Do Business Well

At work, do you …

• Experience frequent heart palpitations (fast and heavy beats)?
• Feel queasy and jittery for no explicable reason?
• Have difficulty concentrating because of intrusive thoughts?
• Worry frequently about trivial issues?
• Have diarrhoea frequently?
• Get butterflies in your stomach over insignificant things? Miss opportunities or lose time because you can’t make up your mind?
• Pace or fidget excessively?
• Frequently sweat while just sitting and thinking?
• Have your friends asking if anything is wrong because of your withdrawn behaviour?

You will probably have personally experienced some of the above items in your work life. Just getting to and from work can accelerate your heart and breathing rates. If you face regular stress at work such as demanding deadlines, friction with your boss or co-workers, irritating customers or irksome tasks, then you can benefit from daily relaxation practice.

Learning how to relax mentally and physically

The focus of attention in the relaxation procedure is to teach you low you can effectively relax your mind. The human mind is a Try active organ and, for most people, the activity is beneficial. However, there are times when this activity can impede your performance. One such time is when worry and mental restlessness prevent you from concentrating upon your work.

Learning how to relax the mind is surprisingly difficult, primarily because most people have spent little or no time learning how to quiet the mind. It is important to emphasise that relaxation training is a long-term project. That is, months of practice will be necessary to achieve the full effect. Don’t be put off by the word practice because relaxation is a most pleasant and enjoyable experience. But it will take time. The following steps will be a helpful guide in learning the skill.

Practise every day

Make relaxation practice part of your daily routine. The more you practise, the better the result. Even though learning how to relax might sound simple, it’s not. You’ll have to practise the skill regularly and conscientiously to be able to relax whenever you wish.

How much should I practise each day? At the start of your training, several short (three to five minutes) sessions will be helpful. At this stage, longer sessions are likely to give you practice in worrying or daydreaming. As you become more skilled in controlling the activity of your mind, increase the length of the sessions. Ultimately, try to practise for about thirty minutes each day, in two fifteen-minute sessions.

One word of warning! On very busy days, you may be tempted to put off your practice sessions altogether. These are the very days when it is important to relax. So, stick to your routine and turn your mind off to the pressures of the day. In addition to giving you valuable practice and a well-needed rest, the time spent relaxing is also establishing firm personal discipline, a most important quality for ambitious workers.

Expect to relax

It is important that you develop a positive expectation that you will relax. There is little use in shouting to yourself, ‘RELAX, dammit, RELAX!!’ You might try instead saying calmly and decisively: ‘I am going to relax now.’ Relaxation is a passive process. Trying too hard will only complicate the procedure. Just sit back and let it happen.

Find a quiet place

You can relax just about anywhere, assuming you can remain undisturbed for a few minutes. If you are at home or in an office, take the telephone off the hook. If others might call in on you, place a do not disturb sign on your door. Better yet, tell them you are practising your relaxation skills before you start.

Many people have found practising on commuter buses and trains perfectly satisfactory. Others practise in their cars or stretched out on a comfortable spot in a park. The important point is to make certain that you fit the practice into your daily schedule. If you can practise at the same time and place every day, so much the better. Before long, you will find yourself anticipating the relaxation period every day.

Make yourself comfortable

As implied in the previous step, you really don’t need special conditions in which to practise relaxation. You can sit on a chair, lie on a bed (caution: set an alarm in case you fall asleep, as beds carry the further expectation of going to sleep), or stretch out in a comfortable spot outside. A commuter with whom I have worked even practised while standing up on crowded trains, a difficult challenge! At the beginning of your practice session, loosen any tight clothing, unfasten tight shoelaces and remove glasses if they are heavy. Maximise your comfort. If you find yourself falling asleep in your early practice sessions, try a different setting. Sitting in a straight-backed kitchen chair in a quiet location might help you concentrate more successfully upon the procedure.

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