10 Easy Meditation Methods for Working Remotely
If you regularly work remotely, on the road, or from home, you know it comes with some sweet pros and some unexpected cons.
As remote professionals we put our heads into email, internet, social media, and digital marketing virtually every day. We're inundated with messages, requests, demands, and calls to action — almost always with increasing urgency.
When we work from home, we often don't get the mental relief and positive energy that come with in-person coworkers. When we work on the road, we don’t have friends and family to fill our cup after work. We structure our own tasks & schedules, which often requires more brainpower than having our workload structured and dictated by a supervisor.
Perhaps most glaring of all, we simply have a hard time turning OFF.
As a result of all these factors, remote pros are more prone than 9-5ers to feeling disorganized, stressed about their schedule, and mentally buzzy from digital saturation and personal isolation.
A consistent meditation practice helps all of this. It decreases mental chatter, stress, and anxiety. It increases energy, focus, and the ability to self-soothe. Your meditation practice is a way of cultivating inner peace, growing it in small pieces over time like a gardener tending to their plants each day.
Do you think there’s more potential to the efficiency and joy in your work/life balance?
Do you want to maximize your work time so you have more brain space for the rest of your life?
Do you feel out of balance or overwhelmed or stressed?
Hey, good news. Meditation is a perfect solution to these quandaries.
Virtually every major religion & spiritual practice encourages some kind of meditation, whether it's in the form of intentional silence, prayer, yoga, Tai Chi, or even the art of drinking tea. They're all slow, daily mindful practices which cultivate a deeper sense of presence, connection, calm, and vitality.
The main goal over consistent days and weeks is to ease your mind down from its nonstop thinking, which in turn increases your awareness of your own body, settling you into a relaxed state of flow.
You'll still be thinking, but not so loudly or quickly. That’s what’s so helpful for both maximizing your workday and being able to turn off when you’re done.
Many people never follow through on meditation, for a few common reasons: the misconception that it's attached to a philosophy or religion; personal discomfort sitting alone with your thoughts & feelings; having tried it for a few days but stopped before it got easier and the benefits became clear; or maybe you just don’t like hippies. No judgment!
These are totally valid opinions and experiences. And sure, there are other ways to get similar benefits. But the way I think about it, everyone can enjoy meditation. The only essential elements are breath and patience. Other than that, we just have to find the right methods and variations that work well for us. Here are just a few of the many methods and variations that can help you get started:
Do you have another method or style that has worked for you? Have any questions about meditation? Comment below!
Photo by Isabell Winter