We all know the feeling. Something is needed and we don’t know quite what it is. You’re feeling stressed or distracted, anxious or unhappy. Sitting in front of the computer screen, you’re meant to be working and nothing is happening. In the past, it would have been time for a smoke. Nowadays, that’s probably difficult, even if you still want to. So, what to do? You space out for a few minutes, plough on with the work, and whatever it was that was creating a disturbance remains unresolved.

There is another option. Those few unproductive minutes could be used for meditation. What does this mean? Not concentrating on something or meditating over an issue, but taking the opportunity for a few minutes of nothingness. Meditation is taking a little time to encounter that same empty space that we go into in deep sleep. It is here that the deepest relaxation becomes available.

Going into that emptiness rests us and enables us to come back refreshed, ready to deal with the realities of the everyday world. Anxieties, stress, depression: all of these can be reduced or dissolved through meditation. They are mostly symptoms of our overly complicated lives and as such can be healed.

Below are a few suggested meditations for the workplace. All of them are quick and easy. They are derived from the meditations of the Indian mystic Osho. The best way to see if one of them is right for you is to try it for three days. If you like it, then stick with it for a while. You can even keep notes or a diary to see how it is helping.

Meditations

1 Touching the eyes, light as a feather

Very simple this one, so simple you can do it many times during the day. You can do it on the train or on the bus or maybe just sitting on your chair. It feels good when you are getting sleepy. It brings a certain alertness.

Close your eyes and place your palms lightly on the eyelids, without pressing, soft as a feather. You will find that the thoughts tend to slow down or stop. The eyes become still and lose their tension. You will see that when the eyes are relaxed the mind tends to relax also. When you continue with this practice regularly you will find it brings a sense of joy into your life.

2 Watching the breath – the Silent Witness

This too can be done just for a moment, wherever you are. However, it is most beneficial as a regular practice. You can do it for a few minutes or continue as long as you want.

Close your eyes, sit in a relaxed position and start watching your breath. This means that as you breathe in, you let your attention fall inside with the breath. As you exhale, your attention moves outward.

Feel the breath coming in; let it move in. Move with the breath fully consciously. Do not go ahead and do not follow behind, just go with it. Then you may find that point, which is between two breaths. For a fragment of a moment, the inbreath stops before it starts moving out again. The same happens after you have exhaled, for a split second the breathing stops, before it again moves in.

The gap between inbreath and outbreath is of a very short duration, but with close attention you can feel the gap. Once you can feel the gap, you have a glimpse of the witness. If you enjoy this and continue with the practice you will find the gap expanding and you may experience profound silence.

Somebody can be sitting by your side and he will not know what you are doing. You can do it any time. Not only at work, but also just before going to sleep. If you are not feeling sleepy just try watching the breath for a few minutes. You will wake up so relaxed; you will still be in a space of meditation. And you will not know when you fell asleep.

Try it first for a few minutes at work, not when you are feeling sleepy or you may fall asleep. If you like it, try it more often.

3 Meeting the Problem, Greeting the Tension

This is a great meditation when you are feeling in too much of a hurry, too speedy, or when some inner tension or anxiety will not allow you to relax.

When you feel hurried, just watch. Are you trying to escape from something? Are you trying to avoid some situation? Are you trying not to notice something that is bothering you? Are you trying to suppress something, or worrying about something? Is there a wound inside that you don’t want to feel? Watch deep down. This habit of hurrying is usually an attempt to avoid some deep sense of worry, some underlying tension. Bring it up, let it surface and meet it.

People are constantly hurrying because they are avoiding so many issues, so many old wounds. We avoid the memory of this person who treated me badly, that man or woman who betrayed me. Or we worry about an investment that may or may not come good. Right now, nothing can be done about it, yet we go on worrying. Greet the worry, meet it face to face, get to know it and it begins to disappear. Avoid it and you will have to start running. In the end you will be running even in your sleep, in your dreams.

You will be surprised. If instead you can encounter any problem directly, face to face, it disappears. It dissolves. In the inner world, to exactly know what a problem is and to meet it is the treatment. A problem only continues so long as you go on suppressing it. Of course, this does not apply to the practical problems of everyday life. They still have to be dealt with. It is the inner problems that dissolve. When they are gone half the stress is gone and what remains is so much easier to deal with.

To be continued

These three meditations are just a starting place. If one of them appeals to you, have a go and see what happens. In a future article, we will be offering some other meditations. In ancient India Shiva declared that there are one hundred and twelve possible ways to meditate. There are plenty to choose from.