Is this you?

Maybe this?

This is all of us.

Sometimes stress and work feel synonymous.

But there is a better way.

That's Deepak Chopra.

He's here to help.

Okay, stop.

How did he do that?

I'm going to show you how to meditate at your desk.

Just S.T.O.P.

Remember the acronym.

S, stands for stop.

T, take three deep breaths and smile.

O, observe the sensations in your body.

P, proceed with compassion and awareness.

So, Step one is stop.

You get bad news and you want to react, stop.

Okay, he didn't say freeze.

Slow down.

Step two, take three deep breaths.

You can keep your eyes open.

Count slowly, so inhale, one, two, three, four.

Stop, one, two, exhale.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

This is called the four two six breath.

You immediately decrease your breathing rate, and everything in your body relaxes.

Step three, observe the sensations in your body.

To begin the process of mindful awareness, keep your feet firmly on the ground.

And your legs uncrossed.

Hands open, fingers pointing upwards, back relatively erect.

Keep your eyes open and just look around you.

Notice shapes, colors, forms.

But don't label them.

Don't call that a phone or a desk, just notice the colors, shapes, forms.

Be aware of seeing.

Now close your eyes.

Just be aware of breath.

And now shift your awareness, with your eyes closed to sound.

Be aware of any sound, including......any sound that arises and subsides in awareness.

And you can do the same thing with any sensation in your body, sensation of your hand on your lap, sensation of your skin touching your clothes, sensation of your feet in your shoes.

Bringing awareness to any experience in the present moment allows you to be independent of the experience because the awareness of an experience is intrinsically free from the experience.

You could stop the meditation there but if you have more time then you could use the experience of being still and asking questions of yourself.

So bring your awareness to your heart and mentally ask the question.

Who am I?

What do I want?

What is my purpose?

What am I grateful for?

Step four, proceed with compassion and awareness.

Before you finish meditation however short or long it is, just take a few seconds to relax into your body and then slowly open your eyes to the world of experience again.

Step five, establish a regular routine.

The benefits of meditation accrue if you have a regular practice everyday.

And in the office, you can set yourself reminders, maybe a calendar invite but make it a regular practice and you'll reap the benefits, whether it's lowering of blood pressure, or fine tuning your immune system, or better sleep.

Everything comes when you get in touch with yourself.

Maybe I'll skip my next meeting to stop and meditate instead.

You don't need to skip the meeting, just go to it restfully alert and with awareness and at peace.