Meditation at Work: Breathing Lessons

This happens to me on more days than most: I am in a meeting, or working against a deadline, and it occurs to me that I am barely breathing. I'm not holding my breath, but my breathing is shallow, my chest and diaphragm tight and withholding, like I'm conserving air; it's a little like panting, a little like I've just discovered I'm under water.

If you can breathe, you can meditate, says Sharon Salzberg, both in her dharma talks and her recent book, "Real Happiness." But what if you've forgotten how to breathe?

A year ago, after eight glorious, touch-and-go, actually-less-glorious-than-I-remember-them years as a freelance writer, I took a full-time job. It's the kind of full-time job that is pretty much wholly contrary to the freelancer's lifestyle. I went from being fairly isolated (ah, those long, solitary days and nights at the computer, writing by the light of a single taper) to being constantly surrounded by dozens of fast-talking, fast-moving, always-breathless people, each one in possession of his own quirks, opinions and personality. I went from having wide open, scheduleless days to a schedule chockablock with meetings, brainstorms, "touch-bases" and conference calls. (MORE)

Source: Huffington Post