Prioritize Your Well-being for Success at Home and Work
Life has become increasingly busy, and regardless of who we are or what we do, the days seem to slip by, leaving us wondering where the month has gone. Typically, our days begin with an overwhelming to-do list that can make us feel like there’s no time for a much-needed break to breathe and reset.
In the midst of our long work hours, we often acknowledge the importance of self-care but struggle to allocate time for it.
If you find yourself in this situation or know someone who does, keep reading for a simple, quick, and research-based method to enhance your well-being and productivity.
Leadership Starts Within
As a woman leader in the dynamic c-suite environment, you may face numerous challenges and constant change. With critical issues demanding your attention, it becomes crucial for you to be at your best. When fatigue, stress, or pressure sets in, it can compromise your ability to think clearly and strategically.
Pressure might set in when we have a looming deadline and not enough time, friction with a co-worker or other relationship, or we feel ill equipped to deal with a situation. That’s when our nervous system sets off the alarm and we are now in fight, flight or freeze mode. Our brain gets foggy, we are even more stressed as we can’t think straight, and we feel like things are quickly rolling downhill from there.
At times like these we feel that we don’t even have a minute to waste and continue to operate under stress. The mind feels threatened and sends the message to the body that we need to “run away from this danger or just freeze in place and play dead” until the threat has passed.
It just takes 1 minute!
It is at time like these though that taking just 1 minute, can turn everything around.
Wherever you are, and with your eyes open (or closed if it is safe to do that), take slower, longer breaths and feel your chest flooding with that warmth. Then exhale that warm calming breath into the body and let it flow all the way through, down, and out of the feet and seemingly into the ground (floor). If you feel comfortable with the idea, bring each breath deep into the center of the heart, and then exhale from the same space. Take a few conscious breaths like that, and feel your whole body calming down, your brain getting clear and you now feel more equipped than ever to tackle the issue at hand.
In less than a minute your brain will come back on line, your body will get awakened and flooded with energy and you will feel more in control of the moment.
Heart Focused Breathing
Much research has been gathered around the power of the heart, and how to build coherence and achieve resiliency. The Heart Focused Breathing practice is just the beginning step on achieving a better state of being and better performance, fast and efficiently. The more we practice, the more we find ourselves in a place of clarity and manage to continue to build resiliency that can help us overcome daily stressors. Studies have shown the efficacy of such practices and when you put it to use you will see the difference yourself.
Some of the benefits of consistently taking this 1 minute to yourself are:
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Achieve a more cohesive personal state, more often
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Feel more energetic and clear minded
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Lower stress and anxiety
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Regulate emotional stress
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Boost self-esteem
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Increase productivity
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Develop better leadership and achieve improved collaboration
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Access higher-order thinking functions of the brain for better clarity, decision making, and problem-solving
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Achieve better engagement and decreased attrition
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Lead to a healthier organizational culture, climate, longevity and social coherence
Collectively, these outcomes result in a remarkable return on a minimal investment!
We continue to learn more about this incredible “soft technology” that we call our body and how to make more harmonious and efficient use of it. Science and Spirituality are coming closer than ever and research supports much of the efficacy of alternative healing arts and how they help our energy systems run more efficiently.
With just 1 minute here and there, you can begin to see a huge difference in how you show up in life and feel better about and withing yourself!