Chapter 4

Practising Mindfulness Day to Day

In This Chapter

Using mindfulness to set up your day

Taking a mindful approach to travel

Discovering the benefits of mindful pauses

Rounding up your day with a spot of mindfulness

In this chapter, you discover a whole host of different ways in which to be mindful. Best of all, many of the exercises we cover are short and easy to implement in the workplace. Here you find ways to just stop and be mindful as well as exercises that you can do while you’re working. That way you don’t use up too much time and yet still train your brain to work with greater focus, intelligence and creativity as your mindful awareness naturally grows.

Think of day-to-day mindfulness like interval training. In interval training, popular with fitness coaches, you do a burst of activity followed by a rest. These short bursts of exercise help to boost your cardiovascular health. In the same way, we encourage you to intersperse your working day with short mindful breaks. When you practise mindfulness regularly in this way, you start working and interacting with higher levels of awareness throughout the day.

Figure 4-1 compares the benefits of doing just one long mindfulness exercise a day to interval working with mindfulness in which you do mini-mindfulness exercises throughout the day. As you can see, the interval mindfulness helps to maintain your mindful awareness throughout the day, whereas doing just one mindful exercise in the morning is great, but can diminish as the day goes on.

As always, balance is the secret to success. Combining one longer period of mindfulness with short mindful exercises throughout the day makes you a mindfulness-at-work superstar!

Starting the Day Mindfully

The way you start your morning often sets the tone for the rest of your day. If you make a positive start with a short mindful exercise, you’re off to a conscious, perhaps calmer start. You’re then more likely to be able to maintain mindful awareness throughout the day.

Waking up too late every day, not stopping even for a moment to be in the present, makes your life more difficult. Rushing releases a burst of adrenaline into your bloodstream, narrowing your brain’s attentional resources. You’re much more likely to see others as annoying threats to your goal of getting to work on time – little mindfulness is evident in that state of mind. You’re then probably running on automatic for most of the day, having used up a lot of your energy just getting to work and, before you know it, the day has ended and you’re feeling shattered. If this scenario sounds familiar, don’t worry. Discover a different way of starting your day in this section.

Making time for mindfulness

Consider setting aside a period every morning for ‘quiet time’. This period can be your ‘me time’. If you’re a busy mum looking after your children all day or a stressed-out executive with lots of responsibilities, you may rarely make time for yourself. But having some quiet time just for you is a great boost to your energy, well-being, self-confidence and sanity. You can use this time to practise the mindfulness exercises in this book!

By choosing to make time for yourself to be mindful, you’re sending a positive message to yourself. You’re saying that you’re just as deserving of rest and recuperation as anyone else. You see the importance of looking after yourself so that you can work effectively and give to others. If you think that you’re too busy to set aside time for daily mindfulness, or even some other way to recharge, you’re implying that you can give, give and give more without recharging yourself. Unfortunately, that’s just not possible. Just as your body needs to sleep each night to function most effectively during the day, so your mind needs some form of rest to revitalise it. Mindfulness offers one way to do so.

I’ve (Shamash) been practising mindfulness pretty much every morning since I discovered the approach in 1998. I’ve lapsed for short periods over that time but then realised what I was missing. I’m grateful for those lapses because they made me realise just how easy it is to slip out of the habit.

I generally practise soon after I wake up. I choose from Mindfulness of Breath, Mindful Sitting, Mindful Self-compassion or Mindful Body Scan or I listen to a guided mindfulness practice. I don’t like to be too rigid and I make up my mind up each morning regarding what practice I do.

Most people ask how long their daily mindfulness practice should last. I usually answer by asking: how much time are you willing to invest in mindfulness? Any length of time practising mindfulness is better than none at all. And most research suggests that the more time you can put in, the better. So, you decide. If you’re willing to invest five minutes a day doing mindfulness, then five minute it is. If you’re happy to practise 20 minutes of mindfulness every morning and evening, then go for that.

I met a friend last night who practises seven seconds of mindfulness every 20 minutes, and he loves it! An alarm goes off on his phone every 20 minutes and he stops to feel his body on the chair, look up and around the room rather than just his screen, takes one deep breath and then he’s ready to get back to work. Experiment to see what works for you.

Consider saving up money for retirement. Some people save £50 a month and others save £1,000 a month. The amount you save is different depending on how much you want at the end, how much you can afford and how much money you think you need. Practising mindfulness is like putting money into the bank account of your own brain. The more time, enthusiasm and self-compassion that you put into your practice, the more you create a more mindful, happy, friendly, productive and creative brain. Start your mindfulness bank account today!

Here’s a morning mindful exercise that includes many of the mindfulness techniques in one. Give it a try and, if you like it, begin your day with this exercise.

1. Do whatever you need to do to ensure that you feel awake and ready to practise mindfulness. Perhaps a stretch, a shower or a cup of tea.
2. Sit or lie down wherever you feel comfortable. You can use a chair, sofa, meditation cushion or your bed. Maybe you can sit outside if you’re lucky enough to have a balcony or garden and some nice weather!
3. Set your intention to practise mindfulness as best you can. Remember why you’re practising – to benefit yourself, others you spend time with or perhaps just for the sake of itself.
4. Set your mindful attitudes: to practise with patience, acceptance and self-friendliness rather than self-criticism. Bear in mind that your mind will wander; each time it does so, gently guide your attention back to whatever you’re focusing on.
5. Begin this exercise with deep, mindful breaths. Feel your breathing each time you fill up your lungs, and breathe out slowly and smoothly. Notice what effects these deep breaths have on your body and feelings. The slower you can breathe out, the better. Slow outbreaths automatically balance your autonomic nervous system.
6. Allow your breathing to find its natural rhythm. Feel the sensation of your breathing wherever you can – around your nose, in your chest or your belly. Feel each in- and out-breath.
7. Scan your body, starting with your head and moving down. Feel the physical sensations in each body part non-judgementally: your neck, shoulders, arms and hands; your upper and lower torso; your hips, pelvis and buttocks; your upper and lower legs; and finally your feet.
8. Open up your attention to notice the sensations in your body as a whole.
9. Open your attention further still, and take in any sounds that you can hear. Listen to sounds without the need to label or identify the source – just notice volume and pitch, as if listening to music.
10. Turn your attention inwards to your thoughts. Watch and step back from your thoughts. Imagine placing each thought on a cloud and watching the thought clouds float by.
11. Notice how you feel emotionally. In particular, see whether you can feel an emotion in a particular part of your body. Imagine feeling that sensation together with your breathing.
12. Finish with a compassion exercise. Say the following words to yourself: ‘May I be well, may I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be free of suffering.’ Say them a few times, really appreciating their meaning and allowing the words to be felt in your heart area. Then send that compassion out to your family, friends, work colleagues and all others, including yourself: ‘May we be well, may we be happy, may we be healthy, may we be free of suffering.’
13. Acknowledge and congratulate yourself on your efforts to practise mindfulness this morning. Your effort benefits not only yourself but also all those with whom you come into contact throughout the day.

Integrating mindfulness into your morning routine

Humans are creatures of habit. We love our routines. When I (Shamash) was training to be a schoolteacher, our tutor told us how much children love routines; they make them feel safe and secure. When I taught my science classes, I started with a mindful pause, took the register, went over homework, taught the pupils something new, did a fun exercise and finished with a mindful pause again. The children knew where they stood, and the process made my life easier too. If you follow a mindful morning routine, you too may feel safer and more energised and grounded.

As routines are so easy for humans to tune into, why not make mindfulness part of your daily morning routine? In this way, mindfulness becomes second nature. Just as you automatically brush your teeth, have a shower or prepare your coffee, you can also practise your mindfulness routine. Then, if you’re not mindful when getting ready for the day, you feel that something’s missing – a bit like not brushing your teeth.

Below is an example of a mindful morning routine. Feel free to adjust it depending on your lifestyle, responsibilities and preferences.

• 5:30 a.m. – You wake up naturally. You used to need an alarm clock, but because you now go to bed at a reasonable time, you wake up on time too. You therefore wake up after a good night’s sleep. You begin the day with a few mindful breaths and a smile as you prepare to get up.
• 5:31 a.m. – You have a short morning stretch, perhaps do a few mindful yoga exercises and then go downstairs to prepare yourself a cup of tea. You listen to the sound of the kettle boiling and notice the steam rising. You begin reflecting on all the aspects of your life that you’re grateful for. You enjoy the sound of water filling your mug of lemon and ginger tea.
• 5:45 a.m. – You sit down facing your garden and spend a few minutes looking out of the window and sipping your tea. You then practise a mindfulness exercise for 10 minutes. You finish by describing your experience in your journal and noting three things you’re grateful for in your life.
• 6:00 a.m. – You wake up the children to let them know it’s time to get ready for school. They’re a bit groggy but you’ve more patience since you started practising mindfulness. They know the routine and before too long they’re dressed and ready to go. Your partner helps to get them prepared for school. You remember how grateful you are to have such lovely children.
• 7:00 a.m. – You have breakfast together as a family. Before eating, your youngest child says, ‘Let’s mindfully pause’ and you all take three mindful breaths together. You eat and talk about the day to come and everyone shares how they’re feeling and what’s on their mind. As best you can, you eat with mindful awareness. You remind your children to look for the good things in the day, so you can share them that evening.
• 7:30 a.m. – You all leave the house together. You’ve enough time to travel mindfully to work.

We know this scenario may sound hopelessly optimistic. The purpose of this description is to help you find one or two ideas that you can implement in your life. Begin with where you are at the moment. Try going to bed a little earlier and waking up a bit earlier. Spend a few moments deliberately thinking about what’s going well in your life as a positive way to start the day.

Travelling Mindfully

A Gallup poll of over 170,000 people revealed that commuting to work is the least enjoyable of daily activities. Longer commutes are correlated with higher divorce rates, obesity, decreased exercise and higher consumption of fast foods. A third of those with journeys of over 90 minutes had chronic neck or back pain issues. But, if you’ve a long commute, don’t despair!

The findings above suggest that identifying ways to make travel more mindful can have a significant effect on people’s health, happiness, relationships, productivity and work success. Use this section to make travelling more tolerable, and perhaps even fun!

Driving with intent

Imagine waking up on a beautiful Sunday morning. You don’t need to go to work. After getting ready, you decide to drive to your favourite park on the other side of town. You get into your car and, as you’re in no hurry, take a few mindful breaths before setting off. On your way to the park, the driver in front of you is a learner. She’s driving at the speed limit, which is fine. Eventually the learner turns off into a side street. You smile and remember how difficult you found learning to drive at first; you hope that the driver passes her test. You keep driving and see the traffic light in front of you change from green to amber. You gently bring your car to a stop, wind your window down and gaze at the sky. Further up, as you get close to the park, a ball flies in front of your car. You brake and a few seconds later a small child comes running after the ball. You think, ‘Lucky I was alert and braked in time.’ You’re a bit flustered, but soon compose yourself. You park and enjoy your time walking in the park.

Now consider a really different scenario. You jump into your car, already late for work. You turn your radio up to help you wake up and speed your way down the street. A learner driver turns up in front of you. You think, ‘That’s typical. Hurry up!’ You start beeping your horn because she’s driving so slowly. The learner driver stalls her car because you’ve made her panic, and now you’re delayed even further. You curse under your breath and breathe a sign of relief as the learner turns off into a side street. You spot an amber light and respond by accelerating. A speed camera flashes and you think, ‘Great! Another ticket.’ You decide to call work to let your boss know you’re a bit late, and start fumbling with your phone as you speed down another street, past the park. A ball bounces in front of your car, which you don’t notice … You can imagine how this scenario ends. Driving in this kind of rushed, unmindful way is both dangerous and illegal. But driving in this way is also common – the threat of being late for work makes people take far too many risks in relation to the small reward of arriving a few minutes earlier at work.

Here are a few tips for making your car journeys more mindful:

• Start the journey with mindfulness. By grounding yourself with a mindfulness practice, you set the tone for your journey. You can feel the sensations in your body for a minute, take three full deep mindful breaths or just set the intention to drive with full, mindful awareness, knowing that the vehicle you control isn’t a toy but potentially life-threatening if handled without due care and attention.
• Keep to the speed limit. Even if the road is empty and you think that you can safely drive faster, don’t. The discipline of sticking to the speed limit makes you more conscious of what you’re doing. If you always drive over the speed limit, start changing your behaviour on your next journey. Driving a little slower than you’re used to means that you’re able to dedicate more of your brain’s resources to driving with mindful awareness.
• Undertake a mindful traffic light exercise. When you notice the traffic light just about to turn red, stop don’t accelerate. Use the time to look at the sky, practise mindfulness or think about how fortunate you are to own a car or to have a job. Being late for work is never an excuse for dangerous driving.
• Expect delays. If you expect to have a clear, straight run to work, and you don’t, you’re bound to feel frustrated. So, instead, expect delays, traffic, learner drivers and more traffic. Then, if you’ve a smooth journey to work, you can be pleasantly surprised rather than frustrated.
• Switch off your phone. Lots of research has demonstrated that using a phone while driving, even if the phone is hands-free, impairs driving ability to the same extent as drinking too much alcohol. Lots of accidents are caused by people who are texting rather than watching the road.
• Be mindful of your surroundings. Mindful driving is about maintaining an open awareness. Look both near and far to help you judge any dangers coming up. See driving as an opportunity to practise mindfulness.
• Breathe. Give full attention to the road ahead while simultaneously focusing on the feeling of your breathing. Doing so helps you to be completely alert and in the present moment.
• End mindfully. When you arrive at work, finish with another little mindful exercise, such as mindfulness of breath, mindfulness of sounds, or mindfulness of your body. Continue this process by walking with mindful awareness to your workplace rather than zoning out.

Listen to Track 1 of the audio downloads accompanying this book (go to www.dummies.com/go/mindfulnessatworkuk to download them). This track is designed to enhance your awareness and thus improve your driving. Try listening to the track once before using it in the car, though; if you find it distracting, don’t use it. You may need to burn the track onto a CD to use in your car, unless you’ve got an MP3 player.

Thinking about trains, planes and mindfulness

If your journey to work or your working day itself involves travelling on trains or planes, you may find this section helpful.

Trains

Picture the rush hour in London. On the Underground, commuters race to get on the Tube, nudging each other out of the way, sighing in exasperation if the doors close before they get there and clenching their teeth in frustration as they constantly check the time. But a train comes every couple of minutes – is that really too long to wait? Obviously, if you live in a village and miss the one bus of the day, a sense of frustration is understandable, but you needn’t feel uptight about train travel.

If you commute on the train every day, you can do so mindfully so that you arrive at work focused rather than frazzled.

Here are a few tips to help you be mindful on the train:

• Practise a mindfulness exercise. You can even pop on headphones and practise a guided mindfulness exercise during your journey. If you manage to get a seat on the train, doing so is even easier.
• Expect delays. Don’t expect the service to be perfect. That way you’ll be pleasantly surprised if it goes smoothly and not too frustrated if things go wrong.
• Play the mindful station-to-station game. See whether you can remain mindful from one station to the next. Focus on sounds, physical sensations or count the number of breaths you take. How many times does your mind wander from one station to the next? Have fun with this one.
• Count the sounds. Another game you can play on the train is to notice all the different types of sounds you can hear. You’ll probably be surprised by all the different tones of sound that you normally ignore.
• Pay attention. Notice what’s going on around you on the train. Watch the other passengers; observe the kinds of things they’re doing and what they’re wearing. Try to observe without judging. Most people focus their attention on a book, a newspaper or music. Try something different – open up and look with curiosity at the world around you. Trains are an amazing invention and certainly a lot quicker than walking, so you can remember to be grateful for that too. Notice how excited young children are when they’re travelling by train and try to rustle up some of that enthusiasm yourself from time to time. You may end up having some fascinating conversations with strangers.
• Wish them well. From time to time, when you notice someone getting into your carriage, say in your mind, ‘I wish you happiness’. This thought may be in sharp contrast to the kind of thoughts you normally have on the train but wishing others well engages your compassionate mind and reduces anxiety.

Planes

Several of my (Shamash’s) clients regularly use mindfulness practices when they’re on long-haul flights and swear that they no longer suffer from jet lag.

Sitting in a confined space for hours can be frustrating. If you can’t sleep, what do you do? Practising mindfulness is a great idea in this situation.

You can listen to one of our guided mindfulness exercises through headphones. Or you can simply practise mindfulness of breath. The resultant state of mind is just as restful, if not more so, than sleep. For this reason, we highly recommend that you try these exercises on all flights.

Eating is another opportunity to practise mindfulness on flights. Unfortunately, unless you travel in first class, the meal may not be gourmet standard. But taking your time to choose whether or not you’ll eat the meal, tasting the food, taking time to chew it and deciding when you’re full all require the presence of mind that mindfulness offers. You probably digest the food more efficiently and feel much better afterwards.

Apparently, fear of flying is people’s second-biggest fear after public speaking. If flying makes you anxious, consider these mindful tips to make you more confident in the air:

• Identify your triggers. For some people the trigger is the turbulence; for others, the take-off. Identify the aspect of the flight you’re scared of.
• Familiarise yourself with the noises. You may begin to panic when the wings start flapping about or when you hear a strange noise underneath the plane 10 minutes before landing. If you know that the wings are designed to be flexible in the wind and that the noise you hear before landing is simply the landing gear locking into place, you won’t feel so scared. Research the cause of your fears.
• Sip herbal tea mindfully. Instead of consuming lots of alcohol or caffeine, which makes you feel dehydrated and ultimately more anxious, drink water or herbal tea. Drinking in a mindful way, conscious of the taste and aroma, makes you feel more relaxed and in control. Your attention is on yours senses rather than on worrying.
• Use drugs as a last resort. If you’ve been given medication to manage your anxiety, see whether you can use other mindfulness techniques first. Most drugs have side effects – if you can control your feelings using other approaches, you will be much better off in the long run. (Note: Obviously, your doctor’s advice should take precedence over whatever we suggest.)
• Breathe through your anxiety. If you feel anxious, mindful deep breathing is helpful. Begin by breathing out for as long as you can and then draw a slow, deep breath in. This slow mindful breathing helps to reduce hyperventilation. Focusing fully on the sensation of breathing helps to anchor you in the present so that you cannot ruminate on negative thoughts. The deep breaths make you more relaxed automatically, no matter what you’re thinking.

Walking mindfully

‘Walking is a man's best medicine.’

Hippocrates

Over 2,400 years ago, Hippocrates, considered the father of medicine, proposed the health benefits of walking. Not only is walking a great form of exercise, mindful walking is a superb way of developing mindful awareness. Whenever I (Shamash) run organisational workshops in mindfulness, I always make sure to explain how to do mindful walking. Many of my clients who find sitting still and being mindful impossible to achieve on a daily basis, love to practise mindful walking whenever they can.

Walking took you about a year to master. If you look down at your feet, they’re pretty small compared to the rest of your body (I hope). The ability to balance on two feet isn’t easy and is a skill that took lots of time and effort to master. Walking requires even more skills – passing the weight of your body seamlessly from one foot to another is no mean feat – pardon the pun!

Mindful walking is about being present as you’re walking, rather than letting your mind just aimlessly drift to other thoughts or things you need to do.

You can practise mindful walking in lots of different ways. Here we describe one of the basic methods. It’s Track 2 of the audio downloads you can find at www.dummies.com/go/mindfulnessatworkuk We suggest that you practise this technique slowly at home and then, when you’ve got the hang of it, you can mindfully walk at your normal pace when you’re at work. Try this exercise for five to ten minutes to start with.

1. Begin by setting your intention to walk with mindful awareness. Take a few conscious deep breaths. Intend to be mindful of the sensations in your feet as you walk. If you’re practising at home, you can take off your shoes or even practise barefoot in the garden.
2. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Close your eyes for a few moments if you can balance. Feel the micro-movements in your legs and feet how these constantly keep you upright. Normally your balance is maintained unconsciously. Be aware of how this state of balance is a dynamic process, just as achieving balance in your own life requires constant subtle adjustments.
3. Lean all of your weight onto your left foot. Notice how this weight feels; identify the sensations in different parts of your foot. Now slowly lift your right foot and, being careful to balance, gazing at a fixed point in front of you if necessary, move your right foot forward and place it a few inches in front of you. Feel your right foot as your weight begins to shift onto that foot. Keep transferring your weight onto your right foot until you’re ready to step forward with your left foot. Continue to move in this way, one foot after the other – lifting, moving and placing one foot after the other.
4. Say to yourself ‘lifting, moving, placing’ as you walk. Doing so will help you focus on the moment.
5. Bring your attention back to your feet each time your mind drifts to other thoughts. Be aware of any emotions that you’re feeling too.
6. Congratulate yourself at the end of the mindful walk, however it went. What was important was your intention to be mindful rather than how mindful and focused you actually were.

If you want to expand your experience of mindful walking, you can also be mindful of the following:

• Your muscles: All the different muscles in your legs and body engaging with each step you take.
• Your senses: The sights you see, the sounds you hear, what you smell, the taste in your mouth, the feeling of your body.
• Your thoughts: Notice what thoughts pop into your mind rather than trying to push them out. As best you can, watch without getting involved with the thinking process.
• Your emotions: Be aware of how you’re feeling, where you feel the emotion in your body and how the emotion changes with each breath and step you take.

Be creative in the way you practise mindful walking. Use strategies that work for you – that help you to be mindfully present no matter where you are and how fast or slowly you’re walking. Mindfulness is essentially about awareness, that’s all.

Taking Mindful Pauses

A mindful pause is simply a chance to stop and practise a short mindfulness exercise. People love the short mindful exercises that we offer when we’re running a workshop or coaching session. The thought of a two-minute mindful exercise puts a smile on their faces.

We recommend that you do several short mindful exercises per day rather than one long mindfulness session. We suggest this approach because mindfulness is about being more present and awake in your everyday life – at work and home. If you practise regularly, this result is more likely to happen.

Pausing at your desk

A mindful pause is a great way to start your day at work. If you work at a desk, you can close your eyes and take a mindful pause using the audio files that you can download from www.dummies.com, or you can simply sit with your eyes half open and gaze at your desk. That’s undercover mindfulness – no one needs to know that you practise mindfulness if you don’t want to share it with others! Play Track 3 of the audio downloads available from www.dummies.com/go/mindfulnessatworkuk.

A mindful pause isn’t a relaxation break. Relaxation can often be not only about letting go of muscular tension but also allowing the mind to drift freely. A mindful pause is about gently waking up – noticing thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations rather than tuning them out.

One of the challenges of mindfulness is remembering to practise. Use the following tips to remind you to do a mindful pause:

• Pause between activities. When you’ve finished one job and before starting another, take a mindful pause. For example, after answering lots of emails, take a pause before dealing with phone calls. After a meeting, take a few moments to pause before walking back to your office. After dealing with one customer on the phone, take a few mindful moments before you contact the next one.
• Set a reminder on your phone. You can set three alarms on your phone during the day. Then, each time the alarm goes off, you can do a short mindful pause.
• Use a phone app. Lots of mindfulness apps are available for all sorts of phones. You can set one to remind you to stop and take a breath or two.
• Make an appointment with yourself. If you use a diary, book in a few mindful pauses with yourself. That’s one appointment worth turning up to.
• Be creative. One of our clients puts his mindfulness notes in among a pile of paperwork. When he comes upon the mindfulness notes, he stops to take a mindful minute and notes down his observations on the mindfulness exercise. Consider your work role and how you can creatively remind yourself to take a mindful break or three.

Chapter 7 takes you through the steps of the mindful minute.

Make a record in your journal or phone each time you take a mindful pause. Note down your thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations. Write down what you were doing just before the pause. You may notice interesting patterns emerging. If you find that the mindful pause has a positive effect on your mind state, you can keep using them!

Enjoying water cooler moments

The importance of taking regular breaks is a recurring theme in this chapter. In the past, smokers used to regularly leave the office to enjoy a cigarette. Fewer people smoke nowadays, and you may feel uneasy about taking too many breaks at work. But if you can, do take some time off – even a few minutes every now and then helps.

If your work involves sitting down all day, one nice way to take a mindful break is simply to walk to the water cooler and take a drink. Apart from the obvious benefits of rehydration, which has a surprisingly large effect on the functioning of the brain, spending a few minutes away from your work helps you to take a step back. Just as mindfulness involves stepping back and observing your thoughts and emotions, so taking a break literally means stepping back from all your tasks and duties. The break may remind you to do something important that you forgot, or you may think of a far easier way of dealing with a problem.

Talking to others and socialising helps recharge your brain too. Just a few minutes of chatting can help to dissolve any feelings that feel locked up inside you. A simple joke and smile always helps too.

Finally, a bit of walking every now and then is vital for your body. Recent research suggests that people who spend most of their time sitting have the highest risk of diabetes, heart disease and even premature death. Even if you do 30 minutes of exercise a day, you still need to think about sitting less for the remaining 23.5 hours.

Waking up and smelling the coffee

Another way to take a subtle mindful pause is when you go on your coffee break.

Most people let their minds have free reign and drift. But the problem with allowing this drift too often is that the mind goes to the same old worries and concerns. Tune in rather than out to fully recharge yourself.

Follow these steps:

1. Set aside time for your break so that you can enjoy a mindful drink.
2. Be mindful as you prepare your drink. Listen to the sound of the boiling water, watch the steam, smell the aroma and listen to the sound of water filling your cup.
3. Sit down with your drink and switch off any potential distractions. Choose a location where you’re unlikely to be disturbed.
4. Breathe mindfully. Feel your breath, your body and the cup in your hands.
5. Take a sip of your drink. Feel the warmth of the liquid entering your mouth and going down your throat. Continue to hold the cup and watch the steam rising from it. Feel your breathing from time to time.
6. Notice the tendency to rush or finish. Take your time and let the temptation to rush arise and pass, like any other feeling.
7. Express gratitude when you finish drinking. Show appreciation for this opportunity to practise mindfulness.

If you work in a busy environment, taking this length of time over a drink may not be possible. Modify the exercise in accordance with your needs. Stopping for 60 seconds to really taste your drink can make a big difference to your mindset in that moment.

Ending Your Day Mindfully

Ending your working day with mindfulness helps to set boundaries. You signal to your brain that you’ve now stopped work – you can shift gear from the busy, doing mode to a more mindful being mode.

I (Shamash) had a client who is a head teacher at a school in London. He’d always been highly efficient and able to get through huge amounts of work quickly. Although he felt on top of things, he’d begun to suffer from anxiety. I coached him over the phone and discovered that his main problem was when he got home. He continued running around on doing mode. The strict timetable he followed at school continued at home. He’d think: ‘First I’ll have dinner, then I’ll watch TV for an hour, then I’ll go to the gym. I’ll come home and iron a shirt for tomorrow, then I’ll do X and then I’ll do Y.’ He gave himself no time to just be! I encouraged him to practise a mindfulness exercise at the end of each day so that he can mentally shift gear from doing mode to being mode. After a few weeks, he was better able to relax at home and his behaviour was less rigid. His anxiety began to dissolve.

Managing energy and sleep

I (Shamash) didn’t used to be a productive person, though I worked hard. I worked late into the night, not getting nearly as much done as I could and woke up feeling tired the next day. It was only after I read a book on time management and actually wrote down how much work I did in each hour that I realised how much of my time was being wasted away. The exercise was a real eye-opener. Recording your use of time is an act of mindfulness and we highly recommend it. I’m more productive now, but still plenty to learn I’m sure!

Your productivity is linked to your energy level. Some people are morning people and are most energetic at that time. Others are afternoon or evening people. You may think that you know when your energy peaks in the day, but recording how you use each hour of the day is still a useful process and it takes little time to do.

Most people continue to work late into the evening, which can be a mistake. If you continue to work, your energy won’t be effectively replenished for the next day. Working late actually reduces the amount of work you can achieve rather than increasing productivity. If you want to be successful in whatever work you do, you need to be operating close to peak performance. And peak performance is achievable only if you renew yourself for the optimal period of time.

Creating a boundary between your work and home life is key. Consider practising a mindfulness exercise as soon as you reach home. This signals to your brain that work time is over and you can shift mental gears and begin to relax and rejuvenate. Try to avoid checking your emails in the evening. To become more mindful, you need to set aside time to do something different and reset your brain so you’re recharged for the next day. If you’re checking your work emails at home and just can’t help it, you may be addicted to doing so. This type of addiction is more common than you think. Check out Chapter 8 for more on technology addiction.

Sleep is important. A good night’s sleep has a positive effect on energy level, willpower, general well-being, ability to communicate and focus. Studies suggest that you need 7.5 to 9 hours’ sleep per night to operate at your optimum level. The exact figure varies from one person to the next. By keeping a record of your sleeping pattern, you can see on what days you’re most energetic and how many hours you slept the night before. Mindfulness will probably help you to sleep better, too. And if you can’t sleep, try a mindfulness exercise when you’re in bed. Mindfulness is restful and should help you drift off.

Following a mindful evening routine

Your routine evening activities are a great opportunity to be extra mindful. Following a mindful exercise, you should be more focused as you cook, do the ironing, mow the lawn, vacuum and so on. These household chores are normally thought of as repetitive and boring – mindfulness allows you to see them in a different light.

By adopting a mindful approach to these activities, you’re training your brain to be more focused and centred; even more importantly, you’re better able to savour and enjoy the simple experiences in life. Then, when you arrive at work the next day, your mind continues to be present rather than frantically and excessively ruminating about future scenarios that are highly unlikely to happen and take up unnecessary time and drain energy.

Here’s a list of a few typical evening activities and ways to make them more mindful after a busy day at work:

• Watching television: TV is a passive activity, so rather than watching one programme after another, record what you’re really interested in watching, and watch that at a time that’s right for you. Then you can get up and do something else. If you’re stuck in the habit of watching several hours of television each night, try recording your TV habits – the act of writing them down can help you to shift the habit.
• Cooking: Cooking is a great opportunity to practise mindfulness. Connect with your senses as you cook. Prepare the meal with love and attention rather than just focusing on speed. You’ll enjoy the process more.
• Eating: Really notice and appreciate every element of your meal. Use all of your senses to enhance the experience.
• Talking with your partner: Notice what you discuss. Is it always about work? Is it mostly negative or positive? Do you surf the net or watch television as you talk. Try looking at your partner in the eye a bit more than usual and see what happens! Be grateful for their positive qualities.
• Doing sport or exercise: These activities can be good for more than just your body. For example, run mindfully by noticing your breathing rate and the sensations in your legs as you run. Play tennis mindfully by maintaining some awareness of your bodily sensations in-between striking the ball. Attend a yoga class to practise mindfulness as you stretch and breathe.
• Enjoying a hobby: Hobbies are great for taking your mind off work. They also give you a chance to develop your mindful awareness by intentionally connecting your attention to your senses and refocusing each time your mind wanders. Any hobby or activity can be mindful.

Avoid looking at any form of screen in the last couple of hours before going to sleep. The light from screens sends a signal to your brain that it’s still daytime and makes it harder for you to fall asleep because it lowers your levels of melatonin. This not only reduces sleep, but also can increase the chance of obesity, diabetes and other disorders according to a study published in Applied Ergonomics Journal.

Using mindful exercises

You can use mindfulness exercises to create a mindful end to your day. Do one at your desk or when you get home – or both, if you’re keen! Remember, even one conscious, mindful breath counts as a mindful exercise.

Here’s a mindful exercise that you can use to bring your working day to a close. You can take about five to ten minutes over this exercise.

1. Sit up in a way that invites mindfulness. You need to create a sense of wakefulness.
2. Allow your eyes to close if you wish, and take three deep, full, mindful breaths. Really feel each in-breath nourishing your being and each out-breath giving you a sense of letting go. Elongate your out- breaths as much as you can. Notice what effect these breaths have on your bodily tensions.
3. Be mindful of your natural breathing as your breath finds its usual rhythm.
4. Notice your bodily sensations. Let go of as much tension as you can and accept any that you can’t release.
5. Feel your feet on the floor. Try to imagine that your feet are roots extending down through the earth.
6. Reflect on how your day went. Imagine all the events of the day, good and bad, just like leaves that blow away in the wind. Allow your thoughts to just emerge and fly away; don’t resist or analyse them. Have a sense of letting go. Tomorrow is another day and you can resume your activities then. For now, let your concerns about work float away so that you can focus on your activities at home or engage with friends or hobbies that you enjoy.
7. Come back to feeling your breathing, when you’re ready. Take three, full mindful breaths to signify the end of the exercise. Finish by acknowledging your efforts to practise mindfulness for both yourself and those close to you.

Appreciating the good

Humans have a tendency to focus on the negative as a result of our evolutionary roots (see Chapter 1 for more on this tendency). Make seeking out and reflecting on what’s going well in your life a simple and important part of your evening mindfulness routine. In this way, you deliberately begin to create more positive thought patterns in your brain instead of worrying-type thoughts. These patterns can even be seen in brain scans and over time become positive habits. More realistic, honest and yet positive thoughts help to engage your parasympathetic nervous system, making your brain more calm, focused and reasonable. You can then access your high-level thinking brain, which is less activated when overloaded with what’s going wrong in your life rather than what’s going well.

Seeking out the good in this way is simply called practising gratitude. You can do it by leaving a notebook at the side of your bed and recording what went well that day, that week or what’s going well in your life generally. You can take that journal with you when you travel, too. Each night, before drifting off to sleep, make writing down three aspects of your life that you’re grateful for part of your routine.

When I (Shamash) was going through a really tough time at work, I intentionally tried to think of things to be grateful for about work. It was counter-intuitive, but really helped me to feel better. The tension created at work began to ease, and the feel of calm I felt gave me the space to think more clearly about how to deal with the situation more rationally.

See whether you can think of three different things to be grateful for each night. If that number is too challenging, begin with at least one that’s different. Here are a few suggestions of things to be grateful for about work:

• You’re receiving money to help to pay for your food/home/rent/travel/family/going out.
• You’re working with one or more colleagues who you like.
• Your firm is contributing money to a pension or health insurance scheme on your behalf.
• You have access to a gym subsidised by your company.
• Work offers you a chance to interact with other people and socialise.
• Work gives you stability and income, which many people don’t have.
• If you don’t enjoy your work, at least you now know what you definitely don’t like doing and so can start training in a different field or look out for new opportunities.
• If you don’t like your work, at least you can now try to make your working day more enjoyable using the mindfulness strategies in this book.
• You may not enjoy your work, but your salary allows you to pursue your hobbies.
• Think about how your work benefits other people. You can be grateful that you’re doing work that ultimately makes a difference.

You can also include aspects of your life that are nothing to do with work. You can be grateful for your health, your home, your family, your friends, the area you live in, your education, your ability to read and write, the food and drink that you can afford, the fact that you know about mindfulness, each of your senses. And most amazing of all, the fact that you’re alive and a unique human being – there will never be another person with your exact set of talents and abilities ever again.

You can interpret how your life and work are going at the moment in hundreds of different ways. If things are going really badly at work, acknowledge mindfully that this situation is the case rather than resisting or fighting the emotions the situation creates. Then, when you’re ready to do so, ask yourself what positive things you can discover from the situation. You may even be able to look back one day and be grateful for the opportunity to grow, which this experience gave you, or to use it to help others through similar difficulties.