You can read two stories of the Brief Mindfulness “Rapid Stress Reduction” coaching here and here. For more of an overview, here’s a table of what people have reported from Brief Mindfulness coaching. The method is

1. that they write a few short notes on their “before” state,
2. they’re guided through the 30 second “Reconnect” process,
3. they write notes on their “after” state.

This is normally incorporated in a coaching session of 30 minutes (or 60 if there is a need to generate progress with the objective situation, as well as managing the stress-response). [table colwidth=”50%|50%”] Before, After “Stressed, exhausted and scared. Breathing tight and fast – almost hyperventilating”,”excitement, enthusiasm and joy – ‘in my happy space’. In touch with what my life is all about” “Unhappy and frustrated, lost, alone and hopeless. Physically upset, heavy and drowsy. Self-loathing”,”Enthusiastic, coming up with creative ways forward. Hopeful, much happier, want to get on with it. Feeling of love” “anxious and bad”,”‘sunny bright’” “too angry to communicate (10 days after event)”,”sadness (that such events happen), stopped taking it personally” “humiliated, sad, angry, hurt, out of control (been sleeping really badly)”,”‘this is easy, I can soar!’ Exciting change, a new beginning, a chance to move on from painful circumstance. Calm & focused, confident can handle transition. (Over the following days, ‘spectacularly much better’ – feeling more positive, sleeping well)” “worried, alone, unsafe”,”confident and enthusiastic about making positive change” “oppression, unfair, pressure, astonished that this [outrageous thing] is happening”,”‘I feel positive, the first openings of possible freedom, whatever happens outside. I feel like I’m “conquering” something. I can see the pattern and what I need to do’” “frustration, anger, annoyance, disappointment”,”calmer, more focused, curious, looking for a collaborative way forward together with the other side” “anxious, tight, afraid”,”Happy, calm, energized, positive and outgoing” “big anxiety, feeling sick”,”calm focus on what needs to be done. Realising situation will pass, and its better not to invest a lot of energy in it” [/table] N.B. these aren’t edited highlighted – these are the results of the first 10 times this process was used. Brief Mindfulness coaching has been used for topics including:

• “I have trouble focusing unless I’ve got a really tight deadline – so I keep leaving everything to the last minute”
• “I’m really frustrated with another department at work, they’re just not co-operating, keep slowing everything down with red tape. I can barely control my frustration and even anger.”
• “I’ve got financial problems – my major customer has closed down, so I’ve lost 50% of my business. Its not clear if my business will be able to recover – I might well lose my home”
• “I’m being bullied by my manager – and there are good reasons why can’t take it up as a grievance”
• “People have let me down – I still can’t believe they did what they did”
• “I’m blocked by circumstance from the next step in my career”
• “I’ve received horrible feedback – its been going round and round in my head for 10 days, haven’t been able to create an ethically-satisfactory response”

From my coaching practice to date, I observe that

• Around 95% of people get into a significantly more constructive relationship with the stressor (e.g. acceptance, letting go of blame, readiness to take constructive action.)
• Around 80% of people get a significant and immediate reduction in stress. On average that reduction is around 50%.