A 30-Second Meditation that Prepares You for Human Contact

If you work in tech, chances are you interface with a computer more frequently than you do humans at your job. And not just more frequently, but more intimately, too.

You probably know every keystroke, workaround, and quirk of whatever software you use day in, day out. You know exactly how to optimize your inputs to maximize efficiency and output into the most well-structured and organized form. You know how your computer thinks. You can anticipate what it will do and intuitively know what it’s capable of or not. You have your windows arranged perfectly, and everything you need is just one Alt-Tab away.

You’re rocking. Flying. Your eyes flick towards the clock and you feel a slight stretch in your sockets as your vision breaks from the sweet spot in the center-lower portion of your monitor. Shit, meeting time. You rip off your earbuds, eject disks and wait for what feels like an eternity, yank out all the cables from your laptop and carry it still open to the conference room.

People.

You haven’t needed to form words for the past four hours, and you have to break the seal between your teeth and your mouth so you can utter out a “Hey.” You look around and notice how squishy and round everyone looks. And how real. Almost surreal.

You’ve been a computer all day, and now you’re expected to be a human.

After enjoying your domain of pure control, you’re thrown into an unpredictable world of invisible dynamics, unspoken expectations, and feelings.

Shudder.

You’re not present. You’re still processing workflows. You’re not open. You just want everyone to stop talking and get back to it. And you’re not your full self because the human parts of you have been asleep all day.

Try this.

At your desk, in the meeting room, or hell, even on the way to the meeting room, do this 30 second breathing exercise and meditation using eight words that start with ‘C’. Say each word silently or mouth them softly to yourself. Feel into them.

Inhale. Calmness.

Exhale. Clarity.

Inhale. Connectedness.

Exhale. Confidence.

Inhale. Courage.

Exhale. Creativity.

Inhale. Curiosity.

Exhale. Compassion.

In just four breaths, you should feel a dramatic shift in your internal and mental state. If you felt into each word, you should sense an opening to greater access to your full self. And you likely felt a swelling of warmth, energy, and peace.

Now you’re ready for that meeting.

You can extend this into a longer meditation by inhaling and exhaling on each word, or cycle through these words multiple times during a longer sit.

I do this exercise before every session with a client. No matter where I’m at, I can always come back home to myself and be ready to connect with them.

If you do this before any meeting or conversation with another person, I guarantee it will be a more productive, pleasant, and authentic interaction.