Mindful shedding

It’s World Mental Health Day this week (October 10th). I’ve been having a lot of conversations with professionals recently who are noticing the alarming growth rate of burnout and stress. Please take a moment for yourself today, and I hope the below brings a new idea to help.

Before my mum retired, she was a nurse. She worked in the radiology department, often assisting patients who had to undergo pretty invasive procedures. Patients would be anxious, nervous, agitated, embarrassed. It was her job to help calm them down before the necessary procedure.

The job came with an enormous amount of stress. She had to be there for each and every patient, and they never stopped coming in.

That stress would get to her. She would almost absorb it from those she was trying to help. We can all probably relate to some extent - we’ve picked up on other people’s energy levels. It can be energizing when the other person is in a great place, but it can be equally draining when they are in a terrible mood, stressed and anxious.

And, at the end of each long day, my mum would have to go home and try to forget it all.

But that’s not easy to do.

So she had a tool that she used. She called it ‘shedding’. When leaving the hospital, she would sit in her car and, before even turning the engine on, she would close her eyes and focus on her breathing. Just her and her breath, in and out through the nose, focusing on where the breath was going - her stomach, chest or throat.

This is called mindful breathing.

This allowed her to be utterly present. She wasn’t thinking about the day just finished, and she wasn’t thinking about the night to come. She was thinking about her breath.

And that allowed her to create the space between work and her home life. It was a way to mentally let go of the last 8 hours as a nurse, and then find a way to return home and go back to being a wife, mum, friend, neighbour etc.

That moment of mindfulness gave her the best chance of being the best version of herself.

This shedding exercise is another perfect example of building resilience. When we can let go of all that is swirling around us and find a moment of pause, we let things wash away, and our new focus becomes on the way forward.

Applying in today’s business world.

I’m sure we can all remember a time when we’ve been on a call with someone and the meeting didn’t go well - perhaps there was some frustration, some angst, some tension. But the hour is up and another Zoom meeting awaits. We end up leaving that call and then jumping immediately into the next call.

Sound familiar?

However, what happens is that we bring all of that tension and angst to the next call. Our colleagues on that new call don’t have a chance. We’ve allowed the stress and pressure from a previous conversation to linger and affect us….and now we’re affecting others.

More stress.

However, if we stop for a moment or two, perhaps just one minute, we can also practice this mindful breathing shedding exercise. We just need to take 5 big breaths (it takes about 60 seconds) and focus on where we are feeling that breath - do we feel it in our chest, our stomach, our throat, or even somewhere else? Wherever it is, it will shift our mind away from the annoying conversation we just had, and allow us to enter the next conversation with less stress and a freshness of mind.

It sounds so simple, but that’s why we can all try it. If it can work for a mentally exhausted nurse at the end of her day, it can work for us professionals.

Give it a go. Shed that sh*t!

I teach workplaces and individuals the strategies we all need to improve our mindset, mental health, and well being. These are preventative ideas and practical tools, so that we can thrive when obstacles come our way. Book a discovery call today.

Until next time friends, stay resilient!

Carre @ Resilient Marketing Minds