We’re now in December and for many project professionals it’s the busiest month of the year
because of project deadlines. Not only that, it could also be the most stressful month of the year if your project is not going well. You could be in many meetings with your team trying to figure out a way to push your project across that finish line and you could be constantly worrying and thinking about your project.
This constant stress may affect your body and make it hard for you to sleep at night. If you don’t get enough rest what happens is your body becomes weaker and more susceptible to falling sick. So how do you break this cycle of stress affecting your physical body, your sleep and then causing you to fall sick?
As human beings we can shift the focal point of our beingness from our mind where the stress and worry lives and where we think about it, to our body where we don’t think about that stress and give our whole body and our mind a break from the stress.
So try this exercise with me. Take in a deep breath through your nose as slowly as you can. Now let it go; exhale through your mouth as slowly and smoothly as you can. Do this again: breathe in and breathe out.
Now as you’re breathing out, imagine you’re breathing out all the stresses from your project.
Do this deep breath and smooth blowing out. As you’re doing this, think about your breath. Try to control it. Make it as deep as possible. Make it as smooth as possible. Focus on your belly rising and falling.
As you’re engaged in this exercise, you were actually not thinking about your project and your body was actually given a break from the stress. Do this several times a day to give your body a break.
Notes:
- Ambardekar, Nayana. “Breathing Techniques for Stress Relief.” 7 Jan 2018. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-relief-breathing-techniques.