Meditate with Urmila: Stressed at work?

The word stress is commonly used and felt these days. There is stress at workplaces, at home, more importantly in individual lives. Well, how to overcome stress?

The methods offered here are simple, so simple that you may brush them aside. However, it is the practice that will manifest the results (being stress-free). The difficult part is maintaining the discipline of practice without getting swamped by the ongoing circumstances.

Core Cause of Stress

Why does stress surface? Why does my mind perceive something as a threat to my security, something that I would consider beyond my capability to handle, causing me stress? Well, it may appear that outside situations or circumstances are the reasons; ‘office colleagues got me upset’, ‘the workplace environment is such’ and so on.

However, know that stress is an ‘internal’ response to an external stimulus. Why do I get triggered in the first place? It is the result of internal preparedness and the degree of preparedness that the mind says, ‘I can handle this’ or ‘I can’t’.

What determines the degree of preparedness? My own feelings, belief-system, and unprocessed, suppressed or repressed emotions. The essential nature of stress is emotional and belief-based. If I feel vulnerable to the fact that ‘colleagues dump work on me’, then I ought to check if I have a pattern of people taking advantage of me. And whether I have had to courage to say no. If I utilise the ‘inner’ resource of healthy boundary, say no, stress will not play me up.

Overcoming stress is a practice, a learnt behaviour. It is an internal cleansing process too. Whether a victim of stress or a perpetrator, below six practices when carried around, will relieve both from stress.

Collective Energy

While it is true that being receivers and transmitters of vibrational energy, we get impacted by others’ energy, however, there is a way to come back to one’s own alignment. This again, is a matter of practice, that keeps one insulated from the outside triggers.

At workplaces it is the collective energy of several individuals. A work culture is nothing but a mirror of people’s dominant energy. If an individual’s dominant energy field is unsteady, stress-prone, it will set up that vibrational mood/ current within the work environment. The work actually begins at the individual level.

Outside triggers will always be there on which you will have no control. The only control is over self, and hence, tuning one’s own vibrational energy to navigate the externals is the answer. This is not an opinion but Cosmic Laws at work. For example, the principle of ‘as within, so without’, dictates that one’s outside world is an exact reflection of one’s inner world. Not to forget ‘the law of oneness’ which is about creating bridges, honouring our own humanness and acting as such. Or, the law of ‘what you sow is what you reap’; every thought, deed bounces back.

1. Cooperate: Move with the feeling of cooperation. Honour the differences in people.

2. Smile: Smile at people, issues, tough situations. This will take the edge out of the difficulty. How? You become a witness instead of getting embroiled and getting played by situations.

3. Move your body, still your mind: Body stores a lot of stress evident in aches, pain and inflammation. A mindful movement of the body and barefoot walk on Mother Earth restores alignment.

4. Breathe mindfully: Harmonise breath with body movement. Utilise yoga postures and yogic breathing techniques. Whether sitting at your work desk, or standing in a queue, one can breathe mindfully and maintain clarity over mental lowdowns.

5. Appreciation: appreciate and congratulate people on their achievements. Good intention lifts the spirit of people and places. Places are conscious. Whether you desire to work at a place or not, irrespective, bless the place and people. It will answer back.

6. Humanness: Don’t lose ground with your humanness and heartfulness.

Disclaimer: Urmila Rao is an emotional healer and a forgiveness teacher. All the ideas expressed herein are her own, and not professional advice or medical prescription. Her website is: www.karmicwellness.in Email: hellokarmicwellness@gmail.com