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
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:
- that they write a few short notes on their “before” state,
- they’re guided through the 30 second “Reconnect” process,
- they write notes on their “after” state.
| 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 |
- “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”
- 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%.
To learn the "Reconnect" technique at the heart of delivering these results, sign up for a Mindfulness Quickstart programme.