This week I had the opportunity to watch a 2012 TED speech
by Andy Puddicombe. In this video Puddicombe (2012) discussed the benefit of
spending just 10 minutes a day to slow down and think about the present while
doing nothing. He described how just 10 minutes a day of self-reflection could
reduce stress. He stated that thinking about your issues while doing nothing
will help you see the problems in a different and less stressful manner. I
decided to practice his techniques for three days to see what type of effect
they would have on me.
When I read this prompt, I had two immediate thoughts about
the subject. My first thought was I bet sitting for 10 minutes a day with my
thoughts will do nothing for me. I imagined it would just be a waste of a
valuable piece of my day. My mind races all of the time about everything. It is
common for me to get no sleep because my mind will not slow down long enough
for me to stop stressing about whatever it is I am thinking about at the time.
Puddicombe (2012) discussed how we have the tendency to stress ourselves out
about something in the future which causes us to worry about the future worry.
That concept reminds me of a magician pulling out the never-ending
handkerchief. Anxiety becomes nonstop and is hard to control, and I am a usual participant
in the magician’s stress act.
My second initial opinion of the prompt was that if it did
work, then it came at a great time in my life. I decided to take the max load
of three graduate classes during the most challenging time of the year at work.
I was also rear-ended over the weekend, so my mind has been a non-stop ball of
stress lately. Since I signed up for the
third class, I have often caught myself thinking about my decision and feeling
regret and worry. I know in the long run that this is the best thing for me,
but my brain and my level of stress have not agreed on that subject. The last
week has been very stressful, but as the video discussed, there are easy ways
to help diminish the stress. Puddicombe (2012) mentioned that individuals
stress and dread approximately 47% of their lives, which seems very
depressing. I thought to myself, “I bet
I stress at least 60% of the time, so trying this exercise cannot make it
worse.”
When I sat down to “do nothing” on the first day, I did not
have an open mind about the techniques. I told myself that doing this exercise
would only make me focus and stress on a single problem more directly. The mind
frame I took into the exercise skewed the results as I did begin to stress more
about a single issue. My mind wandered to my impending schoolwork and deadlines
in a non-peaceful manner. One positive
aspect of this exercise was the controlled breathing. In a 2016 article
entitled Here’s how you can meditate
anytime, anywhere, Madeline Diamond discussed Tibetan Buddhist Master
Mingyure Rinpoche’s thoughts on meditation. Rinpoche described how the most
important thing to meditation was awareness of your breath. Whetten and Cameron (2016) also mentioned deep
breathing as a temporary stress reducer.
Armed with the information about how to control breathing and an open
mind, I decided that Putticombe’s techniques deserved another chance.
The second attempt of being in the present was much more
peaceful. I was able to be aware of my breathing while spending ten minutes
doing nothing. My mind still wandered to my schoolwork, but in a much more
peaceful and less stressful manner. Putticombe (2012) mentioned that there might
be something on you are thinking about that seems to rotate continually around
your head. Schoolwork was that issue, but instead of stressing out about it, I
was able to see it in a different light. There was almost a calming feeling
about the upcoming assignments like my mind was telling me everything will be
okay. By my third ten minute exercise, I felt extremely calm and peaceful
throughout the entire exercise. To be honest, it was rather enjoyable.
This exercise was very eye-opening to me. I have to admit I
have egg on my face regarding the exercise. I never thought it would work for
me, and I was wrong. I learned that ten minutes a day doing nothing but staying
in the present could reduce stress. I have noticed over the last couple of days
that I am utilizing Putticombe’s techniques. Just the other day, I began to get
overwhelmed at work and took about a minute to take a couple of deep breaths to
focus on the issue. I plan on trying to use this technique daily to help reduce
the stress of my busy schedule. I believe slowing down for ten minutes is worth
feeling peace and calm after the completion of the exercise.
This exercise taught me that remaining in the present is an
excellent way to reduce stress. The ten
minutes of doing nothing allows the mind to view all of the stressors in a
different light. I found my mind was
able to slow down and reexamine all of the things that were worrying me so that
I could get a better idea of how to handle them. This exercise was almost the
act of rewriting my anxiety. I enjoyed the opportunity of learning to better
myself through ten minutes of doing nothing.
References
Diamond, M. (2016).Here’s how you can meditate anytime,
anywhere, Huffington Post, Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-tibetan-buddhist-masters-simple-guide-to-meditation_us_57850a79e4b07c356cfe8158
Putticombe, A. (2012). All it
takes in 10 mindful minutes [TEDGlobal]. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes?language=en
Whetten, D. & Cameron, K.
(2016). Developing management skills
(9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson
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