, turned wellness practitioner, who in 2015 traded her secure 9-5, for her yoga mat. After leaving the corporate world, she trained as a yoga teacher and moved ‘down under’ for a 5-year stint in the wellness hub of Sydney, Australia.
Susie’s passion is supporting her students to connect with their body, mind and soul & guiding them to a place where they feel refreshed, balanced and ready to take on the world (or maybe just tackle that full inbox!)
Off the mat, you’ll probably find her socialising with friends & sipping on ice cold G&T. Just don’t tell her guru.
Not sure where to start? Susie has some tools to support you at the start of your journey:
Want to know what meditation style is perfect for your personality? Take the meditation quiz here
Visit Susie at…
@susiehemsted
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