WMH Season 2, Ep 6: Mindfulness for Personal and Professional Growth

This is a transcript of Watching Mental Health Season 2, Episode 5 which you can watch and listen to here:

Katie Waechter: Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Watching Mental Health. So today's a little bit different. My guest was unable to be with us, but that's okay. We are still going to deep dive into mindfulness, what it is, why it matters, why it's so important for our mental health, and end with some tips and ideas and maybe an activity to start off our mindfulness journeys. And so with that, I'm just going to jump right in.

But remember, we are live every first and third Wednesday, and then you can always catch our episodes on my website https://katierosewaechter.com/, and they're usually posted just one week after. So every Wednesday you can expect to see good content from us, whether it's an old episode or a new episode. And so today let's talk a little bit more about mindfulness, like I said before. So what does mindfulness mean? Mindfulness is a term that is, oh, just always kind of thrown around these days and it seems like it's thrown around in kind of a vague way. Oh, be mindful, be mindful, but what does that really mean and what does it actually take to be mindful and why does it matter? So let's talk about that. So first off, what does mindfulness mean? So if you look it up, if you Google it, mindfulness will probably say something about mindfulness really refers to your basic human ability to be fully present and aware of what you are doing in this world and what's going on around you.

And it's not to be reactive or overly reactive or overwhelmed, it's simply to be aware of it. And I think that that's a key part of mindfulness is it's not how we react necessarily. It is our awareness of the things around us. And that awareness in itself is what helps us to react. I think maybe less overwhelmed or react with a little bit more intention, right? Mindfulness helps us, I think, to be more intentional. And in a world where I think everything goes so fast, we're on autopilot all day every day. It's actually harder to be mindful than it seems. So I think take your drive home, for instance. I think we all will check out during our drives home, our drive home and not really pay attention to what's going on in our heads or what's going on around us because we know what's happening and we're just going along with the emotions.

And so maybe we're off thinking about something else, worrying about something else. I'm depressed about something else. And being mindful is taking you out of that spiral, that thought spiral and landing you back in the present moment. I think a really valuable thing about being mindful is that it reminds us for those of us who have anxiety, that we're safe, that we're in a safe place. And so I know that if I'm feeling extra anxious, and I know a lot of people who maybe feel anxiety, they maybe feel this sense of doom or dread, something really bad is about to happen or I'm not safe, I can be in danger at any time. And that can lead to panic attacks where of course during panic attacks, you feel like you're going to die and there's nothing else to show that you're going to die. You just happen to be in that spiral thought.

And I think that mindfulness helps with that because it helps remind you that you are in a safe place, that you're not going to die, that you are present in your house or out in the world without anything really bad happening. And a lot of times our own spiral thoughts and our own anxieties and depression, I think as we know come from our own minds. And so mindfulness can help bring that out, and that's not just me seeing that. So let's talk a little bit about the science of mindfulness, the research behind it and the people who practice mindfulness will say fundamentally that it changes how they experience life. And studies have shown that mindfulness does reduce anxiety and depression, but not only that, it can boost your immune system, it can help you manage pain. Some people can say that mindfulness can reduce your pain by up to 50%, so that can be especially helpful for people with chronic pain.

But then mindfulness can do other things. It can help to unhook our unhealthy habits, those addictions that aren't serving us. Mindfulness can help to soothe insomnia. It can reduce high blood pressure and even helps people who maybe struggle with health problems around their heart. It's important to be mindful because that helps you to not worry so much that helps you to not get so stressed out and to not overreact so much. So it keeps you present. So mindfulness can be so, so powerful. And just a few other bits of research that I found mindfulness can really help in decreasing cravings and substance misuse. So not only when it comes to maybe addictions, but also maybe those six cups of caffeine that you're having during the day that's probably not healthy for you, or even those who are trying to quit cigarette smoking, mindfulness can be helpful in that area.

Mindfulness interventions can really help in reducing stress. So it can be especially helpful for students, which is why I think that there are a lot of studies around college students and mindfulness in particular, but many studies have shown that it can reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and it can really lead to better all overall wellbeing, quality of life, better sleep habits. So mindfulness can be really, really amazing. And those are just a few of the benefits really. When I went into my research thought that it was so cool that mindfulness is not only helpful for your personal life, but it can be helpful for your professional life. And so that was one of the topics we were going to discuss today. And so I want to bring that up because we think that mindfulness is only for us and for our personal livelihoods, and that's just not the case.

And that's the same thing with mental health. Oftentimes people will think, well, I need to improve my mental health for my own personal life, for my family, for what I'm doing out in the world as far as how I'm showing up. But mindfulness and improving mental health can be so beneficial for your career as well. And so mindfulness in particular, I thought this was really interesting, can not only help reduce stress, which can be great for your career in itself, but it can improve focus, mindfulness can improve decision making. Mindfulness can improve cognitive flexibility. So our abilities to think on the spot something happens at work to pivot, to shift mindfulness can also increase our creativity. So those of us who are in a creative role, practicing mindfulness is not only good for your personal life, but it is really good for your professional life.

And I think that a lot of people don't realize that, but there are people in this world who are really powerful people and those people practice mindfulness. And so just a few examples of them are Oprah. Oprah Winfrey practices, mindfulness, and she has been practicing it I think for a long time. And she's somebody who really shows up very present in her life. Other people who practice mindfulness that are at the top of their games or were at the top of their games when they were playing people like Michael Jackson, or excuse me, Michael Jordan, people like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, rest in peace. Those were all people that practiced people who are at the top of their game, not only in athletics but also in business are practicing mindfulness. And so I can almost bet that if you go out into the world and you meet somebody who is a great business person, that they are probably practicing mindfulness.

So others example of that would be Jeff Wiener, the previous CEO of LinkedIn, who's an outstanding business person. Bill Gates is another one that practices mindfulness. Steve Jobs when he was a live practice mindfulness. And so it's so important to employ mindfulness in your life, not just for your own personal mental health, but for your own professional advances, for your own professional livelihood. Mindfulness can really help with that, and I think that we miss out on that a lot. And so I wanted to make a really big point of that. But then there's all sorts of people who practice mindfulness who honestly we don't even think would practice mindfulness. So there's your Jeff Rogans of the world, right? He practices mindfulness, Jerry Seinfeld even practices mindfulness. Russell Brand is somebody who went through a lot of addiction in his life and he has gone through a very large mental health journey, I believe, and he's somebody who practices mindfulness.

And today he shows up so differently in this world than he did 20, 30 years ago when he was still really struggling. And so mindfulness can be so powerful. And the cool thing about mindfulness is that it can be totally free. And so a lot of us can experience trouble getting access to care, trouble finding a good therapist. We maybe can't afford that yoga class that we've been wanting to try. Breathwork classes cost money. Everything costs money, but mindfulness doesn't have to cost money. And mindfulness can be done right now, right this second, right as you're listening to me. And what's really interesting is that mindfulness can be done with your eyes closed and with your eyes open. And I learned that recently because oftentimes we're in this world in a stressful place and maybe mindfulness would be really great in that moment, but we can't just say, oh, excuse me, let's just give me a second.

Let me close my eyes and then practice some deep breathing and then come back to you. That would be ridiculous. That would be silly. And that's not something that we can just do when we're out in the world and talking to people. That's not something we can do when we're driving. And most of us are incredibly stressed out when we're driving. And so that would be a great time to practice mindfulness. So it doesn't have to be alone in a dark room with your eyes closed. It doesn't have to be at night before you go to bed. Mindfulness can be practiced at any time, and I think that that's really important to remember. And so at any point in time if you're feeling stressed or anxious, you can step back, take a deep breath, hold it, let it out. And there's all sorts of types of different breathing for mindfulness.

And we can go over a few of those as well as a few of other tips and tricks for mindfulness. And so I've been talking about this idea of using it for your personal life as well as for your professional life. So let's just keep on that string of thought. So examples of mindfulness that you might want to use in your personal life would be something like meditation, right? So it involves sitting quietly focusing on your breathing, your thoughts and the sensations in your body. It can be very hard for some people to meditate. My mom is one of those people who cannot just sit there and close her eyes and not do anything. She doesn't think she's doing it right. But I'm here to tell you that just sitting there and not doing anything is doing it right. It can feel hard to focus in on your body, on your present moment to not let your thoughts run away with you.

But the point is to not be stringent with your thoughts. The point is to not turn your thoughts off. The point is to recognize them and then bring yourself back to your body. Bring yourself back to your present. You can also do meditation in different ways. So I struggle with sitting meditation. So because of that, I tend to do walking meditation. I'll do different forms of guided meditation. Guided meditation is very helpful for me because I also will just sit there and not really be sure what to do. And so in order to work with that and to work with myself, I evolved how I apply meditation in my life. And so that's a really great personal thing I can be doing. Now on the professional side, mindful activities can include affirmations, intentionally saying your affirmations every single day, and your affirmations should be about your personal life, your professional life, your relationships.

Affirmations should really cover all of that. And then there's something called intention setting. And that's really just being mindful about the goals you're setting, right? It's being mindful about what you want to do and how you want to go about doing it versus just saying, oh, this is my goal. It's being mindful about how to make it happen through intention setting, through setting very steps, plans of action, things that you will be doing and that you'll be paying attention to, right? You're fully aware of those intentions. And so those are great for professional development, really, really powerful stuff that can really help boost your career. But then honestly, mindfulness activities can be used for all things. So meditation can be used for professional developments and affirmations can and should be used for personal development for your personal mental health journey. So you can mix and match all of this stuff.

So other mindful activities that you can do for anything would be something like mindful breathing. So I mentioned this before, it is breath work. I love breath work. I found a really outstanding breath work person here, a professional here in Las Vegas where I live, and she's great. So if anybody needs a referral for a breath work specialist, I'd be happy to give that out. And breath work was my way of utilizing meditation in a mindful way that would work for me. And so breath work, you're really hyper-focusing on your breath. And so there's all different ways that you can change your breath. But during a breathwork session, I think you're typically asked to breathe in a certain special way. And because you're asked to breathe in a way that's different than what is normal, that really forces you to be focused on the breath and focus you to be then focused on your mind.

And so breath work has been transformative for me. It's been very powerful for me. But then there's other things, right? Like I said, mindfulness does not have to be complicated. It doesn't have to cost anything. Mindfulness can be done at any time. And so mindful eating is an example of that. So by pausing, we're going to slow down and allow for a moral transition into our meals, and we can take that pause both before the meal and in between bites, right? Especially if we are somebody who's maybe trying not to overeat or we are struggling with things like digestive problems. It's important to slow down to chew your food and to swallow it once it's chewed and to not inhale a bunch of food after itself because then that's when you can start running into more problems with your digestion. And so what is a good way to slow down?

Mindful eating is a good way to do that. And so what you can do is you can bring your attention inward by closing your eyes, beginning to breathe slowly in and out of your belly for maybe a count of 10, and do that before you start every single meal and see if that changes how you approach the meal, how you experience the meal, and how you come out of the other side of the meal. So again, bring that attention inward, close your eyes, and then begin with deep belly breaths, just slowly in and out for a count of 10. And then start your meal and see if that does anything, see if that changes anything. Other mindfulness activities that you can do are journaling, writing a letter, writing a letter to yourself, writing a letter to your loved ones, writing a letter to maybe somebody who's passed.

A way for us to get our emotions out and down on paper mindfully. I think that writing is so, so valuable, whether it's journaling or a letter, it's something that we don't do anymore because we're so busy typing on our phones or our laptops, and it's not the same as it is when you write. So something because we have a little bit of time. Something that I learned when I was a kid is the idea of a yuck book. And I learned this in the fourth grade when I experienced my first panic attack in school, and the school counselor said, you need to get your emotions out. You're bottling up your emotions. And she recommended journaling, and she recommended it for a way that a child would accept it and called it a yuck book and wanted me to get out my negative emotions. It was very intentional about not just the good things, but the bad things, right?

Getting that stuff out into the world. And so I did that, and then that led into my poetry journey, which was wonderful and a really great way for me to express myself when I was going through teenage years, which I know we've all probably felt some emotions during teenage years. And I was doing it long before I knew it was mindfulness. And then more recently, I started working with a coach who, or a coaching program in which they recommend morning pages and morning pages I find to be very similar to how I utilize my yuck book. Morning pages are a way for me to vent. It's a way for me to get out what is on my mind. So then that way I am present in that moment with those emotions, with those things that I'm thinking about so deeply, and then I can get them out and then I can move on and continue to be present in my life, in my work, in my eating, in how I'm associating with people, how I'm approaching my relationships.

All of that is so valuable. And so journaling can really get a lot out. So think about it before you just dismiss that idea. Another thing is walking. I mentioned this earlier, but you can absolutely have a mindful experience while walking. I try to do it every single morning trying to be aware of the sensations around me, trying to be aware of the wind, of the sun, of the weather, of the homes, of the streets, trying to really take it in. I personally really love the neighborhood I'm in. I think it's pretty. And so that helps. And so if maybe you want to be looking at something pretty, go in and walk somewhere pretty, go to a park, be intentional, and parks are totally free, right? Parks are totally free. And then of course there's gratitude. There's all sorts of ways to practice mindful gratitude.

You can do a list, you can do it in your journal. For a while, I would write down three things I was grateful for. Every single day I have a couple of journals that are just, it's literally just statements of gratitude. Then I moved on to the journal, or no, excuse me. Then I moved on to the jar, to the gratitude jar. And so I took all these gratitude moments and I put 'em in the jar and every single day write a new gratitude on a strip of paper and put that in the jar. And then at the end of the year, I can go in and see, wow, here are all of these things that I'm grateful for. Here are all these amazing things that happened this year that maybe I totally forgot about. Sometimes being grateful. It's not about the big stuff, it's about the small stuff.

If I have 50 sheets in there that said, I'm grateful I took a nap today. Well damn straight, I am grateful. I got to take naps on those day naps on those days, naps are important. And so be grateful for the small stuff as well as the big stuff. It's important to find something to be grateful for every day, which is why I really love doing that gratitude jar. And it was a little bit more interactive. So I love doing that. But then I would also employ gratitude during my walks. And so after my affirmations, I would maybe do affirmations on my walk for part of the time and then end the walk with a gratitude moment. And in that, I mean grateful for everything. I could be grateful for the bird singing. I can be grateful for the fact that I have a car that works.

I can be grateful for this house that I live in that's in this beautiful neighborhood that I love. And so there's always something to be grateful for. So definitely if you take anything away from today, take that away. That mindfulness tip, that gratitude is so, so essential. So to start being mindful, it's easier said than done, right? Right. It's like sitting down, okay, I'm mindful, right? But no, I mean there's actually ways that we can do it. So let's talk about some tips first, and I loved this when I saw this trip over what you want to do. So let's say you want to start employing yoga as a mindful activity in your life. Well put that yoga mat in front of you. Put that yoga mat on the stairwell. So if you're not looking, you will literally, no, no, don't do that. I'm not encouraging anyone to fall down and die, but put it in a place that it's going to be in your way.

So it reminds you, so I need to do yoga. Ugh, I need to do yoga. And think about this with all sorts of things. It's not just about yoga, right? Maybe have your walking shoes out. Put your walking shoes out in the middle of the floor in your living room so it drives you freaking crazy. And then you will probably put those walking shoes on and go walk because your rule is that they can't move from the middle of the living room floor until they've been utilized for a mindful walk. So there's all sorts of cool creative ways you can do it, and I challenge you to get creative with it. And that leads me to my next tip, which is to use sticky notes to remind yourself of a new intention. So I think a lot of us who have been on a mindful or a mental health journey have attempted sticky notes.

I know I have. And I think that the kicker to sticky notes is that you want it to be not something, not only something that's impactful, like I am amazing, but something that lands I am more amazing than James Bond. I am just as amazing as Elsa and Frozen. I don't know, I never watched that movie. But I think that where we start missing the trick is where we just are like, oh, let's just put affirmations or sticky notes everywhere with affirmations on them. But they don't mean anything. They don't make us chuckle. They don't make us think they don't hit home. And so I challenge you to use a sticky note in a way that can be funny, that can be interesting, that makes you think about doing something a little bit different. And that sticky note will probably last a little bit longer. And when you read it, you'll think about it more.

You'll be more mindful of it. And that's the whole point of this episode is to be mindful. So you also want to maybe potentially try a series of if this, then that message is so to create easy reminders to shift into your brain. So for example, if my office door opens, then I have to take a deep breath. If I get a phone call, then after it ends, I have to stand up and stretch. So there's all sorts of different ways you can apply that if then practice. Let's see here. How else can we do it? Let's see.

If I take lunch outside of the office, then I have to write in my gratitude journey, a journal during the car ride home or the car ride or while I'm sitting in the car. So whatever works for you, apply it to your life. So I challenge you to attempt that. And so we're about three minutes out. I'm going to end it on this mindfulness activity. And before I do that, just remember there are also different ways of breathing, mindful breathing. So box breathing is one. So that's where you're doing it. Like a box, right? You breathe in for four, you hold it for four, you breathe out for four, you hold it for four. So let's do that together. So breathe in for four out, hold out, hold.

So I did that fast just to give you an idea, but attempt box breathing, if you find you struggle with breathing, but deep belly breaths are so important, try to get that breath from your chest into your belly. And if you struggle with that, breath work can really help. I really struggled with that for a long time, but after I took breath work, I can deep belly breath. Now I know how to do it. And it was so, so powerful for me. So definitely keep looking up mindful ways to breathe, all sorts of breathing exercises. But I'm going to end this final mindfulness exercise, which is a five sense exercise. It's good to do if you are feeling panicky. It's good to do. If you need to distract yourself from anxiety, it's great for anxiety, but it's also really great if you are really just needing to pull yourself out of a dark moment.

Here's how it goes. It goes through five senses. You're going to employ your five senses in order to bring yourself into your present mindful moment and to bring yourself into the present state around you. That's why it's particularly good for people who are feeling panic. So you want to start with five things you see. Then go into four things. You touch three things you hear, two things you smell and one thing you taste. So I'll do it here in front of you, but let's do it together. So five things I see. So I see my computer in front of me, I see my mic, I see my phone to my left. I see my light to my left. What was that? That was four I think. And I see my water. That's five, four things I can touch. Well, I'm touching my hands. I can feel my own skin.

That's one. I feel my own skin. I'm touching the table in front of me. That's two touching my water bottle, right? That's three. And then I have a pen. I'm touching this pen. That's four. Three things I can hear well, I can hear the ac and I hope that wherever you are, you can hear it too. If it's summertime, I can also hear my neighbor's AC in their house. Their AC unit is on the side of their house next to us. It's particularly loud. And then I can hear my significant other working in the office that is in the other room. I can hear his printer going. That's three things I can hear. Two things I can smell well, I smell laundry. We have a fresh load of laundry that was done recently. My laundry machine is close by.

I can smell a little bit of perfume in this room. A little bit of, I think like friz, a little bit of that. Very lovely. I love it. And then last thing, one thing I can taste. I can taste water. I can taste the water that I had drank recently. I have no other taste in my mouth. And you know what? That's okay. That's why we only say one thing we can taste in this exercise. And at the end of the day, don't worry about whether you're doing it right. And that is the biggest tip I can give you for mindfulness. Don't worry about whether you're doing it right, just keep doing it. Just keep focusing on you, on your present, on what's around you. And if you're struggling in certain areas of life, try to employ mindfulness in those areas. So if it's eating, try some mindful eating.

If it's exercise, try to get out there and do some mindful walking. If you feel panicked all the time, try some mindful breathing. If you're stressed, try some mindful journaling. You can do this. And if you do, when you do, it'll help not only your personal life, but it will help your professional life as well. So I hope this was a valuable episode for you. I hope that you got lots of tips and I am so excited that we got to spend another day together. So please join me every first and third Wednesday, live here on PR Connections, and then catch my episodes on katierosewaechter.com. Thanks so much everyone, and we'll catch you next time. Bye!