Can Meditation Help a Business Owner’s Anxiety?

A Business Owner Coaching client recently asked me if I thought Meditation would reduce his anxiety and make him happier?  He was experiencing the all too common “too-much-month-at-the-end-of-the-money” anxiety.  He’s been in business for many years but the cash flow and other pressures of the last 18 months were taking its toll.

Earlier in my career, I was in Counselling and then I spent 15 years teaching in-depth Personal Development seminars like the Turning Point and Breakthrough course (NZ’s and Aust most successful programs at the time) which had a meditation technique as part of the program.

Here’s what I basically said to him.

Initially, I explained that I had taught several thousand people to meditate and this was my experience and what I taught – and it seemed to work.

I think the first step is understanding what anxiety is – anxiety is a form of fear. Virtually everyone experiences anxiety from time to time for short periods.  That feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome sometimes combined with the feeling you wont cope.  And you can experience anxiety about “real” situations or imagined situations that you negatively dwell upon – your mind doesn’t make any distinction between what is real and what is vividly imagined.  The resulting nervousness, fear and worry feel the same.

If anxiety is ongoing you might be experiencing GAD – Generalised Anxiety Disorder - which is a more chronic condition when the anxiety wont shut off.  Several sources that I have read recently suggest about 5% of the western world suffer from GAD so that is quite a lot of people!  Another important factor is that with chronic anxiety, even the smallest thing can set off a new cycle of worry and nervousness which usually results in negative emotional reactivity and negative self talk.

 Can meditation help?

 In many cases, I believe it does but only when it is practiced regularly (meaning daily) and when done in conjunction with a variety of other things.  Let me explain ………

Perhaps the first step in reducing anxiety is exploring your personal habit of worrying – a habit of mind leading you to respond to things with anxiety – especially damaging when you focus on things that you that you have little or no control over.  The self reflection and mindfulness aspect of mediation often helps with understanding yourself including your mental and emotional habits.  Meditation is sometimes called a mini-holiday or an inner journey, with the result of understanding and accepting yourself at a deeper level.

 But to reduce anxiety takes more than Meditation. 

It takes a willingness to explore various aspects of your life and to make an honest assessment of the current reality in that area and developing a plan of action to help reduce anxiety and get you “back on track” in areas that you are “off track”.

So what life areas should you assess?

If you want help exploring any of this give me a call on 08 8339 6781 or email wayne@successknowhow.com.au

 Score yourself honestly on a 1-5 scale in each of these areas.

1. How are your relationships with family and friends?  Do your relationships nourish you or drain you?  Do you have an inner circle of friends or family that you can confide in?
2. Do you have a healthy professional life?  Do you get enjoyment, satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment from what you do at work?  Are you moving forward professionally?
3. Do you have an outlet for expressing yourself creatively?
4. Do you have a healthy sex life?
5. Do you have a healthy financial life?
6. Do you have sense of direction in life?
7. Do you have a healthy mental state?
8. Do you live in a healthy environment and one that you enjoy?
9. Do you have a healthy physical life?  Do you exercise?  Do you eat healthily?

If you honestly assess the above areas and have a few lower scores you are probably experiencing anxiety and not being as happy as you could be.  Perhaps you score most areas at 4 or 5 and your issue is in one area where you only score 1 or 2.

Whatever your result from this little test, regular Meditation could help.

Anxiety and being “off track” often leads to racing negative thoughts that just don’t seem to go away.   Meditation helps by calming the racing and overactive mind.  It helps you “mentally de-clutter”.  It helps you become more “centred” and in the present moment (rather than focusing on things in the future).

 But what also helps is looking at your high scores and celebrating them.  Then, look at your lower scores.  Rather than focusing or dwelling on the negative simply decide on 2-3 small action steps you can take this week.  Remember the old question, how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!  Getting on track again may take time – and effort.  And it usually starts with little steps.

 So as you can see, Meditation is a great tool in dealing with stress and anxiety but your benefits skyrocket when you take a whole of life approach.

Remember that if you want help exploring any of this give me a call on 08 8339 6781 or email wayne@successknowhow.com.au