Practising mindfulness when we're facing a challenging situation such as an interview, performance review or presentation can be hard. But it can help us to learn more about ourselves and to move through these situations with greater ease in the future.
When we're facing an interview or a presentation, our minds may start to ruminate about what might go wrong. For example ,"I could blush or not know what do say!"
Often these thoughts lead to yet more anxious thoughts and together these can lead to the bodily symptoms of anxiety, i.e. sweaty hands, increased heartbeat and fast breathing.
Those bodily sensations then might trigger even more thoughts, which lead to more anxious feelings, which lead to more anxious thoughts… So no wonder our anxiety builds and we end up blushing!
In mindfulness we don't try to change those thoughts or try to get rid of the anxious feelings. Instead we train our minds, so that when those thoughts occur we can come back to the present moment.
The fact is it won't help us to create an apocalyptic presentation or interview scenario in our heads before the actual event. Why? Because all this ruminative thinking will only make us more anxious!
But How Do We Train Our Minds?
By practising mindfulness on a daily basis, including trying mini-meditation techniques for the workplace. By doing so, we strengthen our ability to catch our minds when they drift off into ruminative thinking and gently escort them back to the present.
Over time, we become so skilled at this, that it only takes a few seconds to notice when we've drifted. We can become the master of our minds.
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Mindfulness also teaches us to turn towards uncomfortable bodily feelings i.e. anxiety. After all, anxiety is a natural feeling – especially when we face an interview or a presentation! But humans have the tendency to want to push things away that feel uncomfortable.
As mentioned, anxiety is a natural part of human life. Thus if all we want for 'it' is to go away, then we will never get to know it. The interesting thing is that once we start observing our symptoms of anxiety, we will notice that our anxiety is simply that – anxiety: increased heartbeat, sweaty hands, etc.
What makes anxiety so bad is all the ruminating thoughts around it, which lead to the vicious cycle of more and more anxious thoughts and feelings.
Taking a More Mindful Approach
Imagine you have a presentation or interview tomorrow. Someone who practices mindfulness will notice thoughts popping up, such as “I could blush or not know what to say”. They might also observe bodily feelings of anxiety arising.
However, they will soon catch their anxious thoughts and bring their attention back to the present moment, where there is no real threat. They will also turn curiously towards and observe their bodily feelings of anxiety.
For example, exactly how fast is my heartbeat? Where in my body can I feel it? Only in the region of my heart or does it even spread out into my fingers?
If we approach our anxiety in a mindful and curious way, it will loosen its grip over us with time and practice.
Now imagine that if you don't spend all your time on what could go wrong and on trying to make your feelings of anxiety go away, you'll have loads of time to actually prepare yourself for the upcoming event.
Don't forget though, even the most experienced mindfulness practitioner will at times get anxious thoughts arising during an interview or a presentation. However, they have the mindfulness skills to come back to the here and now – the presentation or the interview giving – and that will make the likelihood of blushing or loosing their words a lot smaller!
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