Can Meditation Help You Leave Stress Behind?

At some point in your life, you may have asked yourself the question “Should I take up meditation?” There really is no right or wrong answer. For many people, meditation is an effective stress reliever and aid to productivity, concentration, and personal contentment. Others, having attempted meditation, still fail to see what all the hype is about. The only way to find out which camp you fall into is to give it a try.

Meditation is a skill.

Like all skills, it can be acquired, cultivated, and eventually more-or-less mastered. But you won’t become an expert overnight. Finally, as with all other skills, consistency and discipline are key: your progress is more likely to be noticeable and beneficial if you practice diligently.

The goal is to release tension, and quiet your mind.

If you’ve seen the second film in the Star Wars series, The Empire Strikes Back, you will recall the Millennium Falcon’s perilous voyage through an asteroid field, with Imperial fighters hot on its tail. Commander Han Solo and his passengers manage to evade their pursuers and navigate a slew of hurtling boulders suspended in the vacuum of space, only to find themselves engulfed inside a giant carnivorous worm disguised as a cave.

The asteroid field is analogous to an overloaded mind, deluged with thoughts, distractions, and stressors, and generally unable to function at its full capacity. Busy people are often haunted by the spectre of opportunity costs—the notion that they could or should be doing something more productive at this very moment, and the irritation of knowing that, try as they might, they simply can’t perform five complex tasks at once. If you’ve experienced these feelings, you know how challenging it can be to escape the mental asteroid field, and regain your focus and composure. An effective round of meditation can help to quiet your mind by redirecting your attention toward a single objective.

Start with a simple breathing meditation.

Begin by finding a relatively quiet space, and seat yourself comfortably in a balanced position, with your back straight but not rigid. A straight spine, with your chin facing forward rather than drooping down, is important in order to avoiding lethargy or sluggishness during and after a meditation session.

Next, close your eyes. Search out tense areas of your body with your mind, and give them permission to relax. Direct your focus toward your breathing. Inhale deeply through your nose and exhale fully, imagining all the while that the air entering your respiratory tract is cool, pure, relaxing fuel, while the air that exits your body is hot, tension-filled exhaust. I find it helpful to pretend that oxygen is filling my body all the way up to the peak of my forehead. I then release 100% of the breath stored within me, all the way down to the pit of my stomach.

 Feel the sensation in your nostrils as air flows in and out. Concentrate on this as you relax, and gradually settle into a natural, comfortable respiratory pattern. An array of thoughts will probably enter your mind at this stage; this is perfectly normal. Gently direct your attention back toward your lungs and nostrils, and resist the temptation of allowing your mind to wander far off course. Continue this exercise for about 10 minutes, or until your focus settles singularly on your breathing, your brain quietens, and you feel ready to resume your day.

Potential benefits.

Meditation yields different results for different people. If you commit to a 10- to 15-minute session daily, you may find that your overall stress level declines, your concentration improves, and your relations with others become smoother and more amicable. Over the long term, diminished stress and strife and greater personal contentment can promote improved physical health and career longevity too. In any event, there is no harm in trying.

Restoring your attention span

The rapid march of technology in our times is truly remarkable, and shows no sign of abetting. Smart phones exemplify this trend: over the past decade they have become as ubiquitous as credit cards—even the majority of schoolchildren in our society seem to own one. In fact, the presence of smart phones in our lives has become so prominent, that many of us strain to recall how we managed to function with landlines and dial-up internet just fifteen years ago.

While the advantages of this development are clear—extraordinary connectivity with the people in our lives, and an unprecedented repository of knowledge at our fingertips—the pitfalls are less frequently acknowledged. (Leave aside, for the moment, the capacity for governments to track their citizens’ movements and communications as never before.) A growing body of research suggests that one pernicious effect of the newfangled gadgets has been a diminution of the average person’s attention span. In other words, as the number of visual and auditory stimuli in our environment increases, our ability to concentrate on one single element of our surroundings tends to suffer. This can put a serious damper on both our productivity, and our ability to think deeply about things.

To enhance and regain your concentration, try the following:

Remove clutter and distractions. If you face an important task that you anticipate will require your undivided attention for an extended period of time, remove as many of the unneeded stimuli from your environment as possible—particularly those which tend to distract you. Switch off your phone temporarily, close unnecessary windows on your computer desktop, and remove superfluous items from your workspace. This requires a bit of discipline, but the effort is usually worth it.

 Ambient sound. This is not a recommendation that necessarily applies to everyone. Some people are best able to concentrate in silence, others find that a bit of music or bustle (as in a coffee shop) actually enhances their productivity.

 Go for a walk, jog, or bike ride. A bit of light exercise in advance to tackling a demanding task will facilitate the flow of oxygen to your brain, and induce the release of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine—both of which will, among other benefits, help you concentrate. A brief stroll has the added advantage of giving you time to collect your thoughts, and temporarily remove yourself from sources of stress in your work environment.

Make time for sleep. It may seem obvious, but too many people with demanding schedules tend to sacrifice sleep on the altar of progress. Now that the aforementioned smart phones have afforded us the ability to communicate with each other anywhere, anytime, and through a variety of channels, the temptation to forgo sleep is particularly acute. However, remember that fatigue will invariably detract from your productivity the following day—while a chronic lack of sleep can have detrimental effects on your health, quality of life, and career longevity. Set firm ground rules for yourself and your co-workers: if they e-mail you at 1:45 a.m., they shouldn’t expect a reply before morning.

Keep healthy snacks on hand. The contribution of proper nourishment to your ability to concentrate is significant. Fruit, granola bars, yogourt, and nuts are preferable to sugary items like doughnuts, candies, and milk chocolate. Eschew sugary drinks like pop and from-concentrate juices, and aim to limit your coffee/caffeine consumption to no more than a cup or two per day. (See Make time for sleep, above.) Less caffeine generally translates into fewer trips to the bathroom and more time for productive effort.