Mid Day Meditation Break

A short guided meditation or breathing exercise to lower stress hormones and take a break from the workday.

Why do it?

Meditation and breath work have countless benefits; stress reduction, improved focus, memory, and self regulation. Its even been proven to strengthen the prefrontal cortex- leading to better decision making and self control, as well as shrink the amygdala(the fight-flight brain region). All of that to say, doing just a few minutes of it might help us gain mental clarity and maintain a positive mood.

But when our stress comes from feeling overwhelmed with tasks, it can be hard to take the time to do things for ourselves, even if we know it's good for us. This group is to help each other stay accountable in doing something for our own health..

Accumulated over time these habits start to define who we are. "I mediate because I choose to prioritize my health." or "I meditate because I acknowledge that performing with high stress hormones is non-optimal" Whatever your reason for joining the zoom, we're hyped to have you.

Meditation / Breathing exercise breakdown:

We'll start pretty much at 12 pm: I'll explain the meditation/ breathing exercise for the day either in the chat or through the mic. Camera is optional, do whatever is going to be easiest for you, especially if you're in the office. The meditations will only last 10 minutes, but if you're a beginner or just want to log off earlier than that feel free.

Cheat sheet for what to focus on:

We'll mostly be doing diaphragm breathing exercises- Inhaling into the stomach muscles and not just the chest. Following the sensory feedback of the lungs inflating with air, the respiratory muscles contracting and stretching, differences in pressure in the stomach or head. Paying attention to our sensory feedback tends to shift away mental attention our from streams of thought, which is especially helpful if our streams of thought are stress inducing.

Its better that you do 3 reps a day than 100 reps once a year. And reminder, the same way that day 1 in the gym is hard as balls, then 2 months into it the weights feel lighter and you're less winded, exercises for the brain work similarly. Know that your brain is getting stronger and more resilient each time you do these exercises. Impatience or feeling like you're doing it wrong means its working!