The article below examines how mindfulness meditation improved performance amongst elite athletes but it applies much more widely than that. It can benefit anyone who constantly puts themselves into a high level of stress - be that someone involved in securing major deals, navigating a key change management issue or dealing with a difficult client or colleague.
This kind of mental training helps with two of the stages of emotional management. It helps us become self-aware of what we are feeling and then aids us in self-managing that. This lowers our own emotional 'load' allowing us to concentrate better on the task at hand.
Some people are put off either by the word 'mindfulness' or images associated with it. While formal meditation may be the most effective way to achieve the effect, there are ways we can all do this. There are a variety of mobile apps which can let you find your own way to do it. There are also other ways of achieving the same effect. I find the best form of mindfulness for me is a long run in the countryside - it allows me to disconnect from the everyday world and reconnect with myself. My productivity increases significantly after a run.
So if you're not already doing something, try to find a way that lets you practice mindfulness in your own way.
Exercise, as most of us know, is a form of stress. The demands of exercise require our bodies to respond and adapt, and the greater the intensity of the exercise relative to our current fitness, the greater the level of stress it generates. Much of this strain is physical, but some of it also involves the mind, says Amishi Jha, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami in Florida, who led the new study. Prolonged, strenuous training “requires attention,” she says, and a stern focus on continuing to exercise when it might be more pleasant to stop.
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