It’s easy to get overwhelmed and bogged down as a business owner. You’ve got to stay on top of operations, human resources, and management! According to a study by Carleton University, the average Canadian now spends 17 hours per week just reading and responding to emails. As a business owner, you’re probably spending closer to 20 hours. That means, most entrepreneurs are prone to getting burnt out and stressed out.
So how do we manage it? As many of you know, Jelly Triangle is a small team of marketing experts but we’re able to help more than 100 clients per month get noticed in their community because we practice self care. Our office manager, Bhupi Rajput, affectionately referred to as the Naggin’ Dragon by most of us, makes sure of that. She’s explained some of the benefits of practising meditation and mindfulness (through mandala workshops) to our staff and has encouraged us to try it out for ourselves. And most of love it!
Meditation might seem pointless or boring, but we assure you, it’s not. By taking a break from our phones and computers for 10 minutes a day, we get a chance to close our eyes and shut out the noise of society. The endless chatter that goes on in your head starts to wind down and when the dust has settled, we’re surprised by how calm we feel. Like Bhupi promised, we’ve started to see that most of the stress we feel is self-induced; our minds keep trying to tell us all the tiny little things we still have to do. What a relief it is to get a break!
Mandalas work in a similar way. When we sit down for a long meeting, Bhupi passes out mandalas for us to colour, try the one she gave us this week. It’s completely optional but a lot of us keep doing it because it’s so soothing and helps to focus the mind. Sitting for a long time because you have to listen to people talk about something can get a tad bit tedious – even if you’re invested in what the speaker has to say. It’s difficult to keep your mind from wandering and your hands from fidgeting. But colouring mandalas gives your hands something to do and it also occupies that part of your head that’s trying to run away from the task at hand. It allows us to be mindful and relaxed, and keeps our mental health in tip top shape.
Still not convinced? Here’s what Dr. Stan Rodski, a neuropsychologist, had to say:
“Coloring elicits a relaxing mindset, similar to what you would achieve through meditation … the most amazing things [have] occurred — we started seeing changes in heart rate, changes in brainwaves … there are three key elements—repetition, pattern, and detail—that prompt positive neurological responses in participants. When you have things that you can predict will happen in a certain way, it's calming for us.”
You don’t have to be naturally creative or even artistically inclined. It’s just for fun! There’s no right way to colour and, because mandalas are geometrically designed, they’re hard to mess up. You can purchase colouring books at any bookstore nowadays but if you want to give it a go on your own, try drawing one yourself. Want to give meditation a try? There are tons of great guided meditations available on Youtube; all you need is an Internet connection and a quiet place where you can relax. (You can also check out these videos from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center.)
If you have the time though, talk to Bhupi! She’s the owner of Henna4You and manages a team of talented artists who spread the joy of mandalas through beautiful henna designs. Henna4You also puts on Mandala Workshops for groups and parties so that people can get together to experience the peaceful effects of mandalas and meditation. And if you’re lucky, she might tell you how to sign up for her retreats and workshops abroad (mention Live Love Laugh Retreats).
