FIX NG THE STATE OF YOUR CAREER

Meditation as a part of career wellness

WRITER: LINDA COURTNEY

Career wellness is a state of happiness and satisfaction in your career. Many people have a hard time achieving this state of mind. Stress, an overpowering manager, or too much work due in too little time contribute to discontentment.

Meditation has been shown to improve awareness and concentration as well as reduce stress. It can help on the path to searching for and keeping a career that brings contentment and happiness to the inner self, and meditating daily can aid the advancement of a career.

The act of meditating is quite simple in theory, but mastering it requires dedication. Anyone who wants to start this practice should consider finding a class to learn correctly. There are numerous types of meditation including focused, spiritual, mindfulness, mantra, or sound and movement.

During meditation, a person concentrates on a thought or object, or possibly just the act of breathing. When people visualize someone meditating, they often see someone sitting in the lotus position, but it also can be practiced while walking or performing yoga poses. Whatever position you choose, it should be comfortable, or you cannot relax and concentrate. When you clear your mind of all clutter, awareness and serenity will follow. Practitioners recommend practicing this at least twice a day—in the morning before your day begins and in the evening between work and bedtime. However, once a day will suffice if that is all the time you have.

Many people suffer stress at work in one form or another; at those times, it can be helpful to take a short walk and meditate. The increased awareness helps you understand the problems causing the stress are not insurmountable. After clearing your mind, you’ll go back and approach whatever you are working on with more objectivity. In turn, your health will benefit. Health problems related to stress include depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, and muscle aches. Meditation helps you avoid them.

When your mind is clear, your concentration levels rise. A clear mind leads to greater productivity at work. You get things done faster and feel you can handle anything that comes your way. As you gain confidence on the inside, you exude it on the outside. In addition to respect from your colleagues and superiors, your reward may be the promotion you desire.

Julia Cameron’s bestselling book “The Artist’s Way,” and the accompanying website juliacameronlive.com, are read by top executives as well as budding artists. Her teachings include morning pages, which she called meditation for Westerners. Participants are encouraged to write three pages of free-flowing text, preferably in the morning when the mind is clearest. This text can be anything that pops into your head. At times, you may draw a blank, and you will write that nothing comes to mind, and keep writing that thought until something does come to mind. No one else will read this, so grammar and spelling do not matter. Some days you may seem to get nothing out of this, but other days, your blocked creativity will be released.

Creativity is a skill that is useful in most careers to get things done and make proper day-to-day decisions. Many people swear by this method of meditation and perform it dutifully every day.

Anyone who believes stress is holding them back from truly enjoying their choice of occupations would be wise to incorporate meditation into daily practice. Even once a day can make a difference in stress levels and boost selfesteem. You may even discover things about your character and abilities you had no idea were lurking under the surface.

If you love singing, and fancy a new pastime, why not join your local choir? Don’t worry if you can’t sight-read; amateur choirs don’t usually mind, provided you sing in tune and have a reasonable voice. You’ll soon pick up the tunes and harmonies from the singers around you. People who join choirs tend to stay for years, reaping many benefits like these:

Relaxation

Singing is therapeutic. It releases tension and lifts the spirits, and when you sing with other music lovers, the combined sound can touch you with its power and eloquence, sweeping all your worries away. Meanwhile, the physical aspects benefit your body, making you feel even better. By standing tall, breathing deeply, and exhaling slowly, you are tuning up muscles from top to toe, including heart and lungs, and stimulating the