Working from home has taken a toll on many people. Even as they struggle to strike a work-life balance, the immediate fallout of this is a complete burnout. You can avoid this, by simply taking some time out during your work day to practice a mindfulness exercise. Psychiatrist Dr Sagar Mundada suggests ways to beat stress in five minutes.

Try a mindfulness exercise to relax your mind

Mindfulness is an art of being in the present moment in a compassionate and non-judgmental way.  If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed after an hour of work, sit in one place, and focus on your breathing pattern for the next one to two minutes. Be mindful about your breathing technique. Focus on how you are breathing in from your nose and breathing out from your mouth. Also, be aware of the movements of your chest and abdomen. Whenever your mind wanders, remind yourself to come back, focus and be in the moment.

The We Five formula to beat stress

All of us have five senses that we need to use more productively. Whenever you feel stressed, sit in one place, and take three to four deep breaths. To start with, you can use your sense of sight to look out for a new object in the environment. While doing this exercise Dr Sagar says, “I had earlier noticed that there was a glass bottle in the room. I had perceived it to be completely full, but now when I noticed it today, I realised that that was not the case. ” Each time you use your senses you should be able to find something new in the environment that you had earlier missed.

He also encourages you to use your sense of hearing to spot any other background noises you had not paid attention to. Follow this with using your sense of smell to spot a particular fragrance or aroma or even a bad odour in the room. This would have been present but for some reason, it’s possible you would have noticed it. Then use your hands to pick a favourite treat, and put it in your mouth, and use your sense of taste to savour it. You can also use your sense of touch to feel the material you have chosen to wear today.

Using all your senses  and this We Five formula you can cope better with stressful situations.