De-Stress yourself with Yoga before any Meeting or Interview

If you are dreading a meeting or that interview, it probably may be your body indicating the possible amount of stress it has to undergo.

One small mistake and sanity comes crashing down. The pressure is on, not just to communicate effectively but also to bring people around to your way of thinking; stressful indeed. You are under the spotlight so to speak, and everything right from your appearance, to your body language, to your work, is laid out to be examined minutely and judged.

What do we do then? How do we handle the stress and emerge victoriously?

There are quite a few techniques available to distress quickly with not too much time being invested (which is an essential criterion for working professionals).

Yoga includes breath control, self-awareness and physical poses. Yoga can be subtle, and you do not have to slip into your yoga pants to de-stress, you do not even have to get up from your chair to practice yoga.

Tips for a Quick De-Stress

For next couple of minutes, be in the present moment and do not think of the task ahead. Start with some stretches:

• Walk up to the water dispenser and come back. While you do, loosen your shoulders, hands and a small shake of your body. It will relax your tensed muscles.
• Drop a pen and slowly pick it up. Do not bend your knees, as much as possible.
• You can do it sitting in your chair as well. Bend down and touch your ankles. If possible, stay there for a couple of seconds.
• Hold your hands high above your head and lock your fingers (interlace them). Ensure the palms are pointing to the ceiling. Now stretch as much as possible.

Now let us perform simple relaxation techniques:

• The keyword here is peace. Find a quiet place. If you have the luxury of a cabin, close the door.
• Turn off your laptop/computer monitor, and keep the phone off the hook.
• Sit straight. The spine should be erect. Chin up.
• Close your eyes.
• Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Take more time to exhale. Do this once more.
• Now breath in and count 1..2..3..4, ensure the breathing is abdominal.
• Hold it and count 1..2..3..4
• Breath out and count 1..2..3..4
• Do this at a pace comfortable to you.
• Perform this cycle for at least eight times. The slower you breathe, the calmer you become.
• Resume normal breathing. Observing the breath as you inhale, follow the air going down and filling up your lungs. In the same way, watch your breathing during exhalation too.
• Become unmindful of your surroundings.
• Enjoy this blissful moment for at least 5 minutes.
• You are all set for that meeting/interview now.

To fit a whole regime of yoga into our busy schedule can be pretty challenging. Until then, let us practice these simple techniques which will help us de-stress and face that all-important daunting task ahead.