“Imagine you are at your office, but it’s better. Breathe in. And exhale. Your office is clean. Your left eye no longer has an involuntary twitch. You don’t look like someone on the verge of stabbing the next person who says you look tired. Because you don’t. You don’t look tired at all.”

(from A guided meditation for nonprofit professionals)

Three weeks ago, I started meeting clients in person that I have only known virtually for the last year. I am filling my gas tank up more than usual and am recalling how to be productive while driving some distance to a meeting.  

You might be back at your workplace full-time or a mix of in-person and remote. The pandemic rocked your world, and you realize now how important personal time is, how important family time is, and the importance of work/life balance.  After reanalyzing your professional life, you may realize that the balance should really be a LIFE/work balance – but how do you make it your new normal? You feel like you are working double time and you are trying to be mindful and continue to do the yoga you took up last year to keep yourself sane.

Meditation is a great tool to bring us back to center, help us be mindful, and help restore our life/work balance. Meditation can be 5 minutes or 60 minutes and is a tool that we all need in our toolbox to keep stress at bay. There are many meditation apps to download, or you can search “meditation” on YouTube for many options. Make sure you schedule time each day for a mindfulness activity to keep yourself in balance. Put down the TV remote, put down the phone (unless you are using it to meditate), and do not look at your phone upon waking or before sleep.

During the pandemic, some nonprofits offered their employees team building and mindfulness workshops, promoted meditation, and gave staff members the flexibility they needed to take care of their family and bring in a paycheck at the same time. These benefits should be ongoing – forever.

Use these links to get started or build on what you are already doing to balance your new normal.

• Meditations you can do at work
• Nonprofit Organizations Promoting Meditation and Mindfulness