After any stressor occurs, it’s important to get back to your center, and here are several ways you can do this.

• Acknowledgment is the first step in taking advantage of the orienting process. Recognize that your environment and headspace need clearing throughout the day. It could be prior to entering a meeting. You might have others meeting you in your space which is an ideal time to acknowledge the need for reorienting yourself between the departure of the previous person and before the arrival of the next person. 

• Grounding is the next step you’ll want to take that can easily be done by simply sitting in a chair with both feet firmly planted on the floor. Be sure to check your posture and ensure you maintain an easy straight line of  your spine without feeling the need to be stiff or hold yourself upward. I recommend moving your hips forward in your chair away from the back so that you are seated two-thirds of the way to the front of your chair.

• Orienting is something you will note in dogs following an energized altercation, be it a barking match with another dog, a run-in with a human, or anything that causes a canine disruption in their life’s flow. You will note that they literally shake their body from head to toe. While I hesitate to suggest you literally shake your body at work, it is a great way to reorient. It’s something I do at the end of every yoga session; shake from head to toe including a rigorous vocal release. There are even some schools of thought that recommend just that; literally shake to dispel the overcharged energy in your body and as one of my massage therapists recommended, yell into a pillow (mind the neighbors).

Should you not be in a space that allows for this without the wandering and curious eyes and ears of others, there are other ways to orient yourself. Such as taking a few deep breaths, twisting your body as far as possible to one side as possible, and repeating the same on the opposite side of your body. Note anything you might see or experience while unwinding. Then proceed to look up to stretch your neck and down to stretch your vertebrae. Again always note what you encounter that may be familiar or unfamiliar to you.

• Soothing comes after you orient yourself by taking a few deep breaths, rolling the shoulders first backward then forwards, and tilting your head in both directions to release tension. I recommend to my clients to have a glass of water nearby and to flush the system a few times while they move through these activities, particularly at the end.

• Assessing comes once you have completed the orienting process. Notice how you feel, what you experienced, what you saw that you hadn’t noticed before. Note any physical sensations and be sure to avoid discounting the slightest observation that seeps into your awareness. All these count toward you gaining the greatest benefit from orienting. Once you’ve completed the practice, I suggest to all my clients to note all observations in their leadership journal and bring that information to the next coaching session. It can be invaluable information you gather in your leadership journal when it comes to making connections with whatever challenges you are facing as an executive leader.

While these are the steps I use to aid clients in getting the most out of overcoming stress and anxiety on the job, I have and continue to utilize the orienting process for myself. I also practice mindfulness meditation, which I spoke of in a previous blog. 

Sometimes my meditation doesn’t go as well as I would like. In those moments I remind myself that a “poor” meditation is far more beneficial than I might admit to myself at first. Yet, once you learn more about what meditation is truly about, you’ll understand that there is a meta-level to meditation that can escape even the most practiced of us all. This boils down to my own realization that there is no such thing as a “poor” meditation. There is only the one you did not do versus the one you did do!

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