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These last few weeks have been hard for everyone especially those that work in HR. We are working long hours writing and implementing policy changes, fielding employee and leader questions, and making tough decisions and recommendations for the businesses we support. And we’re doing it all on the fly. I’m exhausted and in Austin we’ve only just went to shelter in place so I’m fielding questions about essential employees, drafting messaging to notify customers and team members about what’s next for the business.

Aside from the stress and anxiety that is creeping up as it relates to our businesses we are also managing new and different kinds of personal and family challenges. We’re working from home and we’re doing it with children, roommates and partners. We’re also caring and checking with loved ones and family members while focusing also on our family’s own mental health and wellbeing.

In short we are juggling a lot right now. The world seems to be on HR’s shoulders which is why I wanted to talk about how we can reduce and also manage our own stress levels and anxieties. We might not be able to change our personal or professional situation right now. It’s pretty much the wild west, and I realize you and I have a to do list right now of tasks that seems to never end. And that’s why I wanted to share with you how I manage my own stress and anxiety when times our tough with a guided meditation specifically for human resource leaders.

How Guided Meditation Can Reduce Your Stress Levels

In 2017, I started using guided meditation to help me manage my stress. I was trying to meditate, but I wasn’t experiencing success. I felt like a failure because I couldn’t quiet my mind. I decided to use a guided meditation to help me learn how to relax, breathe, and focus 15 minutes of my day on myself to reduce my anxiety and stress. The results were amazing and now in times of stress (like now) I began to crave guided meditation to help me ease my mind and release the feelings of things I couldn’t control.

Before guided meditation I didn’t even realize that my stress levels were so high. They were causing me to act differently exhibiting OCD, snapping at family members, and experiencing insomnia because I didn’t have a handle on the stress. I only realized it after a friend point out my fixation (AKA OCD) on having things decorated in my home. It was then I realized that the OCD was my stress coping mechanism. I was using it to try to control and create some balance in my life. Enter guided meditation to help me find ways to cope with the anxiety I had developed from our family moving to Austin, my daughter starting a new school, and me launching a new business all at the same time.

Guided meditation is an audio recording that is normally 5-15 minutes long. Your meditation experience is guided by a person (in this case me) to help aid you in getting to a place where you can relax, slow down your breathing, and release some of that anxiety and negative energy that you have been holding in. Guided meditation is a form of a meditation coach to help you relax and reduce stress. I have listened to these 4-5 times a week for three years, and I felt compelled to help HR leaders given what is happening in our world right now. I wanted to share what’s working for me with the larger HR community.

What Do I Need to Do to Meditate? 

I’ve put together a 15 minute guided meditation of my own for you to help you meditate. You can click on the link at the top of this article. It’s an audio recording that you can use as many times as you wish and even download it to your phone or computer. You simply listen to the guided meditation following along with my suggestions to relax, close your eyes, and breathe. I walk you through the relaxation techniques that work for me helping you find even a few minutes of respite in this crazy time we all are working and living in.

The important thing is to find a nice and quiet place to relax. I like to do guided meditation in my cozy bed, in a comfortable chair, or seated on the floor. You close your eyes and focus on my voice for 15 minutes, and after the meditation you should feel refreshed, calm, and more relaxed. Use this meditation as much as you want and especially in times where you can feel your anxiety levels creeping up. Just stop what you are doing and let me do the rest.’

You can download this meditation.