Namaste Your Way to Productivity: Tips for Enhancing Calm Throughout the Day
Work is stressful, even if you are not in recovery. Work seems to consume everyone’s lives whether it is being connected all the time to the office, having a never-ending workload, or trying to schedule life around work. The idea of adding ‘one more thing’ like meditation or yoga into our daily lives seems completely out of the picture. That said, the key is balance. If you want to namaste your way to being more productive and healthier, it may be time to give meditation another glance.
Morning
The best time to do meditation is when you first wake up and are starting the day fresh. Don’t check your phone the first 30 minutes of the morning. Give your mind time to rest and ‘refuel.’ Meditate first thing. Sit up in bed, go to the floor, or a special spot and sit quietly. After you breathe, imagine waking up healthy and feeling alive. Even if you’re not feeling it, give it a try anyway. Think in terms of gratitude for where you are and keep it simple. Power up your productivity by mentally listing three things you want to achieve and focus on those.
Mid-Morning
Once you’ve settled into your morning at work, take a break. Get outside for five minutes. Nature is a great way to namaste. If getting outside is not possible, inhale 10 breaths, exhale 10 breaths, for six count each until your mind feels more calm. If you can sit or stand, reach up over your head, tilt sideways, and interlock your fingers. Release them and cross the thumbs. Give yourself a nice big stretch as you meditate quietly on your breath to help you navigate a mid-morning slump.
Afternoon
You have made it halfway through your day at this point. The break is necessary to help you power through the rest of the day. If you sit a lot or stand, you may need to get away and walk for some fresh air. Go through 10 long inhale/exhales again, eyes closed. Review in your mind the three objectives you set for yourself. Think about what you need to do in the afternoon. Generate some energy by sitting down, knees together. Then bend the knees and sit on top of the heels. Arms go up overhead, sideways, palms together. Hinge forward until your forehead touches the floor arms over your head. This nice little stretch will help you open up and release stress so you can breathe and generate energy to be productive the rest of the day.
Evening
When energy wanes is a good time to practice an evening meditation. Put the phone away, step outside or go into a quiet room. Guide yourself through 10 breaths. Get your mind off of work and forget the stress from earlier. Stretch with arms up into the air, open wide, and breathe in and out deeply, releasing all the day’s events and stresses from your mind. Just before bed, after dinner, let your mind calm down by thinking about those objectives you wanted to tackle today. Release judgment on whether you completed them and breathe. Know what got in the way and what worked for you. Evaluate, acknowledge, and picture your day as you imagine it floating away with the clouds. Let go, breathe, and relax as you namaste your way into a nice, quiet slumber.
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