Tag: EmotionalWellbeing

  • Make your work break count!

    Have you heard new adage “sitting is new smoking” …

    When I heard about it I thought hell yeah! better I had quit smoking already now I need to quit sitting too? Until I got diagnosed with chronic back pain a couple of years ago. I told my chiropractor “I am quite a fit bloke” How come I got back pain in spite of working out and leading an active lifestyle? He mentioned about the science of posture and how the human body is meant for hunting in the fields and not sitting in front of a damn computer the whole day long. 

    Now if this was 1860, I could have done something about the “hunting in the fields” part but in 2017 it is a pretty tough gig. Specially living in this civilization makes it even harder to imitate our ancestral modus operandi.

    We might have come from the planet of the apes but now since we are in the information age let’s see how we can still quench our postural thirst by staying in “well-being worker” limits. This is what I suggest as our plan of action to make our work breaks count.

    Breaks are good, but do we take them? Ask yourself, “What makes a good break for me?” Do you take yourself to the local park, call a friend, check into the gym, or laugh out loud with colleagues? Or it might be just eating your food mindfully—which one is your fit? Find it and use it.

    Ensure you drink more than 2 litres of water: Have you been asked this questions – Do you drink enough water? I am sure you would know the benefit but it has the added advantage of making you run to the toilet pretty often and also break the sitting posture cycle for the sake of your bladder.

    Get a fitness tracker: A little bit of technology to help you motivated and stay on track, most of the trackers can now start to beep (like mine) every 50th minute of an hour asking you to move your body (I said body…)

    Don’t press the send button:  At times you’ll catch yourself sending an email to a person sitting at the same floor. Have you done that? I know I have, why not try the alternate and walk to the person to have a chat.

    Catch that yawn:  Yawning is actually a signal from your brain craving for oxygen! That is body’s natural response to initiate a break in posture. Next time when you catch yourself yawning at work get up and stretch yourself.

    7 min refresher: It is scientifically proven 7 minutes is what it takes to break your postural pattern, experiment all the activities you could do in 7 minutes like brushing your teeth after lunch with an added advantage of dental hygiene.

    Power Naps: There is a misconception, you don’t have to actually sleep merely closing your eyes and listening to some relaxing music for 10-20 mins would do the job.

    In conclusion, it matters less what you do than why you’re doing it. Pay attention to three aspects of body, mind and spirit to tune into your own energy style and choose work break activities that will truly refresh you.

    Originally Published On September 18, 2017

  • The Power of Now

    The Power of Now

    “No body gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies” – Ann Landers.

    There is one great book I read called, “The Power of Now” by Eckert Tolle and it discusses the challenge of staying in the present moment and how much power you have when you do stay in the now. For me it was one of the biggest challenges during college days I had either stayed in past or looked towards the future anxiously.

    Although both models have their plus and minus, I was young and anxious but also quite naive about expecting things I never knew I would get. It was then one fine day I decided what I want. What are things I could do that are under my control? I still remember it was 17 November 2002, I wrote my list of 101 things to do before I die. You may call it a bucket list but I called it my “Wish List”, it had things like meeting big celebrities, traveling around the world, and experiencing things like bungee jumping and sky diving.

    Today looking back at it I have achieved a good amount of wishes I wrote for myself, it gives me pleasure and exhilaration. But most of all it gave me one thing that I felt lacked seriously back then “Purpose”. That list is the reason I am living in one of the finest cities in the world, driving a good car, living in a comfortable home. I’m not saying this to boast about my achievements but to remind myself and my blog readers about “Purpose”.

    Back then past was a painful place to be, to see all mistakes I did, all the fear of failure and sour memories of what could have been better. On the other hand, the perfect future I wished. I call it the “Yoyo moment” where you are stuck between the past and the future. I’m sure all of us have such moments, one tool I discovered was “Power of Now” I didn’t know it back then. It gives you immense power to move your life ahead. It is like the steering wheel of your car, which gives you direction. It doesn’t work when you are stationary in the “Yoyo moment” but works like a charm when you push the accelerator.

    However, it is immensely significant to look back in the rearview mirror (your past) but you can’t drive your car looking at it all the time. It is of no use, but still significant to know what mistakes to avoid, to judge the road. So to speak power of now is the steering wheel that will direct you toward your purpose. All you got to do is choose the right speed and set the course of action. All the best!

    “The starting point of all achievement is desire” – Napoleon Hill.

    Originally Posted On February 26, 2018

  • Unplug your mind

    Dump the phone and unplug your mind

    “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small, A journey of thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

    ‘Constantly connected’ – if that seems to sum up your day then I have a word of caution for you and it is not coming from me alone, former vice president of Facebook Chamath Pali says “Social media is ripping apart the basic fabric of our society”and he feels “tremendous guilt” over his work on building Facebook’s social validation engine. Believe it or not, Facebook has an algorithm to assess your personality and creates so so-called “short term, dopamine feedback loop called social validation”. Which in simple words means the like buttons, high fives, happy go-lucky icons that it reads from your profile and feeds it into an algorithm to target advertisement and social traffic onto your Facebook page.

    In an interview with Harvard Business School, he says he has deactivated not only his but his family’s Facebook account and encourages his kids to call their friends over the phone rather checking in status on social media. All this has added another buzzword in our well-being dictionary called “Digital Detox”.

    While Technology addiction is not classified as a psychological disorder as of now but it is heading that way quicker than you can imagine. At the same time, there is no denying the fact about value technology delivers in today’s age. However, as the old saying goes “too much of anything is bad” it becomes our revered duty to let our next generation understand the risk that technology overdose brings. Believe it or not we are the last generation on this planet that spent their lives without any screens, apart from a Television.

    I still remember the good old black and white TV set in our living room back in 80’s and waiting for Giant Robot, He Man and Spider Man animation series to be aired every Sunday.I never imagined as a child something like tablet or smart phone would make it possible to deliver such content with mere touch of a button. Maybe it was good,since we had time rationed to watch this stuff vs. studies, playtime and family time.

    As they say “history repeats itself” number one advise digital detox experts give is rationing screen time in our daily life, so let’s look at how it works:

    Implement computer-free days – Take out at least one day per month or every fortnight when you

    dump your phone, tablet, laptops and TV’s to enjoy time with your family.

    Leave the screens out of sleep – Latent technology used in LED screens is a blue optical display which hampers our brainwave pattern, listen to some good old songs or read a book before going to bed instead of looking at a screen. Psychology experts suggest at least one hour gap between sleep and screen time.

    Carry your camera – Instead of phone take out your good old camera on holidays to restrict screen time.

    Disconnect to reconnect – The best part of living in Australia is the good old “Outback” culture, we are so fortunate to have the biggest backyards and lovely camp sites all over the country. If you haven’t tried camping ever it is a must do activity. Leave your phones and screens behind to rejoice reconnect and recuperate with your family and loved ones.

    Control your phone – If you are tempted to look at your phone with every ring, vibrate or notification then take it as a signal to control your phone time. It can be as simple as leaving your phone away and going on a walk with a mate or just by yourself. It is a good idea to switch off your phone at night or at least leave it on silent away from your bedroom.

    Schedule screen free nights – Once a week switch off Wi-Fi and turn off TV to spend some good old dinner table time with your loved ones.

    “Reward Yourself” – Especially kids for not using internet/ TV/ YouTube for once a week by scheduling screen free trip to park, zoo, aquarium or beach. There are digital detox retreats if you wish to take the pricey option.

    Given that our relationship with screen is still relatively new, there are warnings signs that we should look out for and pass on to the next generation the experience we have been raised with.

    Originally Posted On March 26, 2018

  • Creating a mindful culture

    Creating a Mindful Culture

    I’m sure you would have come across the word “mindfulness” a lot of people I meet think it is something to do with meditation. Nevertheless, practicing meditation isn’t a bad start however mindfulness is a lot more than just sitting down closing your eyes and feeling like Buddha.

    Have you lately caught yourself standing in a room thinking why the hell did I come here? Or driving down the road on autopilot? Or brushing your teeth in the morning without even realizing which side you have already brushed? Or eaten your lunch at the desk without even tasting a single bite? I got you didn’t I ha ha… well Mindfulness in essence is the opposite of mindlessness.

    There are two parts to mindfulness –

    First, learning to focus and attention on one thing, and being able to bring the attention back when distracted.

    Second is about the attitude you bring to paying attention i.e. being open, being focused and interested in what you are doing.

    Why suddenly mindfulness is a buzz in corporate culture rather than in monasteries? It is due to the benefit it brings along with it. Imagine if someone can become more creative, have higher levels of pattern recognition, greater confidence, greater motivation, greater focus and less anxiety obviously they’re going to be more productive and valuable to the company.

    So what are few simple ways to create mindful culture?

    • Do one thing at a time and do it well
    • Be aware of your mindlessness patterns
    • Create a soft anchor to flip out of distractions
    • Set a time limit for worry or anxiety
    • Switch off for at least 10 minutes every day
    • Recharge your battery often
    • Ask for help if you’re under stress
    • Develop mindfulness as a skill
    • Choose to do three things mindfully every day like brushing your teeth.
    • Choose to respond rather than react
    • Learn to accept difficult experiences or changes
    • Lastly, Nab’s new marketing punch line – “talk to yourself more”

    As said earlier, mindfulness is like a muscle that gets stronger and stronger with regular practice. Try the mindfulness app by smiling mind to get started I find it best to switch it off during my train trips. You can find your own based on what works for you… happy minding.

    “You can’t cross the sea by merely by standing and staring at the water – Rabindranath Tagore”

    "Originally Posted On May 16, 2018"

  • Results and Emotions – Dispassion

    Results and Emotions – Dispassion 

    “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit” – Conrad Hilton

    There are two parts to life, there are results, and then there are emotions. What messes people up is when they tie them together cancerously. Results don’t mean anything unless we attach a meaning to them.

    Emotions, on an elementary level, are chemical explosions that our brain controls. You don’t need to do anything to feel a certain way. Do you? it automatically happens. But awareness of those emotions makes a big difference.

    Similarly, a result isn’t an emotion. Take any result like earning an income of a million dollars. A million dollars doesn’t mean anything until you attach a meaning to it. I have seen people loose their sleep over achieving such goals. So when you attach your emotions to results inseparably it begins to haunt you.

    However, there is a better way of doing this. When you can separate emotions and results, you will find a much fulfilling way to achieve your goals. In eastern philosophy, this is known as dispassion theory of keeping oneself grounded.

     “Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better” – Samuel Becket.

    “Originally Posted On November 18, 2018”

  • Emotional Roller Coaster

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