When you hear the word meditate, your mind probably jumps to the image of a bohemian hippie sitting with their legs crossed, hands on their knees, repeating the word “Ohm” over and over again. However, meditation has become a more mainstream relaxation practice, with a growing number of ambitious young professionals - fashion executives, marketers, and others - who are taking up the practice! Those who are looking to hone energy, focus, creativity and compassion need to look no further. The Path, a NYC based company and a leader in the mindful movement, aims to make meditation more accessible. Their goal is to teach a system of mental focus meant to make successful New Yorkers even more successful.
Dina Kaplan, founder of The Path, turned to meditation after suffering from panic attacks while running her last company. Dina left to travel the world for two years studying the art of meditation. And now, meditation is fast becoming a fashionable tool for improving your mind.
So if you find yourself in a slump at work or losing your motivation and focus, try meditation. If you happen to be in NYC, check out The Path for networking and relaxation benefits. If you’re not convinced how great meditation is for you, and specifically for your career, here are Dina’s 5 examples of times that meditation can make you better and even more confident at your job. Hint: this also applies to your summer internships, ladies!
Best Times to Meditate at Work
1. Overcome Stress
When you’re stressed, it’s hard to make good decisions. Often you can feel this tension in your body. A number of studies show that meditation can actually lower the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your body - and why wouldn’t you want that?
2. Before an Important Conversation
If you’re heading into a big meeting, or an important conversation with your boss, even an interview, you’ll have a clearer head and a better conversation if you take a few moments to meditate first.
3. When Making a Big Decision
Our minds are so full of clutter, it’s often hard to tap into our intuition - which almost always has the right answer. To get away from living in the “should” and towards living in the truth, I suggest sitting quietly for twenty minutes before a big decision.
4. To Focus
Mindfulness meditation changes the brain, making it easier to focus.
5. When Entering a Difficult Situation
Compassion meditation helps us rise above difficult situations. Before a tough conversation, I suggest spending ten minutes repeating silently to yourself.
Whether you’re anxious about an upcoming interview for a summer internship or settled into your job, it doesn’t matter. Meditation may be exactly what you need to relax - and make a few new professional network connections!
Leave a Reply