No Time To Meditate? 5 Meditation Practices To Manage High-Functioning Anxiety That Only Take 5 Minutes To Do

“If you can just take five minutes to do any of these practices, this is the key to maintaining a baseline that keeps you in this calm state and you’re actually working that mental muscle, that brain muscle, that blood flow that you’re using while concentrating". 

"This allows you to relax and rewire a sense of calm. And that is the antidote to anxiety.” 

Aloha and welcome!

How would it feel to have practical and accessible meditation techniques that don’t require complete isolation or significant time investments? Pretty amazing, right?

For those who think meditation is all about sitting quietly in darkness, think again!

In this episode of Anxiety Ease we’ll explore dynamic alternatives to traditional meditation, perfect for high-functioning individuals looking to manage anxiety without pausing their productivity.

Are you ready to tackle anxiety in a way that fits effortlessly into your busy life?

Discover my 5 methods to increase your presence and awareness, which can significantly reduce feelings of anxiety.

Just try at least ONE this week!
Dr. Hartwell

Episode Links:

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Get your copy of Dr. Hartwell's new book, Cultivating Professional Success: Even When High Functioning Anxiety Drives You To The Edge at www.drlisahartwell.com

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Transcript

If you can just take five minutes to do any of these practices, this is the key to maintaining that baseline that keeps you in this calm state and you're really working that mental muscle, that brain muscle, that blood flow that you're doing while you're concentrating. That allows you to relax and rewire a sense of calm. And that is the antidote to anxiety.


Aloha and welcome. You're listening to the Anxiety Ease podcast and I'm your host, Dr. Lisa Hartwell. I'm a Hawaii licensed clinical psychologist, anxiety coach, and retreat facilitator. In this podcast season, I'm going to be sharing mine and other human stories lessons for my fellow brain nerds who love science like I do and our own life's journey to live life with more ease. I hope to give you doses of inspiration and let's just have a whole lot of fun together. The show notes and complete transcripts can always be found on my website, drlisahartwell.com, or directly through the link of Anxiety dash ease.com. I greatly appreciate any reviews on itunes and please share this podcast.


I look forward to spending this season with you. Aloha. Hey. Hey everyone. Dr. Lisa Hartwell here I am here to talk about today. How do we meditate and do meditation with eyes wide open? I know meditation practices that harness the power of pattern. Interrupt is very key, especially when it comes to high functioning anxiety, because frankly, you need to take care of it and move on with your day. That's kind of how we operate.


However, most people, when they think about meditation, they always think about sitting in a quiet room with their eyes closed in this relaxed state. But actually, there's this other idea where we can have a meditative moment or meditative practice during your day while you're fully awake. And as a matter of fact, you probably should think about doing that anyway multiple times a day to keep your anxiety, especially your high functioning anxiety, at baseline throughout the day. So let's talk about how we do that. One of the things that we think about this is, you know, this idea about mindful walking. Let's talk about this first one. And I used to have a mindfulness walking group that I would do at the beach. Actually in the mornings I would have folks just meet me down there and anybody that wanted to come, I would just take them for a walk and we would have mindful walking.


And sometimes people would talk, but not very often. I would just kind of guide them through, paying attention to the sand on the bottom of their feet and maybe the temperature of the water, and of course, the smell around them of the ocean. And of course, all of this is very easy because we live in Hawaii, so it's a very easy place to do a mindful walking practice. But in all, when you think about, instead of sitting in stillness, taking a walk in nature, or even around your neighborhood, as you walk, what you should be doing is always paying attention to the sensation of your feet touching the ground, the movement of your body and the sounds and the sights around you. What happens is by anchoring your awareness in the present moment, you get to cultivate, really, a sense of groundedness and clarity. And you can see how by focusing with your eyes wide open and in the present moment, with your body fully engaged, including all of your senses, that becomes a meditative practice in and of itself. It's very, very powerful. And it doesn't have to be very long.


Even if you're doing your 20 or 40 minutes walks a day, that's great. But I tend to take a lot of shorter walks throughout my day, frankly, because I can't sit at the computer very long anymore or in sessions, obviously, I can't do that. But even in between sessions, I will get up and stretch my body and maybe do some wall push ups or something, really just focusing on a moment. Sometimes I'll just have a cup of tea, and that will help ground me, you know, just for five minutes or so before I move on to the next thing. Another one is what is known as sensory scanning. And how you do that one is you just really find a comfortable seat. Really just sit. And what I like to do is, I kind of call it the hypnotic gaze, where maybe just find a spot on the wall and just really relax your eyes and focus on one spot, either on the wall or on the carpet or on the floor or something.


And then you bring your attention to your breath, allowing your breath to anchor you in the present moment. And as you really take that deep breath, what you're doing is you're focusing on one specific sense at a time. So in other words, you're going to notice the colors, the shapes and the different textures in your environment. You can tune into any sounds that you hear, both near and far. So you might be hearing maybe the air conditioning or a fan or birds chirping, maybe somebody's mowing the lawn in the distance. What are some other ones you can think of? Maybe if you live in the city, it might even just be the hum of traffic. Or it could just be just silence and just listening to silence. But by paying attention to anything around you.


Using your five senses, there might be some even sense that you smell in the air. Certainly spring has sprung across the nation, finally, at least over here in the states. And so, you know, there might be some flowers blooming that weren't even just as short as a month ago. By engaging in multiple senses, you can deepen your connection to the present moment and really foster a sense of calm. And a third meditation I always talk about is really, and many of you have heard this before, which is mindful eating. And I actually teach this in my practice with folks. I have a dish of hard mints, lifesaver mints. And the reason I do that is I use those because they're strong.


They just have a strong flavor. And really, what you do is you can do it with anything. But I always say, try to pick something that doesn't dissolve quickly, such as a raisin or maybe a slice of fruit or anything, really. But what you do is when you put it in your mouth instead of chewing on it, or kind of just putting in your mouth to kind of sit and go back to work, really taking a moment to observe the food in your mouth with kind of questions. And I always say that observed with curiosity. So you're really noticing possibly the. The shape of it in your mouth, the texture, and, of course, the flavor. What happens is when you do this mindful practice, if you breathe deep through your nose and inhale, you really take in the fullness of the aroma of the flavor that's in your mouth.


Once you learn how to eat like this, you really can't go back. This is how you, you really engage not only the taste buds on your tongue and in your mouth, but by using the breath, this actually enhances the flavor as well. While you're paying attention to the taste and texture and savoring each, each moment, you really actually cultivate a greater appreciation for what it's providing for you. And if it is just something as simple as a mint, that might just be pleasure, and that is fine. If it's something such as nourishment, such as, like I said, a raisin or a piece of fruit or something, that's okay, too. It's really about just slowing down, slowing down the mind. In the moment you're fully awake, you're fully aware, and yet you're relaxed. So then the fourth one we talk about, which is focused breathing.


And this one here is, you know, breathing cannot be underrated. It is something that we do automatically. But what we're doing with meditation, especially in a fully awakened state is we're actually doing focused breath. We're doing focused breathing with something that we really take for granted on a daily basis. And what you want to do is, again, if you're, no matter where you are, you could. Even if you're walking, you can do this when you're looking ahead or if you're sitting, you can just find a spot to look at. And as you continue to breathe deeply, you're really maintaining your gaze on one thing without looking away. And what you can notice is that you notice the sensations that arise in your body and in your mind.

And I always say, just picture it like a cloud. Just put those thoughts in a cloud and just let it float on by all the while that you're focused on that one thing that you're looking at. So what happens is by concentrating your attention on a specific focal point, you really quiet the chatter of your mind, and you experience a sense of inner stillness that is truly, truly the goal. And then the final one I wanted to kind of talk about was mindful listening. And this is something that our son has down to an absolute science because he loves music. He can hear every little note in a music piece that I can't even hear. But I try to think about it in terms of, even if you're not a musician, what you can do is you can find a quiet space and. And just connect with your breath again.


And either listen to some music that you like, and as you're listening to that music, see if you can subtly pick out the different tonations and the different differences in the notes. Or if there's multiple instruments, see how many different instruments that you can actually pull out of the music piece in here. If you're not a music person, then again, just think about it in terms of what are some of the sounds that you hear in listening around you. It could be the, you know, the subtle nuance of the wind going through the trees. It could be the chirping of birds. It could be anything. But by listening mindfully, what you do is you cultivate again that sense of presence, and it's really about a attunement to the world around you. And if you can just take five minutes to do any of these practices, this is the key to maintaining that baseline that keeps you in this calm state.


And you're really working that mental muscle, that brain muscle, that blood flow that you're doing while you're concentrating, that allows you to relax and rewire a sense of calm. And that is the antidote to anxiety. It is the antidote to keep that high functioning anxiety that comes and goes and cycles at a baseline that feels more manageable. And it only takes a few minutes. The most you should do anyways. Five minutes. Just multiple times a day, though. And just, just when you think about it, or if you want to go ahead and put it on your smartwatch or your smartphones and, and set the, set the timer, go ahead and do it a few times a day.


So when you think about meditation as a practice with your eyes wide open, it feels very different, doesn't it? As opposed to just sitting in a quiet room where you're kind of forcing yourself to just relax. I just have to relax my mind, relax my body. This way, if you're just walking in nature, maybe savoring a meal, or simply listening to the sounds of the world around you, they really offer you a powerful invitation to presence and awareness. I just encourage you to incorporate them into your daily routine and really discover this transformative potential that they all really can offer you. So thanks for joining me today on this idea of mindfulness and meditation. And until next time, I hope you find peace in the present moment like I do, and I will see you on the next episode. Ahui ho.

Okay, that's a wrap for this week. The Anxiety Ease podcast is produced by myself and the music is provided by pigs a bay. For more episodes or to get in touch anytime, you can visit my website, drlisahartwell.com. And if you do like the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us out a lot. Also, if you want to see where you you fall in the continuum of your high functioning anxiety, head on over to the link that's found in the show notes hartwellanxietyassessment.com.